The emotional faces of student agency

The aim of the present work was to identify latent profiles of adolescents characterized by unique patterns of student agency, enjoyment and anger, and to investigate whether students belonging to different profiles differ in respect to academic achievement and intention to dropout. Data were collected on a sample of 542 9th grade students at the middle (T1) and at the end (T2) of a school year with a self-report questionnaire measuring student agency, enjoyment and anger at T1, academic achievement and intention to dropout at T2. Five students' profiles emerged, which we labelled Lukewarm, Annoyed, Lethargic, Restive and Enthusiastic. The groups differed in their academic achievement and intention to dropout, with Enthusiastic students scoring significantly higher in academic achievement and lower in intention to dropout as compared with all the other profiles. The study results are discussed in terms of their implications for teacher practice.