An Experience Sampling Study of Student Emotional Life: Preliminary Results
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.58459/icce.2024.4999Abstract
We present findings from a preliminary experience sampling study exploring the association between negative emotions (fear and sadness) and student day-to-day activities and circumstances including online use, location, and companions. Experience sampling is a data collection method in which individuals are asked for self-reports at random times of their waking hours. It is best used when data is episodic or experiential in nature. To this end, we created the Ateneo Experience Sampling App (AESApp), a mobile-based application that collects data about levels of student happiness, engagement, fear, sadness, and anger, as well as contextual information such as who they are with, what they are doing, and where they are. We found that students who reported not being online at the time they were prompted tended to report low levels of these emotions. Similarly, students who reported being with companions reported low levels of fear and sadness. In contrast, those who reported moderate to high levels of fear or sadness tended to be alone. Although the implications are interesting, they are suggestive rather than conclusive because of the small sample size. Moving forward, the research team needs to find ways to increase response rate.