THE STRUGGLE WITHIN: HOW EMOTION REGULATION DIFFICULTIES AFFECT TEENAGERS ACADEMIC MOTIVATION

Emotion regulation, the ability to manage and control emotional responses, is a critical aspect of psychological functioning and plays a significant role in students academic outcomes. The study explores how difficulties in managing emotions, such as frustration, anxiety, or sadness, can affect a teenagers level of motivation to engage in academic tasks. A sample of 185 adolescents, aged 15-18 years, from Bangalore city were surveyed using standardized tools, namely Difficulties in Emotional Regulation Scale (Gratz & Roemer, 2004) and the Academic Motivation Scale (Vallerand et al., 1992–1993) to assess emotion regulation difficulties and academic motivation. Along with this, an interview with 8 teachers was conducted to understand about students academic motivation. Statistical analysis using Pearsons correlation revealed a significant negative correlation between emotion regulation difficulties and academic motivation, suggesting that teens who struggle with emotional regulation tend to exhibit lower levels of academic motivation. Findings reveal that emotion regulation challenges may contribute to decreased academic engagement and performance, particularly in high-stress academic environments. These results emphasize the importance of emotional regulation skills in fostering academic motivation and highlight the need for interventions aimed at improving emotion regulation to enhance students academic outcomes.