Mood states, self-set goals, self-efficacy and performance in academic examinations

The present study investigated relationships between mood, performance goals, and both written and oral examination performance. Fifty-seven undergraduate students completed a mood measure that assessed the subscales of anger, calmness, confusion, depression, fatigue, happiness, tension and vigor, indicated the grade set as a goal for the examinations, and rated their confidence to achieve this goal. These measures were completed approximately 30 min before each examination. Structural equation modelling results indicated that mood states, self-efficacy and self-set goals predicted 20% of oral examination performance and 7% of written examination performance. In both samples, findings indicate that positive mood states are associated with self-efficacy to achieve self-set goals. We suggest that future research should look at the extent to which intervention strategies designed to enhance mood states are associated with enhanced performance.