Influence of Positive Emotions on Leadership Learning and Development

Abstract: Purpose: The project is a qualitative, descriptive study of the nexus between students' positive emotional experiences in academic leadership courses and self-reported learning in leadership. Design/Methodology/Approach: The research team conducted a qualitative study of 298 comment entries collected in post-course surveys. These were the sentiments of students who completed leader-development academic courses over three years of academic studies. The surveys asked respondents to identify the prevailing emotions they often experienced in the classroom and how these emotions enhanced or hindered their learning during the semester. Findings -The findings reveal that students have identified their positive emotional experiences in a leadership course as having a significant impact on their leadership education and involvement in the course. Overall, the student commentaries indicate that positive emotions were triggered by their active participation in the course, and the three most frequently mentioned emotions were interest, joy, and serenity/contentment. The participants perceived these affective states as increasing their desire to attend classes, engage in classroom activities, deepen their understanding of leadership subjects, and transfer their learning about leadership outside the classroom. Originality/Value - Although educational research has long recognised the importance of emotions, their application to leadership-oriented classes has not been studied adequately. This is the first of its kind, as it explains the relationships between emotional responses to the leadership classes and students' learning behaviours, revealing the major processes that help youths gain leadership skills through formal studies in academic institutions.