Can a Failure‑Focused Workshop Decouple Competence‑Contingent Enjoyment? Evidence from First‑Year University Students

Abstract

Competence-contingent enjoyment refers to enjoyment that is dependent upon one’s perceived competence in an activity. Whilst common, this pattern can have negative implications for achievement, engagement, and well-being. This study examined whether competence-contingent enjoyment existed in first-year university students, and whether a failure-focused workshop could reduce it. In total, 391 students participated, with 117 in the experimental group and 274 in the control group. The experimental group attended a one-hour lecture emphasising the benefits of failure, then completed a circuits session consisting of six fun, but challenging, activities (e.g., unicycling and juggling). The activities were selected to provoke failure and encourage students to decouple competence from enjoyment. The control group completed the same circuits session without any failure-based framing and received the lecture at a later date. After the circuits session, students rated their perceived competence and enjoyment for each activity. Overall, Pearson’s correlations revealed strong, positive relationships between perceived competence and enjoyment in all six activities. However, the strength of this relationship did not differ between the experimental and control groups. This study is the first to establish competence-contingent enjoyment in a cohort of first-year university students, however, the decoupling intervention proved ineffective. Future research should explore design variations to support students’ enjoyment regardless of competence.