Students’ experiences of the development of emotional engagement

•Stability and internal dynamics of emotional engagement was studied.•Students emotional engagement in peer‐group relationships is relatively stable.•Students emotional engagement teacher-student relationships is relatively stable.•Teacher-student relations explained the perceived peer‐group relations over time.•Internal dynamics of engagement differ between primary and secondary school students.

The stability and internal dynamics of students’ emotional engagement was examined in a longitudinal study among primary and secondary school students over three terms. A total of 170 students were surveyed, and the study was conducted using structural equation modelling. The results showed that emotional engagement remained stable over time. Furthermore, the results showed that the students’ emotional engagement in teacher-student relationships associated with emotional engagement in peer relations and explained the perceived peer‐group relations over time. Surprisingly, the association between teacher-student and peer‐group relations was stronger among the secondary school students than among the primary school students, implying that despite the contextual differences, teachers have real opportunities to promote positive peer influences at different phases of the school path.