Once a boring task always a boring task? Interest as a self-regulatory mechanism.

Sansone, Carol; Weir, Charlene R.; Harpster, Lora; Morgan, Carolyn

doi:10.1037/0022-3514.63.3.379

Cited by 324 publications

(303 citation statements)

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“…Previous work by Sansone and colleagues has suggested that when faced with an uninteresting but important activity, individuals may strategically engage in actions that make performance more interesting, thereby enhancing motivation to persist (Sansone & Smith, 2000;Sansone, Weir, Harpster, & Morgan, 1992). However, these actions may also hinder performance, at least in the short term (Sansone & Thoman, 2005).…”

Section: Studymentioning

confidence: 97%

“…This relationship over time may be particularly important when one examines the possibility of self-regulation of motivation. Sansone and colleagues have noted the potential trade-offs between doing something to make a currently boring but important task more interesting and indices of performance (Sansone et al, 1992;. In particular, if the strategies that might make a task more interesting take time, attention, or effort away from the things that maximize performance, then performance may be hurt.…”

Section: Performance and Motivationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…More than likely, some combination of these factors is important at different points during the task engagement process. The notion that a task is fluid and that change (e.g., in task meaning, in cognizance of evaluation) can take place during task engagement is pivotal to understanding the motivational outcomes associated with (stereotyped) task participation (e.g., Sansone & Smith, 2000;Sansone, Weir, Harpster, & Morgan, 1992).…”

Section: Importance Of Achievement Motivationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Intervention programs that focus on performance or competence issues may overlook the importance of enhancing interest in the domain. For example, if women are encouraged to self-regulate interest, even if it harms short-term performance, they may be more likely to pursue the domain over time (e.g., Sansone et al, 1992).…”

Section: Women In Math and Science Fieldsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The stereotyped task engagement process: The role of interest and achievement motivation.

Smith¹,

Sansone²,

White³

2007

Journal of Educational Psychology

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137

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Competence-based stereotypes can negatively affect women's performance in math and science (referred to as stereotype threat), presumably leading to lower motivation. The authors examined the effects of stereotype threat on interest, a motivational path not necessarily mediated by performance. They predicted that working on a computer science task in the context of math-gender stereotypes would negatively affect undergraduate women's task interest, particularly for those higher in achievement motivation who were hypothesized to hold performance-avoidance goals in response to the threat. Compared with when the stereotype was nullified, while under stereotype threat an assigned performance-avoidance (vs. -approach) goal was associated with lower interest for women higher in achievement motivation (Study 1), and women higher (vs. lower) in achievement motivation were more likely to spontaneously adopt performance-avoidance goals (Study 2). The motivational influence of performance-avoidance goals under stereotype threat was primarily mediated by task absorption (Study 3). Implications for the stereotyped task engagement process (Smith, 2004) are discussed.Keywords: achievement motivation, achievement goals, motivation, stereotype threat, gender Women continue to be less likely to select and persist in science, mathematics, and related fields despite gains in preparation and increased requirements for both girls and boys prior to college. A number of hypotheses have been proposed as to why these gender differences occur, including both biological limitations and socialization pressures (e.g., Eccles, Adler, & Meece, 1984). The focus of our research is on the role competence-based stereotypes may play. Whether or not there are real intrinsic ability differences between men and women in math and science (e.g., Benbow & Stanley, 1980;Mullis et al., 1998;Spelke, 2005), stereotypes about these differences exist and are frequently made salient (e.g., comments by Summers, as cited in the Harvard Crimson, 2005). 1 The stereotype threat literature is centered on the finding that awareness of a competence-related stereotype can, in and of itself, lead to poorer task performance (e.g., Smith & White, 2002;Spencer, Steele, & Quinn, 1999;C. M. Steele & Aronson, 1995;Yopyk & Prentice, 2005; see also Wicherts, Dolan, & Hessen, 2005). Members of stereotyped groups feel threatened because their performance may confirm to themselves, other people, or both the negative performance expectations about the group. The resulting negative effects on performance can occur even when women report that they do not believe the stereotypes are true (cf. Schmader, Johns, & Barquissau, 2004).As illustrated on the left side of Figure 1, the stereotype-performance path suggests negative competence-based stereotypes associated with women in math and science lead directly to an impairment of their performance (e.g., Shih, Pittinsky, & Ambady, 1999;Smith & White, 2002;Spencer et al., 1999), which, in turn, negatively affect their likelihood of selecti...

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Section: Studymentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Performance and Motivationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Importance Of Achievement Motivationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Women In Math and Science Fieldsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

The stereotyped task engagement process: The role of interest and achievement motivation.

Smith¹,

Sansone²,

White³

2007

Journal of Educational Psychology

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137

126

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show abstract

“…Sansone, Weir, Harpster, & Morgan (1992) suggest that strategies that regulate interest can help people maintain their motivation to perform the task. Individuals often attempt to regulate their motivation for important activities by using the social context of the activity to make their experience more interesting.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Upper Secondary Students’ Situational Interest: A case study of the role of a zoo visit in a biology class

Dohn

2013

International Journal of Science Education

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This paper comprises a presentation of the findings of a case study that investigated how situational factors triggered 12 th grade students' interest during a field trip to a zoo. The purpose was to identify sources of interest and to investigate the attributes that make them interesting. Students' interest was investigated by a descriptive interpretive approach, based on data from classroom and field trip observations, video recording, interviews, and students' work. The findings provided evidence that substantial situational interest can be generated during a fieldtrip to a zoo. Students' interest was triggered by variables such as active involvement (hands-on activities), novelty, surprise, and knowledge acquisition (activities and provided information), and social involvement (opportunities for socialisation). The results show that strong interest is stimulated when several variables are in play simultaneously. The study implies that zoo visits can provide students with affective experiences, which can be a powerful way to stimulate students' learning motivation.

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Interest and Self‐Regulation

Sansone

Thoman

Smith

2010

Handbook of Personality and Self‐Regulation

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Motivation is simple. You eliminate those who are not motivated. (Lou Holtz) As the quote by famed college football coach Lou Holtz illustrates, we often identify people as "motivated" or "unmotivated," as if people have a central motivation switch that turns on and off. Alternatively, we distinguish between people in terms of the reasons that typically motivate them (e.g., intrinsic v. extrinsic), acknowledging the possibility of a group of people who are apparently unmotivated by any reason (the latter group usually associated with some type of mental health problem, such as depression). In these examples, then, we see attempts to identify individual differences in motivation in terms of characteristic levels of motivation (i.e., high or low), and in terms of its characteristic direction (i.e., the things that people are typically motivated by or for). While allowing for individual variability in these dimensions, our model of motivation suggests that the amount and direction of motivation are not static factors that people bring to a situation. Rather, these are dimensions that can be intentionally regulated by a person over time and contexts. To better understand how individuals vary, therefore, we must consider the self-regulation process. We suggest that although the process is universal, personality and individual differences impact the process to create distinct motivational patterns for each individual. For example, personality and individual difference characteristics affect whether and how motivation is regulated. In turn, the process of regulating motivation helps to create the contexts that are maintained in a person's life and contributes to how that person comes to define him or Interest and Self-RegulationHandbook of Personality and Self-RegulationEdited by Rick H. Hoyle

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Once a boring task always a boring task? Interest as a self-regulatory mechanism.

Cited by 324 publications

References 37 publications

The stereotyped task engagement process: The role of interest and achievement motivation.

The stereotyped task engagement process: The role of interest and achievement motivation.

Upper Secondary Students’ Situational Interest: A case study of the role of a zoo visit in a biology class

Interest and Self‐Regulation

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