Situating Expectancies and Subjective Task Values Across Grade Levels, Domains, and Countries: A Network Approach

Abstract

In their recently renamed theory, situated expectancy-value theory (SEVT), Eccles and Wigfield (2020) emphasized the importance of situations in influencing individuals’ motivational beliefs and academic choices. Adopting a novel approach—network analysis—this study aimed to examine how situations may impact the associations among expectancies, subjective task values, and achievement from a holistic perspective. In this study, situations were operationalized as grade levels (i.e., 6th –9th grade), subject domains (i.e., language arts and math), and countries (i.e., Finland and Germany). Adolescents from Finland (N = 4,062) and Germany (N = 449) were included in the study. Results showed that, overall, the networks are mostly subject bound, yearly varied, and country specific, supporting the situative nature of SEVT. We also found that expectancies were consistently the closest motivational beliefs to achievement, whereas utility values were the least close, implying that expectancies, not utility, might be the most desirable intervention targets for achievement improvement.

Gendered difference in motivational profiles, achievement, and STEM aspiration of elementary school students

“…This finding also resonates with the SEVT model ( Eccles and Wigfield, 2020 ), which suggests that values are situationally bounded. A recent study also demonstrated that expectancy and task values are situative across domains, grade levels, and countries ( Tang et al, 2022 ).…”

“…Yet, the relationship between gender, motivational beliefs, and STEM participation is less understood in elementary school students, even though the SEVT and DCT models indicate that motivational beliefs change over time ( Eccles et al, 1993 ; Eccles and Wigfield, 1995 ; Guo et al, 2018b ; Wan et al, 2021 ; Tang et al, 2022 ). Studies have found that students’ beliefs about themselves and about different fields, such as STEM, are found to develop incrementally ( Watson and McMahon, 2005 ; van Tuijl and van der Molen, 2015 ).…”

The relationship between university students’ goal orientation and academic achievement. The mediating role of motivational components and the moderating role of achievement emotions

“…The expectancy dimension about success depicts individual’ s beliefs about how well will accomplish tasks and is conceptually related with academic self-concept ( Marsh, 2006 ). The learners’ orientations and beliefs about value dimension involve four subjective task value dimensions: attainment value or the personal importance to doing well a task; intrinsic value as interest or enjoyment of subject doing the task; utility value related with current or future subject’s learning goals, and cost value, representing negative aspects as anxiety of failure, effort required or lost opportunities when one choose a specific learning task ( Eccles and Wigfield, 2002 ; Tang et al, 2022 ). Recent theoretical synthesis reveals the Situated Expectancy-Value Theory (SEVT, Wigfield and Eccles, 2020 ), which represents the original expectancy-value theory completed with the socio-cultural dimension, has been utilized more than any of the other theories in motivation studies with longitudinal design ( Anderman, 2020 ).…”