Achievement Value in All Its Facets: A Close Look at Gender Differences in Math Values

• In Event: Interest and Value: Motivating Students in Math, Science, and Reading

Abstract

The expectancy-value-model by Eccles and colleagues (1983) defines four value components: intrinsic value, attainment value, utility value, and cost. However, the dimensionality of value beliefs has rarely been studied, and it remains unclear whether the components can be broken down into sub-facets. Within the domain of mathematics, the present study examined sub-facets of value beliefs and gender differences in these facets. 1868 ninth-grade students completed an extensive set of items assessing their value beliefs. Confirmatory factor analyses supported the differentiation of task value into a total of 10 facets of attainment value, utility value, and cost. Whereas the factor structure was invariant across gender, there were considerable differences in mean levels of value facets that generally favored boys.

Authors

• Hanna Gaspard, University of Tübingen

• Anna-Lena Dicke, University of California - Irvine

• Barbara Flunger, University of Koblenz-Landau

• Brigitte Maria Schreier, Tuebingen University

• Isabelle Häfner, University of Tübingen

• Ulrich Trautwein, University of Tubingen

• Benjamin Nagengast, Tuebingen University