"Fitting" Sense of Belonging in an Expectancy-Value Framework: Directionality and Development Among First-Year College Students

• In Event: Poster Session 15
  In Poster Session: Motivation in Education SIG Poster Session 1

Abstract

Sense of belonging is an increasingly studied motivational construct, but its role in understanding choices between fields of study in college has yet to be acknowledged by motivational frameworks used to predict choice, such as the Expectancy-Value theory. The present study is the first to use longitudinal data to model directionality of effects among sense of belonging and various components of E-V theory. Cross-lag models show bi-directional influences, suggesting a mutually reinforcing relationship. Moreover, growth curves across students' first year suggest sense of belonging can guard against declines in motivation.

Authors

• Peter McPartlan, University of California - Irvine

• Osman Umarji, University of California - Irvine