Expectancies, Values, and Costs: Reciprocal Effects on Math-Related Career Intention and Achievement Among Adolescent Girls

• In Event: AERA Virtual Poster Session 8
  In Poster Session: Motivation in Education SIG Poster Session: Motivational Processes and Effects

Abstract

The study examined the temporal relations among expectancies, task values, and perceived costs in math to understand the underpinning motivational processes for math-related career intention and achievement among adolescent girls. We used 638 Korean middle school girls’ responses collected three separate times within a grade. First, there were unidirectional positive prediction paths from utility value to self-efficacy. Second, there were reciprocal relations between intrinsic value and emotional cost. After all, utility value indirectly enhanced the girls’ achievements by fostering self-efficacy, whereas emotional cost indirectly hindered their career intentions by dampening intrinsic value. These findings suggest that it is important not only to increase task values but also to manage costs to keep adolescent girls adhering to their math-related career goals.

Authors

• Yoonkyung Chung, Inha University

• So Young Kim, Chonnam National University