Motivational interventions grounded in Eccles and colleagues' situated expectancy-value theory (SEVT) can promote students' motivational beliefs and academic performance. However, most prior work has focused on one construct, perceived utility value. SEVT includes multiple constructs found to influence students' academic motivation, performance,…

Language offers a vast amount of information about an individual's social and personality processes. Prior studies have found links between personality traits, attitudes, and language use. To further extend prior work on links between personality traits, attitudes, and language use, this study examined the link between career goal affordance…

Math and science motivational beliefs are essential in understanding students' science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) achievement and choices in high school and college. Drawing on the Eccles' expectancy-value theory and Arnett's emerging adulthood framework, this study examined the relations among high school students' motivational…

Young children, ages 5-6 years, develop first beliefs about science and themselves as science learners, and these beliefs are considered important precursors of children's future motivation to pursue science. Yet, due to a lack of adequate measures, little is known about young children's motivational beliefs about learning science. The present…

Four topics were investigated in this longitudinal person-centered study: (a) profiles of subjective task values and ability self-concepts of adolescents in the domain of mathematics, (b) the stability of and changes to the profiles of motivational beliefs from Grade 7 to 12, (c) the relation of changes to student-perceived classroom…

Which occupation to pursue is one of the more consequential decisions people make and represents a key developmental task. Yet the underlying developmental processes associated with either individual or group differences in occupational choices are still not well understood. This study contributes toward filling this gap, focusing in particular on…

The Eccles' expectancy-value model posits that a cascade of mechanisms explain associations between parents' beliefs and youths' achievement-related behaviors. Specifically, parents' beliefs predict parents' behaviors; in turn, parents' behaviors predict youths' motivational beliefs, and youths' motivational beliefs predict their behaviors. This…

Change over three years in the competence beliefs and subjective task values in the domains of reading, mathematics, instrumental music, and sports was studied with approximately 615 predominantly white, middle-class elementary school children. There was moderate to strong stability in their beliefs. Exceptions and gender differences are…

Examined gender differences in 514 children's competence and value beliefs from first through twelfth grade, and the relation of these trends to initial differences in parents' perceptions of children's ability. Found that gender differences in competence and value beliefs related to sports and mathematics. Gender differences in competence beliefs…

This study examines how competence beliefs and task values predict high school achievement choices related to literacy. Students' task beliefs (self-concept of ability, intrinsic value, and importance) about reading in the 4th grade and English in the 10th grade were tracked over time. Task beliefs, school performance, and gender were used to…

This study addresses the longitudinal associations between youths' out-of-school activities, expectancies-values, and high school course enrollment in the domains of math and science. Data were collected on 227 youth who reported on their activity participation in 5th grade, expectancies-values in 6th and 10th grade, and courses taken throughout…