Longitudinal Relations Among Self-Concept, Intrinsic Value, and Attainment Value Across Secondary School Years in Three Academic Domains

By A. Arens, Isabelle Schmidt, F. Preckel. Journal of Educational Psychology, 2019

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This study expanded on research on temporal relations among motivation constructs as stated by expectancy-value theory, which has so far neglected the differentiation of value facets, the examination of long time spans with multiple measurement waves, and domain-specific patterns of findings. We examined the longitudinal relations among academic self-concept, intrinsic value, and attainment value in the three domains of math, German, and English across 5 annual measurement waves covering Grades 5 to 9 with German secondary school students (N = 2,116). The analyses based on cross-lagged panel models. In math and English, former academic self-concept was positively related to later intrinsic value and attainment value. In German, former intrinsic value and attainment value were positively related to later academic self-concept. The cross-lagged relations among value constructs varied according to the domain, hinting at the domain specificity of findings. The relations among academic self-concept, intrinsic value, and attainment value in the 3 domains did not change in size across students’ secondary school years. In addition, the pattern of all relations remained stable when controlling for students’ domain-specific achievement measured by school grades in the respective domains.

Subfields: Applied Psychology, Experimental and Cognitive Psychology, Social Psychology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/c4d17f83b02ecb549515ec4fd3d4ef7366714643