Award Date

December 2023

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Educational Psychology, Leadership, and Higher Education

First Committee Member

Lisa Bendixen

Second Committee Member

Jonathan Hilper

Third Committee Member

E. Michael Nussbaum

Fourth Committee Member

Rachael Robnett

Number of Pages

228

Abstract

A central tenet of expectancy-value theory is that individuals’ relative expectancies and values across multiple academic domains influence their achievement-related outcomes. However, few studies have investigated how expectancy-value beliefs in multiple domains combine within individuals and how such motivational configurations are related to engagement. In this study, a person-centered approach was employed to identify and evaluate naturally occurring combinations of motivational beliefs among 3,928 fourth-grade students. Leveraging TIMSS and PIRLS database of 2011, I examined profiles of students’ math, reading, and science self-concept and interest value and their relations with engagement in these domains. Additionally, I examined gender as predictors of profile membership. Results revealed five expectancy-value profiles, which displayed evidence of self-differentiation and subject prioritization (e.g., High Math/ /Moderate Reading and Science). Additionally, reading, math, and science engagement were found to significantly differ across the profiles in theoretically-consistent ways, and gender predicted profile membership.

Keywords

Academic Engagement; Academic Motivation; Academic Self-concept; Dimensional Comparison Theory; Expectancy-Value Theory; Interest Value

Disciplines

Educational Psychology

File Format

pdf

File Size

3980 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Available for download on Sunday, December 15, 2024


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