EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY

Chapter 10 page 197

ANALYZING MOTIVATION

Five Perspectives on Motivation

Here are five perspectives on student motivation. You should regard them as complementary
rather than competing perspectives. Each gives a somewhat different perspective on the multifaceted
phenomenon of student motivation.

Expectancy-Value Theory. According to Expectancy-Value Theory, motivation is determined
(very roughly) by the following formula:

motivation = value of goal X expectancy of success.

Here are some examples. Suppose that 10 is the highest number that can be assigned to value of goal and
expectancy of success, and 0 is the lowest number.

Becoming a famous novelist has a high value for Dan but he thinks he has no chance to succeed, so his
motivation is M = 10 x 0 = 0. Dan makes no effort to write a novel.
Suanna, an adult, can easily recite the alphabet (expectancy of success is high), but reciting the
alphabet has no value for her, so M = 0 x 10 = 0. Suanna does not recite the alphabet.
Yoko wants to get an A on her ed psych exam, but she only thinks she has a moderate chance of
success because she has no idea what will be on the test. M = 8 x 4 = 32. She studies fairly hard but not
as hard as she studies on some other tests.

According to expectancy-value theory, some people are oriented toward achieving success, and others
are oriented toward avoiding failure.

People who are oriented toward achieving success will show the greatest motivation on tasks of
medium difficulty. Why? Because when the task is easy, the value is low. So even though expectancy of
success is high, motivation is low, as in the alphabet example. (It’s not fun to achieve success on an easy
task like reciting the alphabet.)
Similarly, when the task is very difficult, the expectancy of success is low, even though the goal may
be highly valued, as in the example of Dan and writing a novel.
Motivation is highest for success-oriented individuals when the goal is moderately difficult, so that the
goal has pretty high value and yet the individual has the expectation of achieving it if he/she works hard
enough.

The situation is different for people who are oriented toward avoiding failure. For people who are
avoiding failure, failure is very unpleasant, and they want to avoid it at all costs. So for these people, the
equation becomes:

motivation to avoid task = degree of unpleasantness if failure occurs x expectancy of

failing

Here are some examples. Again suppose that 10 is the highest number that can be assigned to the
variables on the right side of the equation.

Larry doesn’t want to make a fool of himself when he answers a question in class. When the teacher
asks an easy question, he raises his hand. Why? The expectancy of failing is almost zero, so the
motivation to avoid the task is near zero: Motivation to avoid = 10 x 0 = 0. Therefore, Larry