Development and examination of an expectancy-based measure of test-taking motivation.

A 10-item multidimensional measure of test-taking motivation based on expectancy theory, the Valence, Instrumentality, Expectancy Motivation Scale (VIEMS), was developed using a student sample (N?=?90) and tested using 2 samples of job applicants in a field setting (N?=?296; N?=?246). In Field Study 1, the VIEMS was related to test performance. Hierarchical regression analysis showed that the VIEMS explained variance in test score beyond a general measure of test motivation. In a second longitudinal field study, pretest and posttest perceptions of motivation were compared. Results indicated that expectancy was related to actual test performance, and perceived test performance accounted for variance in posttest reports of motivation after controlling for pretest levels of motivation. Test-taking motivation did not account for variance in test performance differences between African Americans and Whites in either field study. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Does pay for performance increase or decrease perceived self-determination and intrinsic motivation?

Laboratory and field studies examined the relationships of reward for high performance with perceived self-determination and intrinsic motivation. Study 1 found that pay for meeting a performance standard had positive effects on college students' perceived self-determination and competence, expressed task enjoyment, and free time spent performing the task. Furthermore, reward's incremental effect on expressed task enjoyment was mediated by perceived self-determination and competence. Study 2 established that perceived self-determination mediated positive relationships between employees' performance-reward expectancy and perceived organizational support, positive mood at work, and job performance. Study 3 demonstrated that performance-reward expectancy was positively related to employees' expressed interest in daily job activities, with this relationship being greater among employees having a high desire for control. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Need for cognition, task difficulty, and the formation of performance expectancies.

In the present article, the authors analyze how performance expectancies are generated and how they affect actual performance. The authors predicted that task difficulty would affect performance expectancies only when cognitive motivation (i.e., need for cognition [NFC]) and cognitive capacity are high. This should be the case because analyzing task difficulty is a process requiring cognitive capacity as well as cognitive motivation. The findings supported the expected NFC × Difficulty interaction for the formation of performance expectancies (Study 1, Study 2), but only when cognitive capacity was high (Study 2). The authors also predicted that expectancies would affect actual performance only if the task is difficult and if task difficulty is taken into account when the expectancy is generated. This hypothesis was supported: Significant relations between performance expectancies and actual performance were found only for difficult tasks and for participants higher in NFC. Studies 5 and 6 showed clear evidence that the NFC × Difficulty interaction could not be explained by differences in the use of task-specific self-concepts. The findings were robust across academic, social, and physical tasks. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Alcohol outcome expectancies: Scale construction and predictive utility in higher order confirmatory models.

The goals of this research were to develop a scale to measure alcohol outcome expectancies that incorporated important features suggested by previous research; to examine the psychometric properties of the instrument, with particular attention to item discrimination; and to examine the relationship of positive and negative expectancy to self-reported alcohol use. In Study 1, a preliminary expectancy scale was constructed; factor analysis showed 2 general constructs representing positive and negative consequences of drinking. In Study 2, the scale was refined through tests of item discrimination and was used to predict alcohol use using structural equation modeling. Although negative expectancy was significantly related to alcohol use, positive expectancy was a stronger predictor. These results are consistent with earlier work that proposed a general positive–negative expectancy distinction and suggest that positive expectancy is a more powerful motivator of drinking. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Integrating disinhibition and learning risk for alcohol use.

In this study the authors tested the acquired preparedness model of problem drinking, which holds that trait disinhibition, defined as neurotic extraversion by C. M. Patternson and J. P. Newman (1993), leads to the biased formation of positive over negative alcohol expectancies. Positive expectancies thus mediate disinhibition's influence on drinking. The authors also hypothesized that disinhibition moderates the expectancy–drinking relationship such that disinhibited individuals are more likely to act on their positive expectancies. In Study 1, positive expectancies both mediated and moderated the disinhibition–drinking relationship. In Study 2, learning task results indicated that disinhibited individuals sought reward, even when passive avoidance of punishment was indicated. Study 2 also replicated Study 1 hypotheses for men but generally not for women. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Competence, achievement orientation, and intrinsic motivation: A process analysis.

Three sources of competence information were manipulated in an experiment in which 120 male 15–18 yr olds worked on a word game, after being given an expectancy for success and an objective standard for average performance, to investigate the process through which competence information affects intrinsic motivation. It was predicted that performance cues that differed in terms of objectivity and timing during task performance would affect task interest differentially and that the effects of competence information would vary according to achievement orientation. Normative feedback was provided after task completion. Results show that the effects of the cues on self-efficacy and task interest were generally consistent with A. Bandura's (1982) self-efficacy model of intrinsic motivation. Objective information provided before the game was optimal in enhancing self-efficacy and interest for all Ss. High achievers responded positively to competence cues, whereas cues providing positive feedback about ability reduced interest for low achievers. Path analytic process analysis indicated that mediational structures also varied according to achievement orientation. Competence information enhanced high achievers' valuation of competence which had a positive causal impact on subsequent intrinsic motivation. In contrast, efficacy expectations mediated increases in intrinsic motivation for low achievers. (55 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of instruction on intrinsic interest: The importance of context.

Examined how contextual cues influence the impact of receiving instructions for improving performance on intrinsic motivation. The authors proposed that whether instruction enhances or decreases motivation depends on the salience of performance goals. Goal salience was proposed to be a function of how an individual defines the activity, which, in turn, may be influenced by contextual features. To test this hypothesis, the authors used a computer game that emphasized fantasy in addition to skill, and they varied the presence of contextual cues highlighting performance. In Study 1, the authors varied the presence of prior performance feedback, and found that instruction decreased interest only when no prior performance feedback (positive or negative) was received. In Study 2, the authors explicitly manipulated contextual salience by describing the activity's goals as either skill- or fantasy-related. Instruction decreased interest in the fantasy-emphasis context, but increased interest in the skill-emphasis context. Furthermore, when instruction matched perceived goals Ss experienced greater positive affect while performing the task. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The stereotyped task engagement process: The role of interest and achievement motivation.

Competence-based stereotypes can negatively affect women's performance in math and science (referred to as stereotype threat), presumably leading to lower motivation. The authors examined the effects of stereotype threat on interest, a motivational path not necessarily mediated by performance. They predicted that working on a computer science task in the context of math-gender stereotypes would negatively affect undergraduate women's task interest, particularly for those higher in achievement motivation who were hypothesized to hold performance-avoidance goals in response to the threat. Compared with when the stereotype was nullified, while under stereotype threat an assigned performance-avoidance (vs. -approach) goal was associated with lower interest for women higher in achievement motivation (Study 1), and women higher (vs. lower) in achievement motivation were more likely to spontaneously adopt performance-avoidance goals (Study 2). The motivational influence of performance-avoidance goals under stereotype threat was primarily mediated by task absorption (Study 3). Implications for the stereotyped task engagement process (Smith, 2004) are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Motivation in Unionized Construction

A survey was corrducted of unionized construction workers in a major midwestern city to collect data on their perceptions of the motivational climate in their jobs. The framework for the collection and analysis of the data was the expectancy model of worker motivation and performance. The findings indicated that the motivational climate is very poor. Contractors rely more on punishment and discipline than they do positive rewards. Little is done to encourage good performance. Discipline is used to discourage poor performance. Contractors provide little in the way of rewards, even when they are not prohibited from providing a variety of rewards by their labor agreements. The workers surveyed reported very little incentive to be highly productive.     

Reactions to cognitive ability tests: The relationships between race, test performance, face validity perceptions, and test-taking motivation.

The relationships among race, face validity perceptions, test-taking motivation, and test performance on a cognitive ability test were examined. Undergraduates completed 2 parallel cognitive ability tests and a test reactions measure. Results showed that test-taking motivation was related positively to subsequent performance on a parallel test even after the effects of race and performance on the first test were controlled. The effect of race on subsequent test performance was found to be mediated partially by motivation that provided evidence that some portion of the Black–White difference in test performance may be explained through differences in test-taking motivation. Results also indicated that Black–White differences in face validity perceptions of the test may be a function of Black–White differences in test performance. Face validity perceptions of the test affected subsequent performance on the parallel test but only indirectly through test-taking motivation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mission possible? The performance of prosocially motivated employees depends on manager trustworthiness.

The authors propose that in mission-driven organizations, prosocially motivated employees are more likely to perform effectively when trust cues enhance their perceptions of task significance. The authors develop and test a model linking prosocial motivation, trust cues, task significance, and performance across 3 studies of fundraisers using 3 different objective performance measures. In Study 1, perceiving managers as trustworthy strengthened the relationship between employees’ prosocial motivation and performance, measured in terms of calls made. This moderated relationship was mediated by employees’ perceptions of task significance. Study 2 replicated the interaction of manager trustworthiness and prosocial motivation in predicting a new measure of performance: dollars raised. It also revealed 3-way interactions between prosocial motivation, manager trustworthiness, and dispositional trust propensity, such that high trust propensity compensated for low manager trustworthiness to strengthen the association between employees’ prosocial motivation and performance. Study 3 replicated all of the previous mediation and moderation findings in predicting initiative taken by professional fundraisers. Implications for work motivation, work design, and trust in organizations are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Behavioral facilitation: A cognitive model of individual differences in approach motivation.

Approach motivation consists of the active, engaged pursuit of one's goals. The purpose of the present three studies (N = 258) was to examine whether approach motivation could be cognitively modeled, thereby providing process-based insights into personality functioning. Behavioral facilitation was assessed in terms of faster (or facilitated) reaction time with practice. As hypothesized, such tendencies predicted higher levels of approach motivation, higher levels of positive affect, and lower levels of depressive symptoms and did so across cognitive, behavioral, self-reported, and peer-reported outcomes. Tendencies toward behavioral facilitation, on the other hand, did not correlate with self-reported traits (Study 1) and did not predict avoidance motivation or negative affect (all studies). The results indicate a systematic relationship between behavioral facilitation in cognitive tasks and approach motivation in daily life. Results are discussed in terms of the benefits of modeling the cognitive processes hypothesized to underlie individual differences motivation, affect, and depression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Pygmalion revisited: New evidence for student expectancy effects in the classroom.

We conducted a field experiment to test the idea that students' expectations regarding their teacher's competence would influence their classroom behavior and academic achievement. At the end of a 3-week teaching unit, students in two high school classes who had been given an initial positive expectancy about their teacher's ability and motivation engaged in more appropriate and less inappropriate nonverbal behavior and received significantly higher final grades on the unit than did their peers in two no-expectation control classes. We speculate about both the direct (student-mediated) and indirect (teacher-mediated) processes by which students' expectations came to affect their academic outcomes. We also discuss the importance of group-level expectancies and some ethical issues in student expectancy research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Academic and emotional functioning in early adolescence: longitudinal relations, patterns, and prediction by experience in middle school

Adopting a motivational perspective on adolescent development, these two companion studies examined the longitudinal relations between early adolescents' school motivation (competence beliefs and values), achievement, emotional functioning (depressive symptoms and anger), and middle school perceptions using both variable- and person-centered analytic techniques. Data were collected from 1041 adolescents and their parents at the beginning of seventh and the end of eight grade in middle school. Controlling for demographic factors, regression analyses in Study 1 showed reciprocal relations between school motivation and positive emotional functioning over time. Furthermore, adolescents' perceptions of the middle school learning environment (support for competence and autonomy, quality of relationships with teachers) predicted their eighth grade motivation, achievement, and emotional functioning after accounting for demographic and prior adjustment measures. Cluster analyses in Study 2 revealed several different patterns of school functioning and emotional functioning during seventh grade that were stable over 2 years and that were predictably related to adolescents' reports of their middle school environment. Discussion focuses on the developmental significance of schooling for multiple adjustment outcomes during adolescence.     

Perceived performance norm as a mediator in the effect of assigned goal on personal goal and task performance.

We conducted two experiments to test the hypothesis that assigned goals affect personal goals and task performance, in part, by providing normative information about the task. Normative information inferred from the goal was expected to influence performance expectancy and performance valence, which, in turn, would affect personal goal and, ultimately, performance. In Experiment 1, 60 undergraduate students were assigned performance goals of varying difficulty on a brainstorming task, and measures of perceived norm, performance expectancy, performance valence, personal goal, and task performance were obtained. Results of analyses of covariance and path analysis were generally consistent with the proposed cognitive mediation model. In Experiment 2, information about the performance norm was manipulated independently of goal difficulty for 135 undergraduates working on the same brainstorming task. Results of similar analyses revealed that (a) the effects of goal difficulty observed in Experiment 1 were attenuated by the presentation of normative information and (b) performance norm had significant effects on all of the dependent variables. The findings have implications for the integration of motivation theories and for the use of goal setting as a motivational technique. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of reward contingency and performance feedback on intrinsic motivation.

93 high school students were offered performance or task-contingent rewards or no reward for doing hidden-figures puzzles. Ss offered performance-contingent rewards all received positive feedback concerning performance, and half the Ss in task-contingent and no-reward conditions received the same positive feedback. Performance-contingent rewards were found to undermine intrinsic motivation more than task-contingent ones, which produced decrements relative to control conditions of no reward, supporting E. Deci's (1972, 1975) control model. Positive feedback enhanced intrinsic motivation; this effect was independent of reward effects. A recall measure indicated that Ss receiving performance-contingent rewards remembered fewer performance-irrelevant details about the task, suggesting that rewards may affect the process of task involvement as well as its motivational outcomes. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A question of competence: The effects of competence and task feedback on intrinsic interest.

Examined whether competence information is the feedback feature that affects intrinsic motivation and whether perceived competence is the process responsible in 2 studies in which 174 undergraduates compared competence feedback with meaningful task feedback. In Study 1, positive competence feedback and task feedback were manipulated independently. Findings indicate that although positive feedback resulted in the highest level of perceived competence, both positive and task feedback enhanced interest individually. In Study 2, an ego-involvement manipulation emphasized competence prior to task engagement. Path-analytic techniques were used to identify 2 processes that mediated the effects of positive, negative, and task feedback on interest: perceived competence and personal valuation. Results indicate that perceived competence enhanced enjoyment only when performance quality was stressed by the ego-involvement manipulation. When competence was not made salient, subsequent interest depended more on the degree the individual personally valued involvement. Both studies indicate that competence information can affect both perceived competence and personal valuation. Feeling competent itself enhanced intrinsic motivation only if attaining competence was a primary goal of the task. (49 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Can self-determination theory explain what underlies the productive, satisfying learning experiences of collectivistically oriented Korean students?

Recognizing recent criticisms concerning the cross-cultural generalizability of self-determination theory (SDT), the authors tested the SDT view that high school students in collectivistically oriented South Korea benefit from classroom experiences of autonomy support and psychological need satisfaction. In Study 1, experiences of autonomy, competence, and relatedness underlaid Korean students’ most satisfying learning experiences, and experiences of low autonomy and low competence underlaid their least satisfying learning experiences. In Study 2, psychological need satisfaction experiences were associated with productive (achievement and engagement) and satisfying (intrinsic motivation and proneness to negative affect) student outcomes. Study 3 replicated and extended Study 2’s structural equation modeling findings by showing that the hypothesized model explained students’ positive outcomes even after controlling for cultural and parental influences, including the collectivistic value orientation. Study 4 replicated the earlier cross-sectional findings with a semester-long prospective 3-wave design. The authors discuss how the findings support the motivation theory’s cross-cultural generalizability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Pretraining context effects: Training assignment as feedback.

This study examined the effects of framing training program assignments on training outcomes. A model was developed that suggests that the framing of training assignments can provide feedback regarding past performance and result in different attitudinal and motivational levels going into training. Participants were randomly assigned to 2 differently framed training programs (remedial vs. advanced). Attributions regarding past performance were found to interact with training assignments to affect pretraining self-efficacy. Both perceptions of past performance and expected assignment were found to moderate the relationship between training assignment and fairness perceptions. Also, motivation to learn was a key variable linking pretraining characteristics and training outcomes. Implications for training effectiveness research and practice are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Seeking security or growth: A regulatory focus perspective on motivations in romantic relationships.

Using a multimethod approach, we examined how regulatory focus shapes people's perceptual, behavioral, and emotional responses in different situations in romantic relationships. We first examined how chronic regulatory focus affects romantic partners' support perceptions and problem-solving behaviors while they were engaged in a conflict resolution discussion (Study 1). Next, we experimentally manipulated regulatory focus and tested its effects on partner perceptions when individuals recalled a prior conflict resolution discussion (Study 2). We then examined how chronic regulatory focus influences individuals' emotional responses to hypothetical relationship events (Study 3) and identified specific partner behaviors to which people should respond with regulatory goal-congruent emotions (Study 4). Strongly prevention-focused people perceived their partners as more distancing and less supportive during conflict (Studies 1 and 2), approached conflict resolution by discussing the details related to the conflict (Study 1), and experienced a negative relationship outcome with more agitation (Study 3). Strongly promotion-focused people perceived their partners as more supportive and less distancing (Studies 1 and 2), displayed more creative conflict resolution behavior (Study 1), and experienced a negative relationship outcome with more sadness and a favorable outcome with more positive emotions (Study 3). In Study 4, recalling irresponsible and responsible partner behaviors was associated with experiencing more prevention-focused emotions, whereas recalling affectionate and neglectful partner behaviors was associated with more promotion-focused emotions. The findings show that regulatory focus and approach–avoidance motivations influence certain interpersonal processes in similar ways, but regulatory focus theory also generates novel predictions on which approach–avoidance models are silent. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)