The state of research with regards to the development of expectancy and value beliefs can be summarized along the following questions (cf., Wigfield et al., 2009):
How does the structure of expectancy and value change across age? How does the level of these beliefs change with students’ age? Which factors influence the development of these beliefs? In line with the focus of the dissertation, the summary of the empirical evidence with regards to these questions focuses on value beliefs. However, expectancy and value beliefs are assumed to be shaped through the same processes so that they do not develop independent from each other. Therefore, research on the development of expectancy and value beliefs is presented jointly in this paragraph.
Concerning the development of the structure of expectancy and value beliefs, Eccles, Wigfield, and colleagues (Eccles, Wigfield, et al., 1993; Eccles & Wigfield, 1995) conducted factor analyses on responses to items assessing expectancy and value beliefs for students of different ages. They found that students distinguish between
expectancy and value within one domain (e.g., mathematics) as well as between these beliefs across domains (e.g., value for mathematics vs. reading) from the beginning of elementary school on. Whereas the beliefs across subjects tend to become more distinct over time, the association between expectancy and value beliefs within one domain seems to increase with students’ age (Denissen, Zarrett, & Eccles, 2007; Wigfield et al., 1997). This increasing association has been explained as an effect of students coming
“to value what they are good at” (Wigfield et al., 2009, p. 61). Effects in the other direction (i.e., value beliefs affecting expectancies) are also plausible as choices based on values can lead to higher achievement and expectancies (Wigfield & Eccles, 1992).
However, more support in empirical research has been found for effects of expectancies on the development of value beliefs (Jacobs et al., 2002; Marsh, Trautwein, Lüdtke, Köller, & Baumert, 2005). So far, less work has examined the development of the structure underlying multiple value components. From their factor-analytic studies with elementary and secondary school students (Eccles, Wigfield, et al., 1993; Eccles &
Wigfield, 1995), Wigfield et al. (2009) conclude that the value components can be separated from fifth grade on. On a theoretical basis, it has been discussed how the concept of task value might change as students get older: Whereas subjective task value for younger students might be centered heavily around intrinsic enjoyment, older students might also consider the aspect of usefulness for future goals (Wigfield &
Eccles, 1992; Wigfield, 1994).
How do mean levels of expectancy and value beliefs develop? Longitudinal studies with samples from different countries (such as the United States, Australia and Germany) show a consistent pattern in different academic subjects: Expectancy and value-related beliefs decrease from elementary school years onwards (Wigfield et al., 1997), and this downward-trend continues into secondary school (Fredricks & Eccles, 2002; Frenzel, Goetz, Pekrun, & Watt, 2010; Jacobs et al., 2002; Watt, 2004). Several possible explanations have been offered for these findings (for an overview, see Wigfield et al., 2006). Focusing on the development of expectancies, children seem to have overly optimistic beliefs about their levels of competence when they are young and become much more realistic in evaluating their own achievement when they grow up (Dweck & Elliott, 1983; Stipek & Mac Iver, 1989). This more realistic competence appraisal will lead to a decrease in students’ expectancies and, as a consequence, in values. Interest theory further suggests that interests differentiate naturally through
identity formation processes as children get older (Krapp, 2002). Intraindividual differences in interests thus become more pronounced with some interests remaining high and others going down, and this can explain the negative development in the average level of subject specific interests. Furthermore, social interests seem to increasingly compete with students’ school-related interests during adolescence (Hidi &
Ainley, 2002). In addition to such natural developmental factors, some researchers have argued that the lack of fit between students’ developmental needs and the school environment contributes to a decline in expectancies and values (Eccles, Midgley, et al., 1993). The interpretation of mean-level changes in expectancies and values, however, relies on the assumption that measures of these beliefs assess the same underlying constructs across time. This assumption is not always tested in empirical studies; there is, however, some support for structural changes in motivational constructs (Frenzel, Pekrun, Dicke, & Goetz, 2012).
Which psychological and social factors influence the development of expectancy and value beliefs? Although there is more literature available on the factors involved in the development of expectancy beliefs, the same factors are assumed to also affect how students’ value beliefs develop, and much can also be learned from the work on the development of interest (see Wigfield et al., 2006, 2009). Generally, expectancies and values are developed through experiences with different tasks, which can be made in various contexts. Students use the feedback provided by important socializers such as parents and teachers to build their beliefs about the expectancies and values of different tasks (Eccles, 2007). More broadly, expectancies and values are also influenced by cultural norms (Eccles, 2005). All these experiences with different tasks provide students with a set of different comparisons that they can use as sources of information (see Marsh, 1986; Möller & Marsh, 2013). First, students engage in social or external comparisons; that is, they compare their own abilities, and probably also their interests, with those of others. Second, students rely on dimensional or internal comparisons; that is, they compare their own ability or interest in one domain (e.g., math) with their ability or interest in another domain (e.g., language arts). Although these comparison processes have been mainly investigated for students’ expectancies, there is also some support for their role in the development of values and related constructs (Goetz, Frenzel, Hall, & Pekrun, 2008; Nagy et al., 2006; Schurtz, Pfost, Nagengast, & Artelt, 2014). In particular, support for dimensional comparison effects has been found
between mathematical subjects on the one hand and verbal subjects on the other hand (Marsh, 1986; Möller & Marsh, 2013).