Motivation and emotion/Book/2026/Expectancy-value theory of educational motivation

Expectancy-value theory of educational motivation:
What is expectancy-value theory and how can it be applied to understand and enhance educational motivation?

Overview

Imagine this scenario

Figure 1. A student reflecting on their motivation to learn. You're sitting at your desk, working through a short maths quiz before dinner. The first question looks familiar, yet you pause, unsure whether you can solve it. You read it again, feeling a small wave of hesitation and mild frustration as you try to work out where to begin (see figure 1). After a moment, you recall solving a similar problem last week, and your teacher mentioned you were on the right track. This memory gives you a small boost of confidence, enough to try the first step. As you work through the question, you start thinking about why you’re even doing this quiz. You remind yourself that completing these tasks helps you prepare for the upcoming test and supports your longer‑term academic goals. This shift in mindset increases your confidence and clarifies the importance of the task. The quiz feels more manageable, and you start working through the first question. With this renewed sense of direction, you continue working through the quiz. This scenario demonstrates how expectancy and task value shape a learner’s motivation during routine academic activities. Expectancy-value theory provides a clear framework for understanding how changes in confidence and task value affect a learner’s motivation. This theory proposes that motivation increases when learners feel capable of succeeding and when they view a task as important, useful, or aligned with their goals.

The scenario above shows how small adjustments in confidence and perceived value can influence engagement, making everyday learning tasks feel either overwhelming or manageable. Many students experience fluctuating motivation during routine academic tasks, which can make learning feel overwhelming or discouraging. Expectancy-value theory helps explain this pattern by showing how confidence (expectancy beliefs) and perceived importance or usefulness (task values) shape a learner’s motivation. This theory provides a social-cognitive explanation of why students choose to engage in learning activities and offers evidence-based strategies to strengthen both expectancy beliefs and task values. The following sections outline these core components and show how they can be applied in educational settings to support more adaptive learning behaviours.

Focus questions
What is expectancy-value theory? How do social‑cognitive models explain educational motivation? How do expectancy beliefs influence educational motivation? How do task values influence educational motivation? How can expectancy-value theory be used to enhance motivation in educational settings?

Expectancy-value theory

Figure 2. Conceptual diagram illustrating expectancy‑value theory (EVT). Diagram created by author.

• Introduce Eccles & Wigfield (2002) and explain that expectancy-value theory (EVT) was developed within achievement motivation research, focusing on how students’ expectations for success and the value they place on tasks influence their motivation and choices (see Figure 2).

• Eccles and Wigfield (2000, 2002) describe expectancy-value theory as a major explanation of achievement motivation. The theory proposes that people are motivated when they believe they can succeed at a task and when they see the task as worthwhile. For example, a student is more likely to study for a maths test if they feel confident in their ability and if the test seems important, enjoyable, or useful.

• Outline the key components of expectancy-value theory by explaining that motivation is shaped by two main factors: a person’s expectations for success and the value they attach to the task. Expectations reflect beliefs about one’s ability to perform well, while task value captures how important, enjoyable, or useful the activity feels. Together, these factors influence the choices students make and the effort they invest.

• Although EVT is widely used in educational motivation research, scholars have noted several limitations. Pintrich (2003) argues that the theory places too much emphasis on rational decision-making and does not fully account for the emotional and social factors that influence student motivation. Other researchers highlight that EVT provides limited explanation of how expectancies and values develop over time or why they differ between students (Flake et al., 2015). These critiques suggest that EVT may not fully capture the complexity of real-world motivation.

As shown in Table 1, expectancy-value theory consists of five core components that influence students’ motivation.

Table 1. Key components of expectancy-value theory and their relevance to educational motivation.

Component	Definition	Example in education
Expectancy	Belief about ability to succeed	"I can pass this exam if I study."
Intrinsic value	Enjoyment or interest in the task	"I enjoy learning psychology."
Utility value	Usefulness for future goals	"This unit is required for my degree."
Attainment value	Importance to identity	"Being good at maths matters to me."
Cost	Negative aspects of engagement	"This assignment is stressful and time-consuming."

How do social-cognitive models explain educational motivation?

Expectancy beliefs

• Expectancy beliefs refer to students’ judgments about how capable they are of successfully performing a task. In social cognitive models, these beliefs are central because they strongly predict academic choices, effort, and persistence. Eccles and Wigfield (2002) emphasise that expectancies for success are shaped by students’ prior achievement, self-concept, and perceptions of task difficulty. When students believe they can succeed, they are more likely to engage with learning activities and persist through challenges.

• Introduce Bandura (1997), Pajares (1996), and Schunk and Pajares (2009) as key social cognitive researchers who demonstrate that expectancy beliefs strongly predict students’ effort, persistence, and academic performance.

• Expectancy beliefs help explain educational motivation because students who believe they can succeed are more likely to engage with learning tasks, persist through challenges, and choose activities that support academic growth. This shows how social cognitive models account for differences in motivation across students with similar abilities.

• Expectancy beliefs have been critiqued for focusing heavily on cognitive judgements and underestimating emotional and contextual influences on motivation. Research shows that confidence alone does not fully explain student engagement, particularly when anxiety, stress, or classroom climate reduce their willingness to participate (Pajares, 1996; Bandura, 1997).

Task value

• Introduce Eccles and Wigfield (2000, 2002) by explaining that task values describe how important, enjoyable, or useful students perceive a learning activity to be.

• Eccles and Wigfield (2000, 2002) explain that task values include intrinsic value (enjoyment), utility value (usefulness), attainment value (importance), and cost, which refers to the perceived negative aspects of engaging in a task. These values shape how worthwhile students believe a learning activity is.

• Research shows that students are more motivated when they find a task enjoyable or personally meaningful (Eccles & Wigfield, 2000). Utility value also increases motivation, with studies demonstrating that students work harder when they believe a task will support their future goals (Hulleman & Harackiewicz, 2009).

• More recent work highlights the importance of cost, showing that high perceived effort, anxiety, or time demands can reduce motivation even when other values are high (Flake et al., 2015). This demonstrates that negative perceptions can undermine engagement despite strong intrinsic or utility value.

• Task values help explain educational motivation because students are more likely to engage with learning activities, they find enjoyable, important, or useful. This shows how social cognitive models account for differences in motivation by focusing on how students evaluate the worth of academic tasks.

• Task value research has been critiqued for focusing mainly on cognitive evaluations and overlooking how emotions, social pressures, and classroom climate shape students’ perceptions of value. Researchers also note that the different types of value can blur together in real learning situations, which makes it challenging to distinguish them clearly (Flake et al., 2015; Eccles, 2005).

Table #.

Table caption goes here

Whats happening in this space?

The renaissance of cost While early EVT research focused heavily on confidence and utility, contemporary studies increasingly emphasise the cost component. Recent work shows that psychological strain, performance anxiety, and time investment, captured across multidimensional cost categories such as effort, emotional strain, and opportunity costs, can meaningfully undermine high task values in demanding subjects like mathematics (Flake et al., 2015; Perez et al., 2014; Gaspard et al., 2015). Real time and dynamic motivation Motivation is now often viewed as a shifting, context-sensitive process rather than a static mindset. Recent studies show that students’ values and expectancies vary across lessons and classroom environments, influenced by factors such as perceived support, peer interactions, and task characteristics, which aligns with EVT’s emphasis on how beliefs and values develop within specific learning contexts (Eccles & Wigfield, 2020; Lazarides & Raufelder, 2017; Dietrich et al., 2017). Utility value interventions Rather than a static mindset, academic motivation is increasingly understood as a dynamic, context-sensitive process. Grounded in contemporary situated expectancy-value theory (SEVT), empirical evidence demonstrates that students’ expectancies for success and task values show meaningful micro-fluctuations across days, lessons, and distinct learning spaces (Eccles & Wigfield, 2020; Dietrich et al., 2017). These real-time shifts are shaped by immediate environmental inputs, including classroom climate, peer dynamics, and specific task designs (Lazarides & Raufelder, 2017). The move towards situated expectancy-value theory Early EVT (Eccles et al., 1983) focused on stable beliefs about competence and task value. Later refinements clarified how social influences (teachers, parents, and peers) shape these beliefs. SEVT (2020) reframes motivation as dynamic and situated, showing that expectancies and values shift in response to classroom context, feedback, identity, and social interactions.

How can expectancy-value theory be used to enhance motivation in educational settings?

• Strengthening expectancy beliefs: EVT can enhance motivation by increasing students’ expectancy beliefs through clear feedback, modelling effective strategies, and providing structured support that builds confidence in their ability to succeed (Bandura, 1997; Schunk & Pajares, 2009).
• Enhancing task values: Teachers can increase task values by emphasising the relevance, usefulness, and personal meaning of learning activities, helping students connect academic tasks to future goals and real‑world applications (Eccles & Wigfield, 2002; Hulleman & Harackiewicz, 2009).
• Reducing perceived cost: EVT can be applied by reducing perceived cost, such as anxiety, workload pressure, or time demands, through supportive classroom climates, manageable task structures, and opportunities for autonomy (Flake et al., 2015).
• A practical example of EVT in educational settings is the utility‑value intervention, where students reflect on how a learning task connects to their personal goals or future plans. This approach has been shown to boost motivation and academic performance, particularly for students with lower initial expectancy beliefs (Hulleman & Harackiewicz, 2009).
• A critique of applying EVT in classrooms is that increasing task values or expectancy beliefs may not be effective if students face structural barriers such as poor teaching quality, limited resources, or high stress. EVT interventions can also be difficult to sustain over time without consistent support (Eccles & Wigfield, 2002).

Knowledge checkpoint

Quiz
1 Which component of expectancy-value theory refers to a student's belief about their ability to succeed? Expectancy Intrinsic value Utility value Cost 2 Which value component reflects how enjoyable or interesting a task is? Attainment value Intrinsic value Utility value Cost

Conclusion

• Expectancy beliefs play a central role in educational motivation by shaping students’ confidence in their ability to succeed, influencing effort, persistence, and engagement (Eccles & Wigfield, 2002).

• Task values determine how important, interesting, or useful a learning activity feels, guiding students’ willingness to invest time and energy in academic tasks (Wigfield & Eccles, 2000).

• Expectancy-value theory shows that motivation increases when students believe they can succeed and when they view tasks as meaningful, relevant, or aligned with personal goals (Eccles & Wigfield, 2020).

• Applying EVT in educational settings involves strengthening both expectancy beliefs and task values through supportive feedback, meaningful learning activities, and reduced perceived cost (Hulleman & Harackiewicz, 2009; Flake et al., 2015).

• Together, these components provide a practical framework for understanding and improving student motivation in everyday classroom contexts (Eccles & Wigfield, 2002).

Take home messages
Further take home messages to be added to this feature box as the book chapter develops

See also

Achievement motivation (Book chapter 2011)

Educational psychology (Wikipedia)

Expectancy-value theory (Wikipedia)

Motivation (Wikipedia)

External links

Motivation minute: Expectancy-value theory (Oklahoma State University, professional teaching resource)

Extrinsic vs. Intrinsic Motivation: What’s the Difference? (Verywell Mind article)

References

Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. W. H. Freeman.

Canning, E. A., Harackiewicz, J. M., Priniski, S. J., Hecht, C. A., Tibbetts, Y., & Hyde, J. S. (2018). Improving performance and retention in introductory biology with a utility-value intervention. Journal of Educational Psychology, 110(6), 834–849. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000244

Dietrich, J., Viljaranta, J., Moeller, J., & Kracke, B. (2017). Situational expectancies and task values: Associations with students' effort. Learning and Instruction, 47, 53–64. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2016.10.009

Eccles, J. S. (2005). Subjective task value and the Eccles et al. model of achievement-related choices. In A. J. Elliot & C. S. Dweck (Eds.), Handbook of competence and motivation (pp. 105–121). Guilford Press.

Eccles, J. S., Adler, T. F., Futterman, R., Goff, S. B., Kaczala, C. M., Meece, J. L., & Midgley, C. (1983). Expectancies, values, and academic behaviors. In J. T. Spence (Ed.), Achievement and achievement motives (pp. 75–146). W. H. Freeman.

Eccles, J. S., & Wigfield, A. (2002). Motivational beliefs, values, and goals. Annual Review of Psychology, 53(1), 109–132. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.53.100901.135153

Eccles, J. S., & Wigfield, A. (2020). From expectancy–value theory to situated expectancy–value theory: A developmental, social cognitive, and sociocultural perspective on motivation. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 61, Article 101859. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2020.101859

Flake, J. K., Barron, K. E., Hulleman, C., McCoach, B. D., & Welsh, M. E. (2015). Measuring cost: The forgotten component of expectancy-value theory. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 41, 232–244. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2015.03.002

Gaspard, H., Dicke, A. L., Flunger, B., Schreier, B., Häfner, I., Trautwein, U., & Nagengast, B. (2015). More value through greater differentiation: Gender differences in value beliefs about math. Journal of Educational Psychology, 107(3), 663–677. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000003

Harackiewicz, J. M., & Priniski, S. J. (2018). Improving student outcomes in higher education: The science of targeted intervention. Annual Review of Psychology, 69, 409–435. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-122216-011725

Hulleman, C. S., & Harackiewicz, J. M. (2009). Promoting interest and performance in high school science classes. Science, 326(5958), 1410–1412. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1177067

Pajares, F. (1996). Self-efficacy beliefs in academic settings. Review of Educational Research, 66(4), 543–578. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543066004543

Perez, T., Cromley, J. G., & Kaplan, A. (2014). The role of identity development, values, and costs in college STEM retention. Journal of Educational Psychology, 106(1), 315–329.

Pintrich, P. R. (2003). A Motivational Science Perspective on the Role of Student Motivation in Learning and Teaching Contexts. Journal of Educational Psychology, 95(4), 667–686. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.95.4.667

S00246164. (2025). Motivation Laptop.svg [SVG image]. Wikiversity. https://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/File:Motivation_Laptop.svg

Schunk, D. H., & Pajares, F. (2009). Self-efficacy theory. In K. R. Wentzel & A. Wigfield (Eds.), Handbook of motivation at school (pp. 35–53). Routledge.

Wigfield, A., & Cambria, J. (2010). Students’ achievement values, goal orientations, and interest: Definitions, development, and relations to achievement outcomes. Developmental Review, 30, 1–35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2009.12.001

Wigfield, A., & Eccles, J. S. (2000). Expectancy–Value Theory of Achievement Motivation. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25(1), 68–81. https://doi.org/10.1006/ceps.1999.1015

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Table 1

Key components of expectancy-value theory and their relevance to educational motivation.

Component	Definition	Example in education
Expectancy	Belief about ability to succeed	"I can pass this exam if I study."
Intrinsic value	Enjoyment or interest in the task	"I enjoy learning psychology."
Utility value	Usefulness for future goals	"This unit is required for my degree."
Attainment value	Importance to identity	"Being good at maths matters to me."
Cost	Negative aspects of engagement	"This assignment is stressful and time-consuming."

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