Developmental Trajectory of High School Students’ Learning Motivation and Its Relation with Academic Achievement

As a pivotal intermediary stage between compulsory education and higher education, high school education plays a key role in the Chinese education system. The capability of high school students to cultivate motivational beliefs exerts a substantial impact on their subsequent academic development. This study employed a cross-lagged analysis to examine the longitudinal interrelation among self-concept, interest value, and effort cost of 694 Chinese high school students over three semesters from grade 11 to grade 12, and the impact on their academic achievement. In mathematics, there was a negative predictive correlation between self-concept and effort cost. Additionally, the negative prediction of perceived effort cost in the second semester of grade 11 on interest value in the first semester of grade 12 appeared to be significant. In English, the developmental trajectory was relatively independent, and only self-concept in the first semester of grade 11 negatively predicted effort cost in the second semester of grade 11. In both subjects, self-concept positively predicted academic achievement, whereas effort cost negatively predicted academic achievement. Latent interaction analysis further revealed a significant interaction effect between self-concept and effort cost on academic achievement in mathematics. The findings clarified the significance of students’ learning motivation influencing their academic achievement. In the meantime, the developmental trajectories of high school students’ learning motivation were dynamic and demonstrated a clear domain-specificity pattern.