An expectancy-value-cost approach in predicting adolescent students’ academic motivation and achievement

In the context of learning, cost has mostly been discussed under the expectancy-value framework and defined as the perceived negative consequences of task engagement. The issue of cost has recently attracted growing interest among scholars, because it may provide insights regarding how to predict students’ avoidance motivation and behavior. In the present study, we investigated the potential benefits of an expectancy-value-cost approach for predicting outcomes related to adolescent students’ academic motivation and achievement in math. Using two data sets (N = 637 and N = 211) of middle and high school students, we found that cost could successfully explain additional variance in multiple different variables related to academic motivation and achievement, beyond what could be predicted by expectancy and value. In particular, cost emerged as an important factor in predicting adolescent students’ adoption of avoidance goals, negative classroom affect, maladaptive academic outcomes, and exam scores. Findings of the present study extend the scope of expectancy-value theory by highlighting the importance of using expectancy, task value, and cost together to predict students’ academic motivation and educational outcomes.