Establishing and Supporting Relevance

Abstract

Why do people choose to do the things they do? From a radically concrete perspective, there are as many reasons as there are situations. Every situation could be viewed as having something unique about it. But, from a more general perspective, peoples’ choices can be understood in terms of a variety of psychological concepts and theories, one of the most broadly accepted of which is expectancy-value theory which was briefly introduced in Chapter 2. This theory postulates that people choose to pursue a given goal when the expected outcome is something they desire and they have a positive expectancy for achieving it. This relationship is considered to be multiplicative in which behavior potential is a function of expectancy times value [BP = f (E x V)]. This means that both terms must have positive values or the result will be zero behavior potential. The second term in the equation which is based on goals, motives, and values is the part that applies to relevance. But, as we know, participation in school is a requirement and seldom the result of a voluntary choice based on one’s values and expectancies. What, then, are peoples’ expectations of a course with respect to relevance? This chapter contains several psychological concepts that help explain relevance and the other part of the equation, expectancies for success, will be discussed in the next chapter on confidence.