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Achievement Values

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Synonyms

Achievement task values; Subjective task values

Definition

The motivation-related construct which refers to desire, preference, or “wanting” certain academic goals and outcomes

Introduction

Achievement values, broadly defined, focus on one’s purpose for engaging in and succeeding on a task. The research on achievement values is grounded in expectancy-value theory (Atkinson 1957). Expectancy-value theory describes one’s motivation to engage in a task as a function of one’s expectations for success and how much they value the outcome. Expectancies represent one’s beliefs in their abilities (i.e., “Can I do this?”), whereas values represent one’s desirefor achievement (i.e., “Do I want it?”). According to expectancy-value theory, individuals are more likely to engage in tasks that they feel they are competent in or can accomplish successfully; however, even if highly competent, one is unlikely to engage in a task if it has little perceived value for them (e.g., I am really good...

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References

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Correspondence to April Taylor .

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Taylor, A., Wakefield, W.D., Tate, D. (2020). Achievement Values. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T.K. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24612-3_488

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