Expectancy-Value Theory

Expectancy-value theory of achievement motivation, developed principally by psychologists Jacquelynne Eccles and Allan Wigfield from the 1980s onward and building on earlier expectancy-value models of motivation by John Atkinson, holds that a person's motivation to engage in and persist at a task is a function of two factors: their expectancy of success, how confident they are that they can succeed at the task, and the subjective value they attach to it. Eccles and Wigfield's model breaks subjective task value into several components, including intrinsic interest, personal importance, perceived usefulness for future goals, and the perceived cost of engaging in the task, such as the effort required or what must be given up to pursue it. The theory has been applied extensively in education research to explain patterns such as the decline in some students' motivation in subjects like mathematics as they progress through school, and it has informed classroom strategies aimed at raising both a student's confidence in a subject and their sense that the subject is personally worthwhile.