Who Am I and What Am I Going to Do With My Life? Personal and Collective Identities as Motivators of Action
Abstract
Who am I? What am I about? What is my place in my social group? What is important to me? What do I value? What do I want to do with my life? These are all questions related to what psychologists call identity. Many theorists have argued that we are driven to answer these questions, particularly during adolescence. In this article, I summarize an expectancy value perspective on identity and identity formation. Within this framework, identity can be conceptualized in terms of two basic sets of self perceptions: (a) perceptions related to skills, characteristics, and competencies, and (b) perceptions related to personal values and goals. Together these two sets of self perceptions inform both individuals' expectations for success and the importance they attach to becoming involved in a wide range of tasks. Within this perspective, then, I focus on the role personal and collective identities can play on motivated action through their influence on expectations for success and subjective task values. I also discuss briefly how personality and collective identities develop over time.
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The most personal predictors of enrollment in a school music class are students' expectations for success, their attitudes toward the school music program, and their perceptions of the participation costs.
“However, the most personal predictors of enrollment in a school music class are students' expectations for success, their attitudes toward the school music program, and their perceptions of the participation costs (Eccles, 2009).”
From Understanding Participation in Secondary Music Classes: A Literature Review (2020) · cites this paper as Eccles, 2009
An individual's personal attitudes are influential on their decision to engage in a task.
“An individual's personal attitudes are influential on their decision to engage in a task (Eccles, 2009;Renninger & Hidi, 2016).”
From Understanding Participation in Secondary Music Classes: A Literature Review (2020) · cites this paper as Eccles, 2009
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- Authors
- ECCLES, J.
- Affiliations
- Institute for Social Research (US)
- Corresponding author
- ECCLES, JACQUELYNNE
- ORCID
- ECCLES, JACQUELYNNE
- Venue
- Educational Psychologist
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2009-05-13
- Volume
- 44
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 78-89
- ISSN
- 0046-1520 (ISSN-L)
- 1532-6985
- OpenAlex
- W2157568592
- Cited by
- 1,444
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 103 · 2025: 129 · 2024: 110 · 2023: 106 · 2022: 118 · 2021: 105 · 2020: 127 · 2019: 114 · 2018: 134 · 2017: 74 · 2016: 70 · 2015: 70 · 2014: 64 · 2013: 47 · 2012: 42
- FWCI
- 27.87
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Educational Psychologist (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Education, Achievement, and Giftedness
- Social Sciences › Safety Research › Career Development and Diversity
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Identity, Memory, and Therapy
- Keywords
- identity, identity construction, expectancy-value theory, personal identity, collective identity, self-perception, personal values, goals, motivation, expectancy of success, subjective task value, personality development, adolescence
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