CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 131Education, Achievement, and GiftednessCareer Development and DiversitySchool Choice and Performance

Harnessing Values to Promote Motivation in Education

Open access
Harackiewicz, Judith M., Tibbetts, Yoi, Canning, Elizabeth, Hyde, Janet S.·2014·Motivational Interventions
DOI 10.1108/s0749-742320140000018002PMC PMC5589190
Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

Purpose: We review the interventions that promote motivation in academic contexts, with a focus on two primary questions: How can we motivate students to take more STEM courses? Once in those STEM courses, how can we keep students motivated and promote their academic achievement? Design/methodology/approach: We have approached these two motivational questions from several perspectives, examining the theoretical issues with basic laboratory research, conducting longitudinal questionnaire studies in classrooms, and developing interventions implemented in different STEM contexts. Our research is grounded in three theories that we believe are complementary: expectancy-value theory (Eccles & Wigfield, 2002), interest theory (Hidi & Renninger, 2006), and self-affirmation theory (Steele, 1988). As social psychologists, we have focused on motivational theory and used experimental methods, with an emphasis on values – students’ perceptions of the value of academic tasks and students’ personal values that shape their experiences in academic contexts. Findings: We review the experimental field studies in high-school science and college psychology classes, in which utility-value interventions promoted interest and performance for high-school students in science classes and for undergraduate students in psychology courses. We also review a randomized intervention in which parents received information about the utility value of math and science for their teens in high school; this intervention led students to take nearly one semester more of science and mathematics, compared with the control group. Finally, we review an experimental study of values affirmation in a college biology course and found that the intervention improved performance and retention for first-generation college students, closing the social-class achievement gap by 50%. We conclude by discussing the mechanisms through which these interventions work. Originality/value: These interventions are exciting for their broad applicability in improving students’ academic choices and performance, they are also exciting regarding their potential for contributions to basic science. The combination of laboratory experiments and field experiments is advancing our understanding of the motivational principles and almost certainly will continue to do so. At the same time, interventions may benefit from becoming increasingly targeted at specific motivational processes that are effective with particular groups or in particular contexts.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1108/s0749-742320140000018002

Cites

22 of 22 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Utility value interventions help students see the relevance of education to their lives by encouraging them to identify the value of the content of a given field of study to them and their lives.

    “Utility value interventions help students see the relevance of education to their lives by encouraging them to identify the value of the content of a given field of study to them and their lives”

    From Tackling Educational Inequalities with Social Psychology: Identities, Contexts, and Interventions (2021) · cites this paper as Harackiewicz et al., 2014

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 70

  1. Ainley M Hidi S Berndorff D 2002 Interest, learning, and the psychological processes that mediate their relationship Journal of Educational Psychology 94 545 561 10.1037/0022-0663.94.3.545 · DOI
  2. Aronson J Dee T 2012 Stereotype threat in the real world Inzlicht M Schmader T Stereotype threat: Theory, process, and application New York, NY Oxford University Press
  3. Aronson J Inzlicht M 2004 The ups and downs of attributional ambiguity: Stereotype vulnerability and the academic self-knowledge of African-American students Psychological Science 15 829 836 10.1111/j.0956-7976.2004.00763.x 15563328 · DOI
  4. Aronson J Lustina MJ Good C Keough K Steele CM Brown J 1999 When white men can’t do math: Necessary and sufficient factors in stereotype threat Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 35 29 46 10.1006/jesp.1998.1371 · DOI
  5. Bergin DA 1999 Influences on classroom interest Educational Psychologist 34 87 98 10.1207/s15326985ep3402_2 · DOI
  6. Berlyne DE 1960 Conflict, arousal, and curiosity New York, NY McGraw-Hill 10.1037/11164-000 · DOI
  7. Bowen WG Kurzweil MA Tobin EM 2005 Equity and excellence in American higher education Charlottesville, VA University of Virginia Press
  8. Brown SD Tramayne S Hoxha D Telander K Fan X Lent RW 2008 Social cognitive predictors of college students’ academic performance and persistence: A meta-analytic path analysis Journal of Vocational Behavior 72 298 308 10.1016/j.jvb.2007.09.003 · DOI
  9. Cohen GL Garcia J Apfel N Master A 2006 Reducing the racial achievement gap: A social-psychological intervention Science 313 1307 1310 10.1126/science.1128317 16946074 · DOI · Paper page
  10. Cohen GL Purdie-Vaughns V Garcia J 2012 An identity threat perspective on intervention Inzlicht M Schmader T Stereotype threat: Theory, process, and application New York, NY Oxford University Press 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199732449.003.0018 · DOI · Paper page
  11. Croizet JC Claire T 1998 Extending the concept of stereotype and threat to social class: The intellectual underperformance of students from low socioeconomic backgrounds Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 24 588 594 10.1177/0146167298246003 · DOI · Paper page
  12. Croizet JC Dutrévis M 2004 Socioeconomic status and intelligence: Why test scores do not equal merit Journal of Poverty 8 91 107 10.1300/J134v08n03_05 · DOI
  13. Deci EL Ryan RM 1985 The general causality orientations scale: Self-determination in personality Journal of Research in Personality 19 109 134 10.1016/0092-6566(85)90023-6 · DOI
  14. Deslauriers L Schelew E Wieman C 2011 Improved learning in a large enrollment physics class Science 332 862 864 10.1126/science.1201783 21566198 · DOI · Paper page
  15. De Volder ML Lens WW 1982 Academic achievement and future time perspective as a cognitive–motivational concept Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 42 566 571 10.1037/0022-3514.42.3.566 · DOI
  16. Durik AM Harackiewicz JM 2007 Different strokes for different folks: How individual interest moderates the effects of situational factors on task interest Journal of Educational Psychology 99 597 610 10.1037/0022-0663.99.3.597 · DOI
  17. Durik AM Hulleman CS Harackiewicz JM (in press) One size fits some: Instructional enhancements to promote interest don’t work the same for everyone Renninger KA Nieswandt M Interest, the self, and K-16 mathematics and science learning Washington, DC American Educational Research Association
  18. Durik AM Shechter OG Noh M Rozek CS Harackiewicz JM 2014 What if I can’t? Success expectancies moderate the effects of utility value information on situational interest and performance Motivation and Emotion Advance online publication 10.1007/s11031-014-9419-0 · DOI
  19. Eccles J 2009 Who am I and what am I going to do with my life? Personal and collective identities as motivators of action Educational Psychologist 44 78 89 10.1080/00461520902832368 · DOI · Paper page
  20. Eccles JS Wigfield A 2002 Motivational beliefs, values, and goals Annual Review of Psychology 53 109 132 10.1146/annurev.psych.53.100901.135153 11752481 · DOI · Paper page
  21. Fein S Spencer SJ 1997 Prejudice as self-image maintenance: Affirming the self through derogating others Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 73 31 44 10.1037/0022-3514.73.1.31 · DOI · Paper page
  22. Gamoran A 2001 American schooling and educational inequality: A forecast for the 21st century Sociology of Education 74 135 153 10.2307/2673258 · DOI
  23. Grodsky E Jones MT 2007 Real and imagined barriers to college entry: Perceptions of cost Social Science Research 36 745 766 10.1016/j.ssresearch.2006.05.001 · DOI
  24. Gunderson EA Ramirez G Levine SC Beilock SL 2012 The role of parents and teachers in the development of gender-related math attitudes Sex Roles 66 153 166 10.1007/s11199-011-9996-2 · DOI
  25. Haak DC HilleRisLambers J Pitre E Freeman S 2011 Increased structure and active learning reduce the achievement gap in introductory biology Science 332 1213 1216 10.1126/science.1204820 21636776 · DOI · Paper page
  26. Harackiewicz JM 1979 The effects of reward contingency and performance feedback on intrinsic motivation Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 37 1352 1363 10.1037/0022-3514.37.8.135 · DOI
  27. Harackiewicz JM Barron KE Tauer JM Elliot AJ 2002 Predicting success in college: A longitudinal study of achievement goals and ability measures as predictors of interest and performance from freshman year through graduation Journal of Educational Psychology 94 562 575 10.1037/0022-0663.94.3.562 · DOI · Paper page
  28. Harackiewicz JM Canning EA Tibbetts Y Giffen CJ Blair SS Rouse DI Hyde JS 2014 Closing the social class achievement gap for first-generation students in undergraduate biology Journal of Educational Psychology 106 375 389 10.1037/a0034679 25049437 PMC4103196 · DOI · Paper page
  29. Harackiewicz JM Hulleman CS 2010 The importance of interest: The role of achievement goals and task values in promoting the development of interest Social and Personality Psychology Compass 4 42 52 10.1111/j.1751-9004.2009.00207.x · DOI
  30. Harackiewicz JM Sansone C 1991 Goals and intrinsic motivation: You can get there from here Maehr ML Pintrich PR Advances in motivation and achievement 7 21 49 Greenwich, CT JAI Press
  31. Harter S 2006 The self Damon W Lerner RM Eisenberg N Handbook of child psychology: Social, emotional, and personality development 3 505 570 New York, NY Wiley
  32. Hidi S Baird W 1988 Strategies for increasing text-based interest and students’ recall of expository texts Reading Research Quarterly 23 465 483 10.2307/747644 · DOI
  33. Hidi S Harackiewicz JM 2000 Motivating the academically unmotivated: A critical issue for the 21st century Review of Educational Research 70 151 179 10.2307/1170660 · DOI · Paper page
  34. Hulleman CS Durik AM Schweigert SB Harackiewicz JM 2008 Task values, achievement goals, and interest: An integrative analysis Journal of Educational Psychology 100 398 416 10.1037/0022-0663.100.2.398 · DOI
  35. Hulleman CS Godes O Hendricks BL Harackiewicz JM 2010 Enhancing interest and performance with a utility value intervention Journal of Educational Psychology 102 880 895 10.1037/a0019506 · DOI · Paper page
  36. Husman J Derryberry W Crowson H Lomax R 2004 Instrumentality, task value, and intrinsic motivation: Making sense of their independent interdependence Contemporary Educational Psychology 29 63 76 10.1016/S0361-476X(03)00019-5 · DOI
  37. Husman J Lens W 1999 The role of the future in student motivation Educational Psychologist 34 113 125 10.1207/s15326985ep3402_4 · DOI
  38. Iyengar SS Lepper MR 1999 Rethinking the value of choice: A cultural perspective on intrinsic motivation Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 76 349 366 10.1037/0022-3514.76.3.349 10101874 · DOI
  39. Jacobs JE Eccles JS 2000 Parents, task values, and real-life achievement-related choices Sansone C Harackiewicz JM Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation: The search for optimal motivation and performance 405 439 San Diego, CA Academic Press 10.1016/B978-012619070-0/50032-2 · DOI
  40. Jodl KM Michael A Malanchuk O Eccles JS Sameroff A 2001 Parents’ roles in shaping early adolescents’ occupational aspirations Child Development 72 1247 1265 10.1111/1467-8624.00345 11480945 · DOI
  41. Leibowitz A 1977 Parental inputs and children’s achievement Journal of Human Resources 12 242 251 10.2307/145387 · DOI
  42. Lent RW Brown SD Hackett G 1994 Toward a unifying social cognitive theory of career and academic interest, choice and performance Journal of Vocational Behavior 45 79 122 10.1006/jvbe.1994.1027 · DOI · Paper page
  43. Lepper MR Cordova DI 1992 A desire to be taught: Instructional consequences of intrinsic motivation Motivation and Emotion 16 187 208 10.1007/BF00991651 · DOI
  44. Lepper MR Henderlong J 2000 Turning “play” into “work” and “work” into “play”: 25 years of research on intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation Sansone C Harackiewicz JM Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation: The search for optimal motivation and performance 257 307 San Diego, CA Academic Press 10.1016/B978-012619070-0/50032-5 · DOI
  45. Malka A Covington MV 2005 Perceiving school performance as instrumental to future goal attainment: Effects on graded performance Contemporary Educational Psychology 30 60 80 10.1016/j.cedpsych.2004.04.001 · DOI
  46. McQueen A Klein WP 2006 Experimental manipulations of self-affirmation: A systematic review Self and Identity 5 289 354 10.1080/15298860600805325 · DOI · Paper page
  47. Melhuish EC Sylva K Sammons P Siraj-Blatchford I Taggart B Phan MB Malin A 2008 The early years: Preschool influences on mathematics achievement Science 321 1161 1162 10.1126/science.1158808 18755959 · DOI
  48. OECD 2012 Education at a glance 2012: OECD indicators OECD Publishing 10.1787/eag-2012-en · DOI
  49. Ostrove JM Long SM 2007 Social class and belonging: Implications for college adjustment The Review of Higher Education 30 363 389 10.1353/rhe.2007.0028 · DOI
  50. Phillips M 2011 Parenting, time use, and disparities in academic outcomes Murnane R Duncan G Whither opportunity? Rising inequality and the uncertain life chances of low-income children 207 228 New York, NY Russell Sage Foundation Press
  51. Ramey G Ramey A 2010 The rug rat race Brookings Papers on Economic Activity Spring 129 176 10.1353/eca.2010.0003 · DOI · Paper page
  52. Reardon SF 2011 The widening academic achievement gap between the rich and the poor: New evidence and possible explanations Murnane R Duncan G Whither opportunity? Rising inequality and the uncertain life chances of low-income children New York, NY Russell Sage Foundation Press
  53. Renninger K 2000 Individual interest and its implications for understanding intrinsic motivation Sansone C Harackiewicz JM Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation: The search for optimal motivation and performance 373 404 San Diego, CA Academic Press 10.1016/B978-012619070-0/50035-0 · DOI
  54. Rozek CS Hyde JS Svoboda RC Hulleman CS Harackiewicz JM 2014 Gender differences in the effects of a utility-value intervention to help parents motivate adolescents in mathematics and science Journal of Educational Psychology Advance online publication 10.1037/a0036981 · DOI
  55. Schiefele U 1991 Interest, learning, and motivation Educational Psychologist 26 299 10.1080/00461520.1991.9653136 · DOI
  56. Schmader T 2010 Stereotype threat deconstructed Current Directions in Psychological Science 19 14 18 10.1177/0963721409359292 · DOI
  57. Schmader T Johns M Forbes C 2008 An integrated process model of stereotype threat effects on performance Psychological Review 115 336 356 10.1037/0033-295X.115.2.336 18426293 PMC2570773 · DOI · Paper page
  58. Schraw G Dennison R 1994 The effect of reader purpose on interest and recall Journal of Reading Behavior 26 1 18 10.1080/10862969409547834 · DOI
  59. Sherman DK Bunyan DP Creswell JD Jaremka LM 2009 Psychological vulnerability and stress: The effects of self-affirmation on sympathetic nervous system responses to naturalistic stressors Health Psychology 28 554 562 10.1037/a0014663 19751081 · DOI
  60. Sherman DK Cohen GL 2006 The psychology of self-defense: Self-affirmation theory Zanna MP Advances in experimental social psychology 38 183 242 San Diego, CA Academic Press 10.1016/S0065-2601(06)38004-5 · DOI · Paper page
  61. Simons J Vansteenkiste M Lens W Lacante M 2004 Placing motivation and future time perspective theory in a temporal perspective Educational Psychology Review 16 121 139 10.1023/B:EDPR.0000026609.94841.2f · DOI
  62. Simpkins SD Fredricks JA Eccles JS 2012 Charting the Eccles’ expectancy-value model from mothers’ beliefs in childhood to youths’ activities in adolescence Developmental Psychology 48 1019 1032 10.1037/a0027468 22390665 · DOI
  63. Steele CM 1997 A threat in the air: How stereotypes shape intellectual identity and performance American Psychologist 52 613 629 10.1037/0003-066X.52.6.613 9174398 · DOI · Paper page
  64. Steele CM Spencer SJ Aronson J 2002 Contending with group image: The psychology of stereotype and social identity threat Zanna MP Advances in experimental social psychology 34 379 440 San Diego, CA Academic Press 10.1016/S0065-2601(02)80009-0 · DOI · Paper page
  65. Stephens NM Townsend SM Markus H Phillips L 2012b A cultural mismatch: Independent cultural norms produce greater increases in cortisol and more negative emotions among first-generation college students Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 48 1389 1393 10.1016/j.jesp.2012.07.008 · DOI
  66. Van Calster K Lens W Nuttin JR 1987 Affective attitude toward the personal future: Impact on motivation in high school boys The American Journal of Psychology 100 1 13 10.2307/1422639 · DOI
  67. Vansteenkiste M Lens W Deci EL 2006 Intrinsic versus extrinsic goal contents in self-determination theory: Another look at the quality of academic motivation Educational Psychologist 41 19 31 10.1207/s15326985ep4101_4 · DOI
  68. Walton GM Cohen GL 2007 A question of belonging: Race, social fit, and achievement Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 92 82 96 10.1037/0022-3514.92.1.82 17201544 · DOI · Paper page
  69. Walton GM Spencer SJ 2009 Latent ability: Grades and test scores systematically underestimate the intellectual ability of negatively stereotyped students Psychological Science 20 1132 1135 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2009.02417.x 19656335 · DOI · Paper page
  70. Wigfield A Cambria J 2010 Students’ achievement values, goal orientations, and interest: Definitions, development, and relations to achievement outcomes Developmental Review 30 1 35 10.1016/j.dr.2009.12.001 · DOI

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Harackiewicz, J. M., Tibbetts, Y., Canning, E., & Hyde, J. S.
Affiliations
University of Wisconsin–Madison (US)
ORCID
Venue
Motivational Interventions
Publisher
Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Published
2014-11-21
Volume
18
Pages
71-105
DOI
10.1108/s0749-742320140000018002
PMC
PMC5589190
OpenAlex
W2481850437
Cited by
131
References
22
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 16 · 2019: 16 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 14 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 1
FWCI
28.64
Type
book chapter
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Emerald Group Publishing Limited eBooks (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health
  • National Institute of General Medical Sciences (R01GM102703)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Education, Achievement, and Giftedness
  • Social Sciences › Safety Research › Career Development and Diversity
  • Social Sciences › Education › School Choice and Performance
Keywords
academic motivation, values affirmation, utility value intervention, interest theory, self-affirmation theory, expectancy-value theory, academic performance, first-generation college students, parental intervention, student retention, high school science, college biology

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review