Variations on an expectancy-value model of motivation in science

Relationships among motivational Variables from goal theory and expectancy- value theory were investigated in this correlational study of high school s tudents. Self-report surveys of motivation in science were collected during biology classes from 69 males and 80 females. Outcome measures were effort , persistence, and achievement. Gender differences were noted in the patter n of zero-order correlations. Internal motivation Variables were related to achievement in males but not females. Regression analyses indicated that t he motivation variables explained large proportions of variance in the outc omes. However, the contribution of individual variables differed by gender. Most notable was perceived ability, which contributed significantly to pre dicting outcome measures for females but not males. Findings suggest that i nterventions may need to focus on different motivational aspects depending on gender. (C) 1999 Academic Press.