Measuring cost: The forgotten component of expectancy-value theory

Abstract

Measuring cost: the forgotten component of expectancy-value theory, Contemporary Educational Psychology (2015), http://dx.doi.org/ Highlights We find that cost, from the expectancy-value model has recently reemerged in the literature. Student focus groups confirm that cost is salient when considering their motivation. We redefine cost to be consistent with our theoretical review and qualitative inquiry. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses support our theoretical cost structure. Our cost dimensions are associated with other motivation constructs and student performance. AbstractAlthough the Expectancy-Value Model offers one of the most influential models for understanding motivation, one component of this model, cost, has been largely ignored in empirical research. Fortunately, recent research is emerging on cost, but no clear consensus has emerged for operationalizing and measuring it. To address this shortcoming, we outline a comprehensive scale development process that builds and extends on prior work. We conducted a literature review of theory and existing measurement, a qualitative study with students, a Page 2 of 46 MEASURING COST 3 content alignment with experts, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, and a correlational study. In the literature and across our studies, we found that cost was salient to students, separate from expectancy and value components, contained multiple dimensions, and related to student outcomes. This work led to proposing a new, 19 item cost scale with four dimensions: task effort cost, outside effort cost, loss of valued alternatives cost, and emotional cost. In addition, to extend existing cost measures, careful attention was taken to operationalize the cost dimensions such that the scale could be easily used with a wide variety of students in various contexts. Directions for future research and the implications for the study of motivation are discussed.

Further Examination of the Engineering Students' Motivational Beliefs Scale

“…Thus, the EVC model was created in an effort to further understand how cost influences motivation through a stringent framework grounded in motivation theories. Further work with cost has even shown a newer fourth subcomponent of cost, outside effort cost, which refers to the amount of effort needed to participate in activities unrelated to the target activity [16] . Interestingly, the effort cost components have been shown to be perceived differently depending on if the task was motivating or demotivating [16] .…”

“…After years of utilizing EVT to study student motivation, researchers discovered that cost should actually be considered as a separate entity from value, as it greatly differs from the other value components and shares a unique relationship with motivation [3] [15] . After further examination of cost and its relationship to both expectancy and value, it was found that there was no support, be it conceptual or empirical, to keep cost as a mediator of value [3] .…”

Challenges and Benefits of Applied Experience as an Engineering Returner in a Ph.D. Program

“…Flake et al 21 advocated for examining cost as a separate factor, distinct from value, as they argued students cite experienced or anticipated costs as separate from their perceptions of values and that these costs are directly linked to educational outcomes. There have been several efforts to characterize different types of costs that may differently affect students' achievement-based decision making and other outcomes.…”

“…Though cost was originally conceptualized by Eccles and colleagues 17,18,19 as one component of subjective task value, there are increasing calls for considering cost in greater detail as a separate component of an expectancy-value, or expectancy-value-cost, model 20,21,22 . Flake et al 21 advocated for examining cost as a separate factor, distinct from value, as they argued students cite experienced or anticipated costs as separate from their perceptions of values and that these costs are directly linked to educational outcomes.…”

“…They found all three cost subscales were significantly and negatively related with students' intentions to persist in science, with the effort subscale having the strongest negative relationship with persistence. Informed by Perez et al's evidence of potential multidimensionality of the cost construct, Flake et al 21 developed a new cost scale intended for broader use in an academic context. Similar to the scale developed by Perez and colleagues, Flake et al's scale included task effort, loss of valued alternatives cost, and emotional cost.…”