Expectancy-value-cost motivational profiles in biology and physics: Their relations with gender, self-reported satisfaction of needs, and learning behavior

Abstract

This study aimed to 1) identify groups of students with different expectancy, intrinsic and utility value, and cost profiles in biology and physics, and 2) to examine group differences in sources of beliefs (gender, students' perceptions of their biology and physics teachers' need-supportive and need-thwarting behavior) and students' learning behavior (reported persistence and use of learning strategies). In total, 1502 eighth and ninth grade students from Estonia filled in questionnaires. With latent profile analysis, four general (Indifferent, Maladaptive, Moderate, and Adaptive) and two subject-specific (Biology-Adaptive and Physics-Adaptive) motivational profiles were identified. These groups differed in gender composition, students' perceptions of their teachers' need-supportive and need-thwarting behavior, task-persistent learning behavior, and reported use of deep learning strategies. The findings suggest that motivation may develop differently within each subject. Examining motivation across two or more subjects adds valuable information about individual differences and has practical implications for supporting motivation in various subjects.