The role of study and leisure values in students’ decisions in study-leisure conflicts: A latent difference score model

Students often face decisions between academic and leisure activities, especially when they have academic activities that need to be completed but are disturbed by leisure activities at the same time. The relative strength of study and leisure values has been theorized to be related to students' decisions in study-leisure conflicts, yet previous studies have focused mainly on the role of the absolute strength of study or leisure values. This study aims to test the relationship between the relative strength of study and leisure values and early adolescent students' decisions in study-leisure conflicts and systematically consider multiple value components defined in expectancy-value theory. Data were collected from 2564 Chinese seventh graders and analysed by latent difference score modelling. The results showed that students with higher study interest value, higher study attainment value, higher study utility value, or lower study cost relative to leisure value components tended to choose academic activities in study-leisure conflicts. Moreover, when considering the four value components simultaneously, the relative strength of study and leisure attainment values had the strongest effect on decisions in study-leisure conflicts. These findings provide a new perspective and new evidence for the relationship between students' study and leisure values and decisions in study-leisure conflicts.