2024/08/20 by Jonas Breetzke, Carla Bohndick
Mathematics · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Developmental psychology #Dropout (neural networks) #Education, Achievement, and Giftedness #Expectancy theory #Grit, Self-Efficacy, and Motivation #Higher Education Research Studies #Mathematics #Psychology #Social psychology #Statistics #Value (mathematics)
paper · pdf · doi:10.1007/s11031-024-10088-9
crossref issued 2024/08/20 · crossref published 2024/08/20 · crossref published-online 2024/08/20 · openalex publication_date 2024/08/20 · crossref created 2024/08/20 · crossref deposited 2024/09/20 · crossref published-print 2024/10/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · crossref indexed 2026/08/04 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Abstract Research highlights the importance of expectancy-value interactions in predicting secondary-school students’ academic achievement. But as students transition to higher education, their expectancies and values undergo significant changes – highlighting the need to broaden the application of expectancy-value interactions to this context. To address this, we investigate the interactions between higher education students’ expectancies and their values in relation to students’ dropout intention. Data of N = 1140 students were analysed using latent moderated structural equation modelling. Similar to prior research, we find that expectancy-value interactions are related to students’ dropout intention. But rather than the synergistic interactions commonly found in the secondary-school context, we find that higher education students exhibit compensatory interactions: High study values and low costs could, to a certain degree, compensate for low expectancies. Furthermore, special attention should be paid to students who see little value in their studies and have a low success expectation, as they showed dropout intentions that far exceed effects indicated in prior research.