The Relationship Between Engagement in Physics, Achievement Goals, Subjective Values and Self-Worth Contingencies

Abstract

Engagement has an important role in education, so it is necessary to enrich our understanding of the motivational processes underlying engagement. In this research, it was investigated whether subjective task values and self-worth contingencies predict behavioral, cognitive and emotional engagement in physics. The mediating effects of achievement goals on the relationships of subjective task values and self- -worth contingencies with three dimensions of engagement were also tested. Participants were 411 high-school pupils. Data were collected by The Engagement Scale, The Subjective Task Values Scale, The Contingencies of Self-Worth Scale and The Achievement Goals Scale. The results showed that the context-specific dimensions of engagement were better predicted by subjective task values and achievement goals, which were also context-specific, than by self-worth contingencies, which were context-general. Furthermore, results of the mediation analysis confirmed the assumption of the hierarchical model of approach – avoidance motivation, that the achievement goals mediate the relationships of subjective task values and self-worth contingencies with engagement.