I Am Therefore I Do: Group Identification and Effort for the Achievement Goals

Gerhard Reese and Julia Dietrich
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Gerhard Reese: Department of Social Psychology, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Humboldtstraße 26, Jena 07743, Germany
Julia Dietrich: Department of Educational Psychology, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Am Planetarium 4, Jena 07743, Germany

Social Sciences, 2014, vol. 3, issue 4, 1-7

Abstract: Relevant others (e.g., fellow group members) influence how goals and goal-directed behaviors are construed and valued. In turn, according to the “expectancy × value” model of motivated behavioral choice, people engage in goal-directed behaviors when they expect success and ascribe high values to a certain task. In this pilot study, we combine predictions from a social psychological goal perspective with recent theoretical developments from educational psychology, testing the processes that link a person’s social identity with the effort for the achievement goals. With a pilot study using a sample of 86 university students, we tested the assumption that expectation for success and subjective task values mediate the relation between the student identity and effort intentions. In line with our expectations, stronger identification with the group of students was related to stronger effort intentions, mediated via interest and attainment value. These results suggest that social identity may have a profound impact on the engagement decisions made in educational settings.

Keywords: group identification; expectancy value theory; social identity; task values; success expectations (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
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