Expectancy Beliefs, Ability, and Personality in Predicting Academic Performance

Expectancy theory of motivation was used to predict academic performance of 150 male undergraduate students. The students completed questionnaires on various expectancy beliefs; their responses were factor analyzed, and four interpretable factors emerged. Regression analyses showed that the interaction term produced an R of .55, but the unique variance in ability was stronger than the unique variance in expectancy. Differences among four expectancy factors in terms of predictive power were also obtained. In addition, personality variables of self-esteem, internal-external control, and dogmatism all moderated the relationship between expectancy beliefs and effort. Explanation for the findings are discussed, and the implications of this model for educational settings are presented.