Children’s and adults’ metamotivational beliefs about how cognitive reframing shapes motivation.

= 135, 65% White, 54% women): the belief that motivation can be shaped by how one interprets the situation (i.e., cognitive reframing). In Study 1, children as young as 4-5 years attributed stronger motivation to positive than to negative reframing for the same situation, with increases in effects through age 9. In Study 2, children and adults rated reframing as more effective than distracting thoughts for motivation, but the reverse pattern held for emotion. These findings suggest that judgments about reframing cannot be reduced to valence reasoning and that participants recognize that regulating motivation is not identical to regulating emotion. Using a between-subjects design, Study 3 conceptually replicated Study 2's pattern that reframing was considered more effective than distraction for motivation but not for emotion and revealed that, unlike adults, children did not prefer reframing over distraction when selecting a strategy for themselves. Together, the research demonstrates a developing recognition of reframing effects on motivation-a process central to many motivation regulation strategies-with implications for the development of metamotivational beliefs and self-regulation. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).