Growth Trajectories of Self-Concept and Interest in Mathematics and Language – Individual Differences and Cross-Domain Relations

Motivational beliefs seem to decline for many during adolescence. Although this may reflect a mismatch between students’ needs and the secondary schools’ resources, general declines may also stem from increased dimensional comparison processes: students’ motivational beliefs tend to become increasingly domain-specific during adolescence. Yet, inter- and intraindividual differences in students' co-developmental processes of self-concept and interest across domains have rarely been studied.This study examined what kinds of developmental trajectories of self-concept and interest in mathematics and L1 can be identified among adolescents across lower-secondary education, and whether trajectories and cross-domain relations differ between genders.We followed 612 students across Grades 7–9 (13 to 15-year-olds). Growth mixture models were applied to identify distinct motivational trajectories of math and L1 self-concept and interest across Grades 7–9. Multi-group growth models were used to compare growth trajectories and cross-domain relations between genders.Results revealed that students’ math and L1 motivation development was rather homogenous across grades 7–9, and many experienced some decline in their motivation after entering Grade 7. Yet, a pronounced differentiation across domains was detected among girls, favoring the L1 domain. Girls also engaged in more dimensional comparison processes as compared to boys, as several negative cross-domain relations between math and L1 were detected among girls. In conclusion, dimensional comparisons (negative cross-domain relations) seemed to be more prominent among girls, which may explain some consistent gender differences in students' motivational beliefs. The findings should be considered when planning targeted interventions, for example, to support girls' relatively low motivation in math.