Control-Value Theory

   

     For those who are unfamiliar with control-value theory, developed by Pekrun, it is essentially the combination of (1) personal control across time frames AND (2) personal values for obtaining success. Time frames refer to the past, present, and future. Values refer to what goals, reasons, or personal values once may have for completing a task. When someone considers their control relative to values in the present, they are typically concerned with their competence and self-efficacy, as well as their autonomy (choices). On the other hand, for someone considering the future, they are mainly concerned with anticipated self-efficacy, as well as anticipated outcomes and future choices. Considering Lady Bird in particular, she focuses mainly on the present and the future.

    As we've touched on in previous postings, Lady Bird's dream is to leave Sacramento for the culture and arts in New York. She is incredibly determined to make this goal her reality, despite  her family, mainly her mother, and teachers telling her she is not capable of doing so. In Lady Bird, two prevalent themes are relatedness and autonomy, which are two values that drive Lady Bird's motivation. This week, we will be focusing on control-value theory  and the role it plays in Lady Bird's specific motivations and emotions.  

    In Lady Bird's day-to-day life throughout the movie, she focuses largely on autonomy, and her desire for independence away from the city she grew up in. Her value of autonomy in the present drives her everyday actions, as she is typically quite outspoken and strong-willed. She constantly hears the people in her life tell her she is not good enough, and will never meet her goal of moving to New York. This produces the emotion anger, as Lady Bird takes what they say as personal offenses. At the same time she hears consistently negative comments about her abilities, Lady Bird believes she has high control over her future (which is true). Between her determined fueled by anger and her high perception of control, Lady Bird is consistently motivated to prove those who think lowly of her, wrong. 

   

    

        In terms of the future, Lady Bird's values and perceptions of control remain generally consistent. Through most of the movie, Lady Bird has a positive sense of self-efficacy. She knows that deep down, despite what her mother says, she does have the capability of graduating and moving to New York. Her future goal of moving to a new city reflect her value of independence. Lady Bird's value of relatedness also plays a role in her future goals, as she seeks to build relationships with others, and find a sense of community. She partly accomplishes this goal throughout the movie, as she joins theatre and befriends a girl named Jenna. Lady Bird is overall very hopeful for her future, which maintains her motivation. Thanks to her strong-willed personality, Lady Bird is mostly consistent in terms of her motivations and values. Though she experiences many different emotions throughout the movie, they all seem to support her journey in finding independence and who she really is as a person.