Value Component

                This week, we will be focusing on the value component of motivation! Before we begin, I want to take a moment to define some key terms that will be mentioned in the rest of this post. Three key aspects of value are achievement goals, instrumentality, and developing interests. 

                Starting with achievement goals, these present themselves as a choice: approach success or avoid failure. These two options are specifically known as mastery goals and performance goals. If one adopts a mastery goal, they seek to make “progress according to a self-set standard” (Reeve, 2009, p. 183). Generally, people who have mastery goals typically have higher intrinsic motivation. They seek to challenge themselves, improve skills, and grow as a person. On the other hand, adopting a performance goal means “doing better than others” (Reeve, 2009, p. 183). Someone with a performance goal is focused on displaying their ability and competence, rather than making progress. 

                Next, instrumentality refers to when someone does something because it will benefit their future goals. An example of this is someone who studies for every exam in a class so they receive a high grade, which will eventually help them graduate and earn their degree, thus beginning their career. 

                Lastly, developing interests consists of four different phases: triggered situational interest, maintained situational interest, emerging individual interest, and well-developed individual interest. This first phase begins when someone’s interest is sparked in a particular environment. As their interest develops, their attention to that content is maintained over longer periods of time. Eventually, the person starts to seek out their interest repeatedly, and they value opportunities that relate to their interest. Lastly, the interest becomes well-developed, meaning the person has more knowledge, and enduring positive emotions towards the content. 

                With an understanding of how values develop and are maintained, we can look closer at Lady Bird’s motivations and how values come into play. Lady Bird’s values largely consist of autonomy and relatedness. These values remain consistent throughout the whole movie, as the overarching plot is that Lady Bird seeks to leave Sacramento and move to New York. She desires to have her own independence and the freedom to express herself however she pleases. However, her mother, Marion, frequently reminds Lady Bird that she will not be able to achieve this goal. Her mother reminds her how her family cannot afford for her to go to school in New York, and how she believes Lady Bird is incredibly selfish. Lady Bird subsequently adopts an avoidance goal, because she wants to prove to others she is competent enough to leave Sacramento. In other words, she is avoiding failure. 

                In Lady Bird’s search for relatedness, we see examples of not only instrumentality, but also developing interests. While trying to find connections with others, she focuses on something her family does not have, which is money. In all her relationships throughout the movie, there is a persistent theme of wealth among the characters that Lady Bird connects with. A major example is Lady Bird’s relationship with Jenna, who is not only the most popular girl in school, but also incredibly wealthy. In hopes of sparking a friendship with Jenna, Lady Bird lies about where she lives. This continues for a while, but eventually falls apart, and Jenna discovers Lady Bird has been lying the entire time. Lady Bird believes that lying about her address to seem wealth was instrumental to having friends, but it ultimately backfires on her.

                In another attempt to form connections with others, Lady Bird joins theatre with her best friend. She begins to date a male in the group named Danny, who also happens to be incredibly wealthy. In fact, the house Lady Bird claims is hers belongs to Danny’s grandmother. Through doing the play with her best friend and new boyfriend, she develops a deeper interest in theatre. This new interest motivates her to attend rehearsals and spend time with the cast, especially when celebrating their show. Although Lady Bird only learns from trial and error, she is consistent in the way she maintains her values throughout the course of the movie.