Self-determination and expectancy-value. Comparison of cognitive psychological approaches to motivators for information seeking about job opportunities
| Date | 15 January 2018 |
| Pages | 123-140 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/AJIM-10-2017-0242 |
| Published date | 15 January 2018 |
| Author | Reijo Savolainen |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Information behaviour & retrieval,Information & knowledge management,Information management & governance,Information management |
Self-determination and
expectancy-value
Comparison of cognitive psychological
approaches to motivators for information
seeking about job opportunities
Reijo Savolainen
Faculty of Communication Sciences, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to elaborate the picture of the motivators for information seeking by
comparing two cognitive psychological approaches to motivation: self-determination theory (SDT) and
expectancy-value theories (EVTs).
Design/methodology/approach –The study draws on the conceptual analysis of 31 key investigations
characterizing the nature of the above theories. Their potential is examined in light of an illustrative example
of seeking information about job opportunities.
Findings –SDT approaches motivation by examining the degree to which one can make volitional choices
while meeting the needs of autonomy and competence. Information-seeking behaviour is most volitional when
it is driven by intrinsic motivation, while such behaviours driven by extrinsic motivation and amotivation are
less volitional. Modern EVTs approach the motivators for information seeking by examining the individual’s
beliefs related to intrinsic enjoyment, attainment value, utility value and relative cost of information seeking.
Both theories provide useful alternatives to traditional concepts such as information need in the study of the
motivators for information seeking.
Research limitations/implications –As the study focusses on two cognitive psychological theories, the
findings cannot be generalised to all represent all categories relevant to the characterisation of triggers and
drivers of information seeking.
Originality/value –Drawing on the comparison of two cognitive psychological theories, the study goes
beyond the traditional research approaches of information behaviour research confined to the analysis of
information needs.
Keywords Motivation, Self-determination theory, Information seeking, Expectancy-value theories,
Job searching, Theory of motivation
Paper type Conceptual paper
Introduction
Since the 1960s, the motivators for information seeking have been examined under diverse
labels such as information need (Wilson, 1981), anomalous state of knowledge (ASK)
(Belkin et al., 1982), gap (Dervin, 1983) and uncertainty (Kuhlthau, 1993). Of the above
constructs, information need, uncertainty and gap are most popular among the researchers
of information seeking, while the concept of ASK is mainly employed in the context of
informationretrieval research. Overall,the factors triggering and drivinginformation seeking
have remaineda largely neglected topic in libraryand information science( LIS).Most analytic
attention has beenpaid to the construct of information need (Case and Given, 2016, pp. 79-91;
Cole, 2012). Savolainen (2017) found that LIS researchers have conceptualised information
need as a primary factor giving an initial impetus to information seeking. Information need
has also been approachedas a summary category describing the informational requirements
of problem solving andwork task performance. On the other hand, the above study revealed
that the conceptualizations of information need tend to remain silent about fundamental
questionssuch as how and why does information need triggerand drive information seeking?
This suggests thatthe research perspective on the motivators for information seeking should
be broadened by going beyond the traditional concepts such as information need.
Aslib Journal of Information
Management
Vol. 70 No. 1, 2018
pp. 123-140
© Emerald PublishingLimited
2050-3806
DOI 10.1108/AJIM-10-2017-0242
Received 26 October 2017
Revised 2 January 2018
Accepted 3 January 2018
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/2050-3806.htm
123
Self-
determination
and expectancy-
value
So far, LIS researchers have seldom made use of the potential of motivation theories
developed in other fields, most notably psychology (see, however, Dubnjakovic, 2017;
Shoham and Kaufman Strauss, 2008; Sigaard and Skov, 2015). The present study is inspired
by the belief that the picture of the motivators for information seeking can be enriched by
drawing on cognitive psychological theories of motivation in particular. Often, such theories
are validated empirically by decades-long series of investigations focusing on diverse study
groups. The main research task of the present investigation is to examine the potential of
two approaches to motivation developed in cognitive psychology: self-determination theory
(SDT) (Deci and Ryan, 1985) and expectancy-value theories (EVTs) (Wigfield et al., 2009).
These approaches provide alternative explanations of why people engage in behaviour of
diverse kinds. In brief, the SDT proposes that the triggering factors originate from the
degree to which one can make volitional choices while meeting the needs of autonomy,
competence and relatedness. EVTs suggest that the triggering factors are constituted by
one’s beliefs about his or her ability to perform a task at hand in relation to the expected
utility value of the outcome of task performance.
The above theorieswere chosen for review for two major reasons. First, these approaches
are acknowledged as major theories of motivation (Weiner, 2010). Second, SDT and EVTs
are particularly relevant for the study of the motivators for information seeking because
these approaches assume that human behaviour is directed by the active processing and
interpretation of information (Petri and Govern, 2004, p. 248). The comparative approach
adopted in the present study is expected to result in a more multifaceted picture of the
motivators for information seeking because previous investigations have concentrated on
only one motivation theory such as SDT (e.g. Lee and Lin, 2016) or EVT (e.g. Sigaard and
Skov, 2015). Overall, the present study is inspired by the idea that a review explaining and
comparing multiple theories will encourage a more nuanced understanding of motivational
principles, and will facilitate additional research (Cook and Artino, 2016).
So far, cognitive psychological theories have been employed in the study of learning
motivation in particular. However, we may claim that the ideas of learningmotivation are
relevant in the study of the motivators for information seeking, too. This argument can be
supported by drawing on the idea that learning and information seeking are closely
related and partially overlapping processes since both of them share the same goal: to
change one’s state of knowledge. According to Marchionini (1995, pp. 8-9), information
seeking can be approached as a type of learning, even though the processes are
not identical. Learning demands retention while in the case of information seeking, the
information may be used for a task at hand and then left behind, when the task
performance is being carried out. Due to this close relationship, however, it is evident both
activities can be driven by similar motivational factors.
The present author has reviewed the potential of psychological theories in earlier studies
of motivators for information seeking by focussing on EVTs (Savolainen, 2012) and
attribution theories (Savolainen, 2013). In addition, the ideas of SDT were applied in an
empirical study examining the ways in which the unemployed people seek information
about job opportunities (Savolainen, 2008). The present investigation adds value to
the above investigations by comparing the strengths and limitations of SDT and EVTs as
approaches to motivators for information seeking. To put the research task in a more
focussed context, the potential of SDT and EVTs will be examined by discussing an
illustrative example of the motivators for seeking information about job opportunities.
This subjectarea was chosen due to two main reasons.First, an extensive reviewof earlier
research revealedthat so far, seeking information aboutjobs is the only issue of information
behaviour research that has so far been examined from the perspective of both SDT and
EVTs (e.g. Vansteenkiste et al., 2005). For example, there are numerous studies approaching
learning motivation from the viewpoints of the above theories (e.g. Chen and Jang, 2010;
124
AJIM
70,1
To continue reading
Request your trial