Student attributions about interest-value shape academic decisions and recommendations.

We examine how students reason about their own and others’ problems of motivation, and with what consequences. Across four studies (Ntotal = 1,624), we present evidence for the relative importance of a novel attribution type—interest-value—that is distinct from attributions about effort and efficacy. We examine a proposed process by which students infer interest-value by relying on contextual cues about the academic domain and student characteristics, with these inferences relating to subsequent academic decisions and recommendations. Results show students weigh interest-value as an important consideration in academic contexts (Study 1) and use explanations of interest-value when making attributions about the causes of others’ (Studies 2a and 2b) and their own (Study 3) motivational struggles. In Studies 2a and 2b, attributions about the problems of others to a lack of interest-value were sensitive to some features of the context and could be attenuated through the provision of individualizing cues about a target’s prior interest. Furthermore, students’ perceptions of interest-value as the cause of motivational struggles related to both their recommendations for others’ participation (Studies 2a and 2b), and their own intentions to participate (Study 3), in a field. This occurred above and beyond effects of effort and efficacy attributions. Our findings contextualize beliefs about interest-value within the attribution process and demonstrate their utility for understanding students’ educational paths.