Exploring the Dimensionality of the Perceived Cost of Learning High School Mathematics

The concept of cost, defined as the perceived negative consequences of engaging in a task, is an important yet understudied component of the expectancy-value theory of student motivation. In this study, we examined the multidimensional cost structure in mathematics learning, focusing on four facets proposed in recent research: effort, opportunity, emotional, and ego costs. Participants consisted of 1483 ninth-grade students from 24 public schools in Lithuania (56.04% girls; M = 14.88 years). Students completed a questionnaire developed to assess the four cost dimensions, along with measures of their intentions to pursue mathematics, procrastination, and negative classroom emotions; academic achievement data were obtained from school records. Using a split-sample design, we used exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses to test alternative structural representations of cost. A comparison of correlated-factor, higher-order, and bifactor models indicated that the correlated-factor ESEM model best fitted the data, supporting the specificity of the four distinct cost dimensions. Specific associations of each cost dimension with study outcomes further supported this differentiation, with ego cost most notably diverging from the other three cost dimensions. The results confirm the distinct nature of the four cost dimensions and underscore the importance of examining their separate roles in students' mathematics learning, contributing to the existing evidence from a comparatively understudied cultural context.