Will I learn? Will I succeed? Will I cope? Young people’s diverse motivational trajectories and their relations to educational paths and well-being

This study examines individual differences in and developmental trajectories of motivation among adolescents and young adults and their associations with socio-emotional well-being and educational outcomes. Achievement goal and expectancy-value theories will be integrated. The study focuses on three specific areas: 1) the development of achievement goal orientation profiles during educational transitions and the transition from school to work, 2) subject-specific goal orientation and task value patterns, and 3) students’, teachers’, and student welfare personnel’s conceptions of students’ motivation and well-being and of the factors that promote them. Three extensive longitudinal data sets, which cover all the major educational transitions of Finnish youth, will be used supplemented with qualitative interview data. The understanding yielded will be important for developing student counselling and welfare services and interventions to enhance young people’s motivation and well-being.