Coaching practices for Expectancy Value Theory Why You Try or Don T as a Caregiver

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Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?

  • I just don’t believe I can do this, and no amount of "you’ve got this" or hyping myself up moves that conviction an inch
  • I keep avoiding this even though I’m capable of it and I do care, and I can’t explain why
  • I’m completely unmotivated and I honestly can’t tell whether it’s that deep down I don’t believe I can pull this off, or that I just don’t care about it
  • I keep putting this off because deep down I don’t think I can actually pull it off
  • I genuinely want this and I believe I can do it, yet I still avoid it

Practices that may help

  1. Expectancy-Value Theory: Why You Try (or Don’t)
    Jacquelynne Eccles’s expectancy-value theory proposes that motivation to pursue a task is jointly determined by two factors: expectancy (your belief that you can succeed) and value (how much you care about success). Both are required — high value with low expectancy produces anxiety and avoidance; high expectancy with low value produces competent indifference. The theory has a substantial empirical base primarily in academic achievement contexts, with reasonable generalisation to broader life domains.
  2. Build expectancy through mastery experiences, not just affirmations
    Expectancy — the belief that you can succeed — grows from actual small wins, not self-talk.
    Expectancy-Value Theory: Why You Try (or Don’t)
  3. Socialise your values and expectations to reduce hidden motivation barriers
    Others’s expectations and transmitted values shape whether you believe you belong in a domain — making implicit messages explicit clears hidden motivation blocks.
    Expectancy-Value Theory: Why You Try (or Don’t)
  4. Diagnose whether you are stuck on expectancy or value
    Before trying to motivate yourself, identify which of the two factors is actually low.
    Expectancy-Value Theory: Why You Try (or Don’t)
  5. Raise your expectancy of success before starting
    Boost confidence that effort will actually lead to a good outcome — low expectancy is a core driver of delay.
    The Procrastination Equation, Made Practical
  6. Reduce the perceived cost of the task, not just increase its value
    High cost — effort, anxiety, or opportunity cost — can cancel even genuinely valued tasks; reducing cost is a motivation lever that is often overlooked.
    Expectancy-Value Theory: Why You Try (or Don’t)
  7. Connect the task to your identity to activate attainment value
    Tasks that are relevant to who you are, not just what you want, have a distinct motivational source that is harder to deplete.
    Expectancy-Value Theory: Why You Try (or Don’t)
  8. Clarify outcome expectations alongside efficacy expectations
    High confidence in your ability is not enough if you don’t believe the behavior will produce the outcome you want.
    Social Cognitive Theory
  9. Hold low expectations while keeping high standards
    Defensive pessimism sets low expectations to manage anxiety, not low standards to reduce effort.
    Defensive Pessimism, Made Practical
  10. Anticipate obstacles before they arise
    Hopeful thinking includes expecting barriers and planning responses — it is not uncritical optimism.
    Hope Theory: Agency, Pathways, and Getting Unstuck

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