Just a Methodological Cautionary Note: The Jingle Jangle of Self-Related Beliefs in Motivational Measures

Abstract

Many fields in academia face problems with either same named scales measuring what are actually different constructs (i.e., the jingle fallacies) or differently named scales measuring the same construct (i.e., the jangle fallacies). In this study, we examined the overlap between a set of 10 measures of self-related beliefs of academic motivation constructs in two different biology courses: value items (e.g., utility value, interest value, attainment value, and cost value), achievement goal orientation items (e.g., mastery approach, mastery avoidance, performance approach, and performance avoidance), and intrinsic/extrinsic motivation items. Exploratory factor analyses and structural equation modeling indicated that the covariance among the items is not captured by an item-based factor solution, suggesting these named scales are plagued by the jingle jangle fallacy. These findings suggest that researchers should either use these constructs independently of each other or attempt to find a more unified theory of academic self-related motivational beliefs when examining these constructs together, especially in statistical analyses.