Motivation is fundamental to human agency and volitional behavior, and several influential theories have been proposed to explain why individuals choose or persist in a course of action (over others). New terms and concepts have proliferated as the theoretical models aim to be comprehensive, at the expense of parsimony. The theoretical models covered in this special issue each have their unique aspects and contributions, but four major dimensions cut across them: person factors comprising self (expectations, self-efficacy), social (modeling, comparisons), and cognitive aspects (self-regulation); task values; goals; and perceived costs and benefits. Motivation is determined by a complex interplay of internal and external factors, and we suggest that a greater focus on individuals’ motivation profiles, construal of situations, and metacognitive monitoring and control of goal pursuit might shed more light on the moment-by-moment decisions people make in daily life. Future research could be targeted at evaluating competing models (or perhaps more parsimonious ones) and enhancing interventions to address students who are unmotivated to excel in school.

动机是人类行为和自愿行为的基础，并且提出了几种有影响力的理论来解释为什么个人选择或坚持采取行动（相对于其他行动）。随着理论模型的全面发展，以简约为代价，新的术语和概念激增。本期特刊所涵盖的理论模型各有其独特的方面和贡献，但是跨越了四个主要方面：构成自我的人因（期望，自我效能），社会因素（建模，比较）和认知方面（自我调节） ）; 任务价值；目标；以及预期的成本和收益。动机是由内部和外部因素之间复杂的相互作用所决定的，因此我们建议您更多地关注个人的动机概况，情况的构想，目标追踪的元认知监视和控制可能会更清楚地说明人们在日常生活中做出的瞬间决策。未来的研究可能旨在评估竞争模型（或者可能更简化的模型），并加强干预措施，以解决那些无心于在学校中表现出色的学生的需求。