EDF 5300: Louise Belcher Analysis

Concerning the control-value theory, Louise Belcher has various perceptions of her control and values relating to her motivations and emotions. These have evolved over time, and also relate to her goals and aspirations for the future. Control-value theory (CVT) is a common theory in education, and stipulates that the relationship between emotions and a personal feeling of control and values is reciprocal. For example, a student who feels they are "forced" to take a class as it is a graduation requirement and who does not value the class (feels that it is a "waste of time") is less likely to enjoy taking the class and feel positive emotions surrounding it.  Concerning the future, Louise Belcher has vague aspirations of making a lot of money and becoming rich and successful. Louise enjoys feeling like she has high levels of control over a situation, and when she is not able to get her way, she becomes upset. She acts like she has high confidence in herself and her abi...

“Attributions” can be thought of as quick, snap judgements we make about other people. Louise Belcher has a history of being quick to come to conclusions about the behavior of others, and to make fast, and harsh judgements, especially about people who she does not personally like. One such example is her schoolmate Millie. She attributes many of her cognitive attributions about Millie and situations involving her and Millie to external factors or other people (typically Millie and the other students at the school). For example, in one episode, Millie decides to run for student body president and Louise makes the immediate external attribution that if Millie becomes the school’s student body president, she will “ruin” the school. This can be considered an external attribution because she is attributing the actions of Millie running for president to be something that will destroy the school. As a form of retaliation and defense, Louise decides herself to run for student body president as...

 Louise Belcher has various motivations for different goal pursuits which can tie into the idea of goal complexes. For example, one of her main goals in the show is to make a lot of money or to become rich. It can be suspected that she is fixated on making money because she sees on a regular basis that her family's restaurant is not doing well financially and her parents regularly worry about money, openly. "Goal complexes" can be thought of as a construct that explains how people pursue their different goals and aspirations, and what motivates them. In goal complexes, there are four common approaches that align with mastery and performance goals- mastery avoidance, mastery approach, performance avoidance, and performance approach. The reason for goal pursuit- "making money" can be attributed to wanting power and financial security, which her family does not have. This goal complex can be thought of as a "performance approach" because Louise is aimed a...

Louise Belcher: Cognitive Evaluation Theory The psychological theory of “cognitive evaluation theory” (CET) stipulates that people use external events as incentives and consequences in their day-to-day life and decision making (Chapter 5). There are a few propositions associated with cognitive evaluation theory, such as that (1) it “can increase intrinsic and decrease extrinsic motivation”, (2) external events that promote greater perceived competence will enhance intrinsic motivation, while those that decrease perceived competence will decrease intrinsic motivation, (3) intrinsic motivation is undermined by perceived incompetence (Chapter 5). To better illustrate proposition three, external events are generally thought of as having either an informational or controlling aspect, and that controlling events are thought of as being harmful towards on autonomy and decreasing intrinsic motivation and promoting extrinsic motivation (Chapter 5). Inversely, informational events are generall...

Motivations of Louise Belcher: There are a few primary motivations that drive the actions and values of Louise Belcher. One of Louise Belcher’s goals that is primarily featured in the show is her motivation to make as much money and profits as possible. Louise’s motivations and values tie into her overall achievement goals. The term “achievement goals” can be defined as a goal that one is attempting to achieve, which are often separated into mastery and performance components (i.e. if a goal is about “mastering” a skill or being able to perform a specific task) (course lecture, 9/30). Louise’s primary goals over the course of the show include making money/saving the restaurant, proving her maturity relative to everyone around her, and tricking her school counselor. Mr. Frond. Her values can be seen as acquiring wealth, being viewed as mature, and outsmarting adults around her It is shown repeatedly throughout the course of the show that the Belchers are a working-class family, and stru...