Expectancy-Value-Cost motivational theory to explore final year medical students’ research intentions and past research experience: a multicentre cross-sectional questionnaire study

Objectives Conducting research during medical school is a commonly described way to strengthen the physician-scientists workforce. The aim of this study is to compare the strength of association of Expectancy, Value and Cost regarding a research activity with future research intentions, and to explore differences between students with or without research experience during medical school. Design, setting and participants An online questionnaire was sent to final-year medical students – who had already chosen their specialty – in three French-speaking Belgian universities with non-mandatory research programmes. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and multiple regression analysis were conducted. Main measures Research intention (outcome measure) was assessed using a 3-item scale. The motivational beliefs were assessed using a 10-item scale adapted from a validated scale based on the Expectancy-Value-Cost theory. Responses were recorded on a 6-point Likert scale. Results Participation rate was 28% (n=237). EFA revealed 4 factors with high internal consistency. 21.5% of students had positive research intentions (score 5 or above). Our model explained 82.8% of research intention variance (p < 0.001), of which three motivational beliefs had statistically significant coefficients: i) Value given to a research activity (β = 0.72, p < 0.001); ii) perceived Cost of a research activity (β = -0.11, p < 0.01); iii) Expectancy of success (β = 0.10, p < 0.05). Students with a positive research experience or students without research experience but who had strongly considered achieving one were 11.5 times more likely (95% CI, 5.0 – 26.2) to have positive research intentions at the end of medical school than other students. Conclusions Value given to a research activity is the key factor regarding students’ motivation to undertake research. Our study confirms the positive relationship between non-mandatory research and future research intentions, although some students without a research experience showed high ...