1996 James McKeen Cattell Fellow Award

Jacquelynne Eccles

University of Michigan-Ann Arbor

The Association for Psychological Science names Jacquelynne Eccles a James McKeen Cattell Fellow in recognition of her sustained and seminal contributions to developmental psychology and school policy. Eccles’ research has demonstrated the central role of social context in children’s and adolescents’ development. Her work has built the case that some systematic individual-level, age-related changes are a consequence of systematic changes in the contexts, especially the family and the school, that individuals move through as they age. In explicating the way in which context operates in developmental trajectories, Eccles has also amplified the expectancy-value model of motivation and choice by showing how context shapes both expectancies and values. Her work especially highlights the centrality of values as key to understanding individual differences in such gender-related choices as taking advanced math and aspiring to jobs in fields linked to physical science, technology, and engineering. Eccles continually relates her work to school policy and educational curricula. The James McKeen Cattell Fellow Award is given in recognition of her leadership in the study of choice and motivation during childhood and adolescence and for her insistence on illuminating the critical significance of social context in formative periods of human development.