Instability, changes, and internal structure of children's attitudes toward mathematics in primary school: A four‐wave investigation

Abstract The longitudinal person‐oriented study aimed to explore profiles, stability, gender differences, and compositional relations of math attitudes by tracking Chinese third graders ( N total = 1013, M age(T1) = 8.92 ± 0.46, N girls = 404) in four waves with 1‐year intervals. Five profiles and unstable transitional probabilities were identified among the four waves. The relations between enjoyment to confidence and value shifted from reciprocity to enjoyment dominance, but value negatively predicted later enjoyment and confidence. Additionally, boys' advantages were significant in late elementary school (fifth, sixth grades) and girls benefited from initial positive attitudes. These findings suggest that Chinese students' math attitudes in middle childhood are unstable, shaped by internal and external environmental dynamics, and need to be further explored in cross‐cultural research.