Frames of reference for self-evaluation of ability in mathematics

Measures of eight frame-specific self-evaluations of ability in mathematics were used to predict general mathematics self-concept and self-efficacy. Participants were 900 Norwegian students in Grade 6 (n = 277), Grade 9 (n = 236), Grade 11 (n = 263), and adult students attending senior high school (n = 124). Four items measured frame-specific self-evaluation of achievement based on external frames of reference whereas four items measured frame-specific self-evaluation based on internal frames of reference. Regression analyses were used to test relations between the frame-specific self-evaluations and general mathematics self-concept and self-efficacy. The analyses indicated that self-evaluation based on comparison with other students in class (an external frame of reference) and on comparison of mathematics achievement with achievement in other school subjects (an internal frame of reference) were robust predictors of both mathematics self-concept and self-efficacy. The analyses also indicated that students are using multiple frames of reference when evaluating their mathematics ability. Implications of the result for the internal-external frame of reference model are discussed.     

初中生数学成绩、数学学业能力自我概念与数学学业情绪的关系

采用学业情绪问卷、数学学业自我概念问卷调查了370名初中学生,以探讨初中生数学学业情绪特点及其与数学成绩、数学学业能力自我概念间的关系。结果发现：（1）除积极高唤醒情绪外的其它数学学业情绪在性别上差异显著,除消极高唤醒外的其它情绪在年级上差异显著。（2）数学成绩通过数学学业能力自我概念间接预测四类数学学业情绪。结论是,初中男生数学积极情绪多于女生,女生数学消极情绪多于男生,积极情绪随年级下降,消极情绪随年级上升;初中生数学学业能力自我概念在数学成绩和数学学业情绪间起完全中介作用。     

How need for cognition affects the formation of performance expectancies at school

Individuals with low Need for Cognition (NFC) have been found to process information using a peripheral route compared to individuals higher in NFC. These differences affect the formation of performance expectancies. Based on previous work demonstrating that the formation of performance expectancies can be understood as an information processing event and that inferring expectancies from the specific self-concept requires cognitive motivation, we tested whether students with higher NFC had performance expectancies in a specific subject that more strongly depended on specific self-concept. The participants (554 tenth grade students) reported their NFC, performance expectancies, general self-concept, and specific self-concepts in mathematics and English. Actual performance was assessed for mathematics. Multiple linear regressions supported the interaction-hypothesis concerning performance expectancies in mathematics and English. In addition, the higher the students’ NFC, the stronger actual performance in mathematics related to the specific self-concept. The results suggested that performance expectancies mediated the effect of self-concept on performance. NFC is an important variable influencing motivational processes, and should be included in models describing the relation between self-concepts and individuals beliefs or behaviors.     

Tracks as frames of reference for academic self-concept

This study compared the development of academic self-concepts between different educational programs. A longitudinal cohort study in Flanders (3205 students in 46 schools) was used to compare students' academic self-concepts during the first three years of secondary education. General academic self-concept, self-concept in mathematics and self-concept in Dutch were measured. The investigated educational programs, called tracks, differ in the extent they are academically or vocationally focused and differ in average student academic ability. To control for selection effects, students who are comparable across the four tracks were matched using propensity score matching, Mahalanobis distance matching and coarsened exact matching. By means of multiple indicator quadratic latent growth curves, pairs of tracks that are hierarchically consecutive were compared regarding the development in academic self-concepts. For the two highest tracks, it was beneficial to be allocated to the highest track, whereas the pairwise comparisons between the three lower tracks indicated a detrimental effect of being in a higher track. The findings from this study do not support the big-fish-little-pond hypothesis or the basking in reflected glory hypothesis. Differences between tracks for the development of self-concepts only became apparent after two years.     

Gender Differences in Math and Verbal Self-Concept,Performance Expectations,and Motivation

Gender differences in mathematics and verbal self-concept, performance expectations, intrinsic motivation, and goal orientation were examined in 4 samples of Norwegian students. A total of 907 students in 6th grade (n = 277), 9th grade (n = 239), 11th grade (n = 264), and adult students enrolled in first year of senior high school (n = 127) participated in the study. Findings indicated that gender differences continue to exist. Male students had higher self-concept, performance expectations, intrinsic motivation, and self-enhancing ego orientation in mathematics than did female students, whereas female students had higher intrinsic motivation for learning language than did male students. Older students had higher verbal than mathematics self-concept regardless of gender.     

The influence of motivational and emotional factors in mathematical learning in secondary education

IntroductionWhile motivation has, for decades, been investigated as a key component of academic learning and performance, academic emotions have often been left out of the scope of investigation. According to several researchers, mathematics learning seems to be particularly affected by students’ emotions.ObjectiveThis paper is aimed at characterizing the emotions and motivation of eighth grade students in a mathematical setting and highlighting the cluster of emotions–activity emotions vs outcome emotions–which best predict math value, math self-concept, behavioral engagement and math performance.MethodData were collected through questionnaires from 115 students and analyzed through means comparisons and linear regressions.ResultsResults indicated that eighth grade students give a relatively high value to mathematics have a positive mathematics self-concept and are moderately engaged in mathematical tasks. Regression analysis showed that mathematics value and behavioral engagement are better explained by activity emotions while mathematics self-concept and performance are better predicted by outcome emotions.ConclusionThe implications of these findings in terms of educational practices are discussed at the end of this study.     

Competence and control orientations as predictors of test anxiety in students: Longitudinal results

Abstract

The hypothesis that domain-specific self-related cognitions (self-concept of own competence and control orientations) are predictors of text anxiety in students is tested by longitudinal data. At the beginning and at the end of a school year the following variables were measured twice in a sample of 346 secondary school students (grades six to ten): (1) self-concept of own competence in mathematics, (2) three aspects of locus of control for problem-solving behavior (internality, powerful others control, and chance control), (3) generalized locus of control of reinforcement, (4) test anxiety as well as manifest anxiety. The cross-sequential developmental gradients point toward symmetries in the development of self-related cognitions and test anxiety. The results of cross-lagged correlation analyses show that the null hypothesis (no causal relations exist between the self-related cognitions and test anxiety) can be rejected for the domain-specific aspects of (a low) self-concept of own competence and locus of control (low internality and high chance control), which are confirmed as preceding test anxiety. However, longitudinal results also show that findings of cross-sectional studies tend to overestimate the relations between self-related cognitions and test anxiety in a developmental perspective.     

Self-Concept,Motivational Orientation,and Help-Seeking Behavior in Mathematics: A Study of Adults Returning to High School

The purpose of this study was to explore relations between mathematics achievement, self-concept, goal orientation, intrinsic motivation, and help-seeking behavior among adults studying for a high school diploma. Participants in this study were 145 adults (55 males and 90 females) enrolled in nine first year high school classes for adult students at five high schools in three cities in Norway. The age of the students varied from 18 to 52 years. Data were analyzed by means of structural equation modeling. The results indicate that mathematics self-concept in adult years build strongly on achievement in school years and that it is predictive of adult students’ goal orientation, intrinsic motivation, and learning strategies. Three weakly correlated dimensions of goal orientation predicted interest and help-seeking behavior in mathematics lessons differently.     

A causal model of mathematics performance in early adolescence: the role of sex

Using path analysis, the present investigation was done to clarify possible causal linkages among general scholastic aptitude, academic achievement in mathematics, self-concept of ability, and performance on a mathematics examination. Subjects were 122 eighth-grade students who completed a mathematics examination as well as a measure of self-concept of ability. Aptitude and achievement measures were obtained from school records. Analysis showed sex differences in prediction of performance on the mathematics examination. For boys, this performance could be predicted from scholastic aptitude and previous achievement in mathematics. For girls, performance only could be predicted from previous achievement in mathematics. These results indicate that the direction, strength, and magnitude of relations among these variables differed for boys and girls, while mean levels of performance did not.     

Generalizability in the Mediation Effects of Parental Expectations on Children’s Cognitive Ability and Self-concept

Previous research involving Hong Kong Chinese parents and their children showed that parental home involvement, beliefs of their children’s cognitive ability and their expectations for academic achievement mediated the relationship between their children’s cognitive ability and school achievement scores. This mediation effect was interpreted as the cognitive-affect model of academic achievement. The current research confirms the generalizability of the findings and tests the hypothesis that there are cultural differences in the mediation effects with the inclusion of non-Chinese students and their parents as a comparison group. The responses from 103 Chinese speaking (CS) and 163 non-Chinese speaking (NCS) primary students and parents from two schools in Hong Kong were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Student measures included self-concept, cognitive ability and academic achievement in mathematics, English and Chinese. Parent measures included home involvement, beliefs of their child’s cognitive ability and expectations of academic success. Initial model showed that parental expectations mediate the link between cognitive ability and academic achievement for both CS and NCS groups, with parental involvement predicting English achievement for only the NCS group. After the inclusion of academic self-concept, the model showed that CS parental expectations also mediate the link between self-concept and academic achievement. However, the model showed that the parental expectations of NCS play a lesser role in mediating the link between academic self-concept and their children’s academic achievement. Despite the differences, the results provide evidence for the generalizability of the cognitive-affect model.     

成就目标定向在学业自我概念与学业成绩关系中的调节作用:基于内/外参照模型

为了探究成就目标定向在学业自我概念与学业成绩关系中的调节作用,采用语文学业自我概念量表、数学学业自我概念量表和成就目标定向量表对1515名初中生进行测查。结果显示：(1)初中生语文-数学学业自我概念建构过程符合内/外参照模型(Internal/External Frame of Reference Model, I/EM);(2)掌握回避对I/EM的维度比较路径存在调节作用,掌握回避得分越高越易受维度比较效应的影响,该现象对于语文成绩和数学成绩相对差的学生更明显;(3)成绩回避对I/EM的社会比较路径存在调节作用,成绩回避得分越高越不易受社会比较效应的影响,该现象对于语文成绩和数学成绩相对好的学生更明显。本研究揭示了持有不同成就目标定向的初中生在学业自我概念建构过程中的差异,对引导初中生建构积极学业自我概念具有重要启示。     

Achievement and self-concept of students with learning disabilities

The internal/external frame of reference (I/E) model by Marsh (Am Educ Res J 23:129–149, 1986) assumes that, besides social comparisons with their classmates, students engage in intraindividual, dimensional comparisons, comparing their own achievement in one subject with their achievement in other subjects. These dimensional comparison processes are assumed to result in negative paths from achievement in one subject (e.g., math) to self-concept in another (e.g., the verbal domain). In a study with N = 270 students, we investigated the generalizability of the I/E model to students with learning disabilities. Analyses showed positive correlations between math and German achievement and positive effects of achievement in both subjects on the corresponding domain-specific self-concept. Verbal and math self-concepts were almost uncorrelated. Moreover, there were negative effects of achievement in one domain on self-concept in the other. Our results therefore indicate that the I/E model can be generalized to students with learning disabilities.     

Individual Differences in Child Kaleidoblock Responses

The relationship between self-esteem and parental identification was investigated. The hypothesis that self-esteem is positively correlated with parental identification was supported for female college students by two out of three self-esteem measures. For male subjects one social self-esteem measure correlated negatively with maternal identification and a self-concept measure correlated positively. No relationship between self-esteem and paternal identification existed for males: hence the hypothesis was refuted. The importance of social self-esteem in the feminine self-concept and its basis in parental identification is emphasized in the discussion.     

The association between self-deception and moral self-concept as functions of self-consciousness

Regulated by self-consciousness, self-deception is a part of the self-system that suppresses negative aspects of the self and maintains a positive moral self-concept. We tested this evolutionary hypothesis on 166 college students by measuring self-deception using both a questionnaire and a series of hypothetical helping scenarios. The results showed a positive correlation between self-deception and moral self-concept, which was moderated by private self-consciousness. Among participants with high, but not low, self-consciousness, high moral self-concept individuals were more willing to help when potential self-benefits were present than low moral self-concept individuals, whereas there was no difference between the two groups concerning helping without self-benefit. These results support the evolutionary view that self-deception serves to maintain optimal moral self-concept, especially for individuals with high self-consciousness.     

Self-concept certainty, career exploration and readiness for career decision-making amongst undergraduate students

The hypotheses that (a) career exploration would lead to a more certain self-concept, and (b) a more certain self-concept would lead to readiness for career decision-making, were tested over a ten-week period with 35 undergraduate students. The results supported the first hypothesis. But they did not support the second, and in fact it seemed that high self-concept certainty carried the danger of inflexibility in career decision-making.     

Black adolescents: a descriptive study of their self-concepts and academic achievement

This study was designed to determine the relationships among global self-concept, self-concept of academic ability, and academic achievement of black American adolescents. The subjects were 211 tenth-grade students in five public high schools in the Pacific Northwest school district who volunteered to participate in the study. Global self-concept was measured by the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory (SEI), self-concept of academic ability by the Brookover Self-Concept of Ability (General) Scale, and academic achievement by the California Achievement Test (CAT). The major statistical tools were the Pearson product-moment correlations and Fisher Z statistic. In all of the tests the decision was made to reject the null hypothesis at the .05 level of significance. No significant relationship was found between global self-concept and academic achievement, although the relationship between self-concept of academic ability and academic achievement reached significance. The relationship between self-concept of academic ability and academic achievement correlated more strongly than the relationship between global self-concept and academic achievement. These results suggest that the enhancement of global self-concept might not be a potent intervention for academic improvement for black adolescents.     

Effects of Salient Multiple Identities on Women's Performance Under Mathematics Stereotype Threat

Previous research on affective extremity and social identity complexity suggested that women's mathematics stereotype threat might be alleviated by reminding individual women of their multiple roles and identities, most of which would presumably be unrelated and thus impervious to negative stereotypes regarding math performance. To test this hypothesis, we primed the relevant stereotype and then asked men and women college students to draw self-concept maps with many or few nodes. When they drew no maps or maps with few nodes, highly math-identified women scored significantly worse than highly math-identified men on a subsequent Graduate Record Examination-like math test, but when they drew maps with many nodes, they scored as well as those men. Theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed.     

Prediction of overt aggression experienced by college students

We sought to predict overt aggression among college students from their intra- and interpersonal relationships self-perceptions. Respondents were 311 students (females = 69.8%; black = 65.9%, white = 16.7%; mean age = 26.38 years, SD = 9.57 years) from a large South African university. Results following multivariate inferential analysis indicated Negative, destructive interpersonal relationships; Negative, destructive self-concept; and Positive inclination towards others to predict overt aggression among the university students. By contrast, Positive interaction with self and others; and Submissiveness towards others can be used to predict overt aggression among the university students. Our hypothesis that the more constructive (higher) students’ self-concept and intrapersonal relationships, interpersonal relationships, the lower will their levels of overt aggression, physical aggression and verbal aggression become was supported. As such, the finding was that: Overt Aggression = a(Negative destructive interpersonal relationships) + b(Negative destructive self-concept) ? c(Positive inclination towards others).     

学业自我概念的建构:内/外参照模型研究述评

内/外参照模型在理论上同时考虑了社会比较和维度比较两种比较方式在建构个体学业自我概念过程中的作用。近年来,对内/外参照模型的研究进展主要体现在三个方面:对该模型进行跨文化一致性检验;提出了维度比较理论;与大鱼小池效应相整合。这些研究表明学业自我概念具有学科特异性,研究者要更加注重学业自我概念及其它学业变量的学科特异性研究,并加强内/外参照模型的调节因素研究,教师及家长要引导学生合理选择比较方式。     

Big fish in big ponds: a multilevel analysis of test anxiety and achievement in special gifted classes

This study analyzes the effects of individual achievement and achievement level of student reference group on test anxiety in a national sample of 769 gifted Israeli students (grade levels 4-9), which was previously investigated by Zeidner and Schleyer (1999a). We hypothesized that when controlling for individual achievement, students' experiences of test anxiety should increase with the increasing ability level of their peer reference group. It was assumed that this effect was largely mediated by reference group effects on academic self-concept (big-fish-little-pond effect). Zeidner and Schleyer found that gifted students within a gifted peer reference group showed higher levels of test anxiety than gifted students within a non-gifted peer reference group. Of note, the present study focused exclusively on gifted students attending special gifted classes. The main research question was whether or not the assumed effects of individual and class achievement can be found for gifted students in special gifted classes when taking the variance of achievement level (grades) of the special gifted classes into account. Using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) methodology, the assumed effects were vindicated for this special group of high ability students. Thus, in line with previous results, the Worry component of test anxiety was more highly reactive to the effects of individual achievement than the Emotionality component. Also, in line with our theoretical assumptions, achievement/anxiety relations were largely mediated by the effects of academic self-concept.