Self-concept and academic achievement: a meta-analysis of longitudinal relations

The relation between self-concept and academic achievement was examined in 39 independent and longitudinal samples through the integration of meta-analysis and path analysis procedures. For relations with more than 3 independent samples, the mean observed correlations ranged from .20 to .27 between prior self-concept and subsequent academic achievement and from .19 to .25 between prior academic achievement and subsequent self-concept. Globality/specificity of self-concept was the only significant moderating factor in the relation between (a) prior self-concept and subsequent academic achievement and (b) prior academic achievement and subsequent self-concept. As high self-concept is related to high academic performance and vice-versa, intervention programs that combine self-enhancement and skill development should be integrated.     

Self-concept and need for achievement of men with physical disabilities.

Self-concept and need for achievement of athletically active and relatively inactive American males with physical disabilities were investigated using the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale Counseling Form (Fitts, 1965) and the Thematic Apperception Test (McClelland, Clark, Roby, & Atkinson, 1949). The subjects were 45 men, ranging from 18 to 40 years old, with physical disabilities. We hypothesized that subjects in the athletically active group had a more favorable mean self-concept and a higher mean need for achievement than subjects in the inactive group. Fifty able-bodied subjects, composing two counterpart groups, were also included in the study. It was hypothesized that the differences regarding the criterion variables between disabled and able-bodied counterpart groups would be negligible. The results of an analysis of variance (ANOVA) and an analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) supported the hypothesis that predicted significant differences at the .025 alpha level between the athletic and the inactive disabled groups. Age, education, and level of disability were treated as covariates. The results of this study also supported the hypothesis that predicted negligible differences (p less than .10) between the disabled subjects and the able-bodied counterpart groups.     

Entitlement and achievement in education

The central claim of this paper is that the culture of entitlement in education is incoherent to the extent to which it rejects: concepts of educational achievement. It gives an account of some of the conceptual features of achievement and educational achievement, and argues that although educational and academic achievement are closely linked with each other they are distinct. It tries to show why academic practices are central in our conceptions of the value of educational achievement. In terms of the concept of epistemological access it argues that the agency of the learner is necessary to educational access, and, hence, educational achievement, but that the culture of entitlement in education has a strong tendency to deny this. The paper tries to show in what ways the culture of entitlement presupposes the concept of educational achievement.     

Physically disabled students and achievement orientation: Self-concept,curriculum track,and career aspirations

Little research has been done on the vocational mobility of physically disabled students (Overs, R. In J. S. Picou and R. E. Campbell (Eds.), Career behavior of special groups. Columbus, Ohio: Charles E. Merrill, pp. 177–198). A subset of data from a larger investigation on the achievement processes of youth was analyzed in two phases to describe disabled and nondisabled tenth-grade students on certain sociodemographic variables, high school curriculum track assignment, self-concept dimensions, and educational and occupational aspirations. Additionally, a process model specifying the presence or absence of physical handicaps as an ascribed status was analyzed using path analysis. Results suggest that students who report themselves as being physically disabled are not from specific social origins or differentially allocated to curriculum tracks; more importantly, they do not hold different physical or social self-conceptions or career aspirations. The multivariate analysis shows that disabled status is a significant antecedent only to academic self-concept, having a moderate, positive effect. This finding was interpreted as being a possible “overcompensation” in one particular field when there is a weakness in another. The lack of expected differences in other variables is also discussed.     

Self-concept and attitude to school as predictors of academic achievement by West Indian adolescents

The Coopersmith Self-esteem Inventory and the School Sentiment Index were administered to 215 West Indian middle-class 14-yr.-olds (95 boys and 120 girls) to assess their validity as predictors of academic achievement. Step-wise multiple regression analysis identified School-Academic, a self-concept measure, as the strongest predictor of academic achievement.     

Dispositional need for cognitive closure and self-enhancing beliefs

In 3 studies, the author examined self-enhancing beliefs as a function of dispositional need for cognitive closure. The results of the 1st study revealed that fathers in the Netherlands believed that they devoted more time to their children than did average Dutch fathers; these beliefs were strongest for participants with a high need for closure. Results of Studies 2 and 3 replicated the findings in Study 1 in a controlled experimental context with approaches developed by S. T. Allison, D. M. Messick, and G. R. Goethals (1989) and by D. M. Messick, S. Bloom, J. P. Boldizar, and C. D. Samuelson (1985).     

Racial and gender science achievement gaps in secondary education

A substantial disparity exists for academic achievement in science between Black and White primary-school children. A similar gap exists between boys and girls. The extent to which secondary education influences these achievement gaps has not been established. The authors report analyses showing how these science achievement gaps change as a function of secondary education. Analyses of data from a large, nationally representative longitudinal study of academic achievement showed that racial disparities and disparities associated with gender continue to increase throughout high school.     

The role of self-enhancing evaluations in a successful life transition

The objective of the study was to investigate how self-enhancing evaluations, obtained via positive social comparisons and reflected appraisals, were related to mental health in a later life transition. The sample consisted of 266 women who were interviewed once before and 3 times after the experience of community relocation. Results extended prior findings suggesting the dynamic impact of self-enhancing evaluative processes on psychological well-being and depressive symptoms. Additional analyses showed evidence for reverse causality, that is, that mental health also influenced self-evaluative processes. This study underscores the significance of holding a positive view of self vis-à-vis others in negotiating life challenges as well as the reciprocal influence of well-being on social self-evaluative processes.     

The social-cognitive model of achievement motivation in physical education

Our objective in this study was to test the new social-cognitive model of achievement motivation in a physical education setting. Research was conducted on a sample of 895 physical education students, ages 12 to 16 years. We measured perception of the motivational climate conveyed by the teacher, implicit beliefs of ability, perceived competence, 2 x 2 achievement goals and self-determined motivation. We carried out structural equation modeling to analyse the relationships among variables. Results showed that task climate positively predicted incremental belief, whereas ego climate positively predicted entity belief. Both climates positively predicted perceived competence. Incremental belief positively predicted mastery-approach goals, performance-approach goals and avoidance goals, whereas entity belief positively predicted performance-approach goals and avoidance goals. Perceived competence positively predicted mastery-approach and performance-approach goals. Mastery-approach goal positively predicted self-determined motivation, whereas performance-approach goal and avoidance goals negatively predicted self-determined motivation.     

Maternal education and children's academic achievement during middle childhood

Despite much evidence that links mothers' educational attainment to children's academic outcomes, studies have not established whether increases in mothers' education will improve their children's academic achievement. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth on children between the ages of 6 and 12, this study examined whether increases in mothers' educational attainment are associated with changes in children's academic achievement and the quality of their home environments. Results suggest that children of young mothers with low levels of education perform better on tests of academic skills and have higher quality home environments when their mothers complete additional schooling, whereas increased maternal education does not predict improvements in the achievement or home environments of children with older and more highly educated mothers. The estimated effects of additional maternal schooling for children of these younger mothers appear to be more pronounced for children's reading than math skills.     

Self-concept and delinquency proneness

Contrary to the theory of the homeostatic model of self-concept, i.e., the expectancy that engaging in anti-social or pro-social behavior results typically in shifts in the self-concept (Graf, 1968; Deitz, 1970 shifts did not occur. Subjects, 12- 14-year-old boys enrolled in junior high school, delinquent prone (DP) and non-delinquent prone bright (NDPB), reacted to manipulation by engaging in reparative behavior as indicated via an aggression module in a fashion generally expected but the expected shift from chronic self-images did not occur. Both DP and NDPB viewed themselves similarly on self concept. The authors postulated that if shifts would occur for the delinquent prone it would be after they left school with its accompanying identification with a sub-culture outside the school setting.     

Parents' education and children's achievement: The role of personality

The reasons for the positive association between families' background variables, such as parents' education, and children's academic achievement have not fully been clarified yet. The present study investigates children's intelligence and personality as potential mediators. A sample of 580 German high school students (mean age: M = 17.0; SD = 0.7) indicated the highest education of their parents and completed measures assessing their own personality and intelligence. Children's academic achievement was operationalized by grade point average. Children's intelligence, openness to experience and, marginally, conscientiousness partially mediated the association between parents' education and children's academic achievement. Even after controlling for children's intelligence, the mediating effects of those personality traits held. Results are discussed with regard to potential underlying processes. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Self-concept and psychosocial adjustment in adolescence

This study analyses the relationship between a multidimensional measure of self-concept, Self-concept Form-5 Questionnaire (AF5), and a broad set of adolescents' psychosocial adjustment indicators. From the responses of 1,281 participants (53.7% females) aged 12 to 17 years ( M = 14.98 years, SD = 1.74 years), results indicated that higher self-concept scores corresponded to better psychological adjustment, good personal skills and fewer behavioral problems. Although a positive relationship between social self-concept and drug use was found, this significant relationship disappeared once the adolescent's age and sex was controlled for. These results support the idea that the self-concept is a basic theoretical construct closely related to the psychosocial adjustment in adolescence. Also this study helps explain some contradictory results reported in the literature (i.e., a positive relationship between social self-concept and drug use), by showing how the statistical control of a third variable effect (i.e., age) avoids reaching conclusions based on spurious relationships.     

Audiences' reactions to self-enhancing,self-denigrating,and accurate self-presentations

Subjects in three experiments evaluated hypothetical actors whose claims about either an upcoming or past performance and whose performances were system-atically varied from very positive to very negative. Positive, self-enhancing claims were effective in generating favorable evaluations when either the claim was congruent with the performance or the subjects were unaware of how the actor performed. In general, accurate self-presentations were most favorably evaluated, especially when the claim occurred after the performance. The two exceptions to the preference for accurate self-presenters occurred when (a) the actor modestly underestimated a clearly superior prior performance by claiming to have done “only” well or all right, in which case he/she was evaluated more favorably than an accurate but seemingly boastful actor who claimed to have done extremely well, and (b) the actor self-deprecatingly predicted an inferior performance, in which case he/she was disliked even when accurate. Disclaimers about the importance of the performance (e.t., “I did well, but it's no big deal”) were seen as boastful rather than modest and decreased evaluations. The results mirror many of the tactics used by actor-subjects in past experiments, suggesting that people generally vary their self-presentations in optimal fashion to create the most favorable possible impression on the audience.     

Self-concept Differentiation and Depressive Symptomatology in Children

Self-concept differentiation is the degree to which separate domains of the self-concept are differentiated from one another. Two studies of children's self-reported depressive symptomatology and self-concept differentiation were completed. Study 1 found higher levels of self-concept differentiation associated with greater depressive symptomatology. Study 2 replicated this finding but further revealed a trend for elevated self-concept differentiation to be related to a positive outcome at 5-week follow-up in the depressed sample.