Moderators of Dimensional Comparison Effects

• In Event: Motivation and Cognition in Learning and Instruction

Abstract

Dimensional comparisons, where students compare their achievements in different subjects, have a significant impact on the formation of students’ subject-specific self-concepts. This research examines the influence of five moderators, which were shown to affect the strength of dimensional comparison effects in previous research, by conducting latent moderated structural equation modeling within the framework of the internal/external frame of reference model. Our sample consisted of 1,424 students from Germany. Only two moderators showed significant influences on the strength of the dimensional comparison effects: The dimensional comparison effects on students’ math and German self-concepts were stronger, the more students believed in the negative interdependence of math and verbal abilities, and the more dissimilar they perceived the subjects math and German to be.

Authors

• Fabian Wolff, Kiel University

• Jens Möller, Kiel University