Students' Academic Effort and Their Self-Concept Formation: Extending the Dimensional Comparison Theory

• In Event: How Do Students' Self-Concepts of Ability Change Over Time? A Cross-Cultural Analysis

Abstract

Inspired by attributional theory, this study tested for dimensional comparison effects originating from students’ academic effort on their later self-concepts in two different achievement domains (mathematics and the German language). The results of a longitudinal analysis following students from Grade 5 to Grade 8 showed that students’ academic effort revealed dimensional comparison effects on their self-concepts that were in opposite direction to the well-known achievement effects. Higher effort in one domain was associated with lower self-concept in the same domain but higher self-concept in the other domain, suggesting that the amount of effort students have to invest serves as one important additional cue for students’ academic self-evaluations.

Authors

• Richard Goellner, Tuebingen University

• Kou Murayama, University of Tuebingen

• Ulrich Trautwein, University of Tubingen