Poster #215 - The Multidimensional Self-Concept in Kindergarten and First Grade Children

• In Event: 3-159 - Poster Session 12
  In Poster Session: PS 12 Section - Social, Emotional, Personality

Integrative Statement

Self-concept is assumed to be a multidimensional construct that organizes a person’s self-perceptions into a hierarchical structure that comprises global and specific facets (Shavelson, Hubner, & Stanton, 1976). In the most common model of self-concept, the so-called Shavelson model, global self-concept is positioned in the apex and divided into an academic, social, emotional and physical self-concept.
Numerous studies with adults, adolescents, and older children have provided strong empirical support for this multidimensional structure of self-concept and have shown that self-concept is systematically related to achievement on the level of its specific facets (Byrne, 1996; Marsh, 1990). In younger children, however, only little research has been conducted and especially in kindergarten children, very few studies have addressed self-concept related issues (Arens et al., 2016). For one thing, this lack of research is due to the difficulty of assessing self-concept in non-literate age groups, and for another, self-concept is believed to be less differentiated and less realistic in early childhood (Harter, 2015).
Applying a novel measurement instrument that is highly sensitive to small variances in young children’s self-concept, the present longitudinal investigation aimed to candidly explore the structure of kindergarten children’s self-concept, as well as the links to achievement in first grade. Therefore, academic (mathematical and verbal) and social (peer-related and teacher-related) self-concept as well as the achievement in the related domains were assessed in 155 children aged 61/2 years at the first (kindergarten) and 71/2 at the second (first grade) testing session.
Self-concept was assessed at both waves using the Pictorial Self-Concept of Attainment Scale (PSCAS; Cimeli et al., 2013; Dapp & Roebers, 2018). The PSCAS allows measuring self-concept in non-literate age groups, since it provides a pictorial reference group as answer format. Achievement was assessed at the second wave when children attended primary school.
As the results showed, self-concept was clearly above the scale average in both measurement waves, a finding underlining the well-known optimism in young children’s self-views. Nevertheless, third-order Structural Equation Modeling showed the self-concept of kindergarten children to be organized in a hierarchical structure, as proposed by Shavelson et al. (1976), with an excellent model fit (x2 = 55.67, df = 51, p = .303; GFI = .956; RMSEA = .024). Moreover, self-concept in first grade was significantly correlated to concurrent achievement (p < .001) in all matching domains, indicating substantial concurrent validity in children’s self-perceptions. In contrast, correlations between self-concept and achievement in non-related domains (e.g., peer-related self-concept and verbal achievement) were insignificant, underlining discriminant validity in young children’s self-concept.
Taken together, contrary to the previously held assumption of young children’s self-concept being undifferentiated and unrealistic, the present study demonstrates that self-concept is already multifaceted and hierarchically structured in kindergarten and related to achievement in first grade. In conclusion, the findings offer new insights into the structure and validity of young children’s self-concept and substantially contribute to the generalizability of a multidimensionally and hierarchically organized self-concept.

Authors

• Laura Claude Dapp, University of Bern
  Presenting Author

• Claudia Roebers, Bern University
  Non-Presenting Author