Negative Self-Concept: Cross-Country Evidence of Its Importance for Understanding Motivation and Academic Achievement
Academic self-concept, the belief in one’s ability, is a key motivational construct in educational psychology and large-scale assessments. The construct is typically measured by instruments with positively (“I usually do well in science”) and negatively worded items (“I am just not good in science”)...
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| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2024-11-01
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| Series: | Education Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/14/11/1203 |
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| Summary: | Academic self-concept, the belief in one’s ability, is a key motivational construct in educational psychology and large-scale assessments. The construct is typically measured by instruments with positively (“I usually do well in science”) and negatively worded items (“I am just not good in science”). A single latent factor is often assumed. Here, we investigated this assumption using international large-scale assessment data across two age groups of children in fourth grade and adolescents in eighth grade (N = 296,320 students, 23 educational systems). We, instead, found strong evidence of the substantiveness of a negative self-concept factor derived from negatively worded items. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses uncovered negative self-concept as being distinct from positive self-concept. Furthermore, theory-driven modeling supported the internal/external (I/E) frame of reference model effect on negative self-concept: achievement has a stronger effect on eighth graders’ negative self-concept relative to fourth-grade children across many countries, especially for mathematics. Overall, understanding students’ negative appraisals and negative beliefs of their ability is an important theoretical and policy imperative. |
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| ISSN: | 2227-7102 |