Children’s Achievement-Related Beliefs Effects of Academic Area, Sex, and Achievement Level

Abstract

We examined how children’s academic self-concepts, causal attributions, and perceptions of teacher feedback varied as a function of academic area, achievement level, and sex. One hundred and ninety-two 5th graders were administered a questionnaire that assessed their beliefs separately for math, reading, social studies, and science. Children viewed the feedback that they received for social studies and science as less frequent and more ambiguous than the feedback for math and reading. Because prior research suggested that sex differences in self-confidence are most likely when performance feedback has been infrequent or ambiguous, we expected sex differences in confidence primarily for social studies and science. As predicted, girls rated themselves as less smart than boys in social studies and science, but not in math or reading. We also found sex differences in children’s causal attributions, and these were consistent with prior research. These sex differences in attributions did not vary as a function of academic area. Children, in general, showed more “vulnerable” attributions for social studies and science. Finally, a number of predicted differences were found between high and low achievers. These findings increased our understanding of children’s achievement-related beliefs and supported the utility of assessing these beliefs separately for different academic areas.