Profile formation of academic self-concept in elementary school students in grades 1 to 4.

J Alberto Conejero,Isabelle Schmidt,Lena Keller,Vsevolod Scherrer,Tanja Gabriele Baudson,Franzis Preckel,Rachel Wollschläger,Martin Brunner

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0177854

Abstract

Academic self-concept (ASC) is comprised of individual perceptions of one’s own academic ability. In a cross-sectional quasi-representative sample of 3,779 German elementary school children in grades 1 to 4, we investigated (a) the structure of ASC, (b) ASC profile formation, an aspect of differentiation that is reflected in lower correlations between domain-specific ASCs with increasing grade level, (c) the impact of (internal) dimensional comparisons of one’s own ability in different school subjects for profile formation of ASC, and (d) the role played by differences in school grades between subjects for these dimensional comparisons. The nested Marsh/Shavelson model, with general ASC at the apex and math, writing, and reading ASC as specific factors nested under general ASC fitted the data at all grade levels. A first-order factor model with math, writing, reading, and general ASCs as correlated factors provided a good fit, too. ASC profile formation became apparent during the first two to three years of school. Dimensional comparisons across subjects contributed to ASC profile formation. School grades enhanced these comparisons, especially when achievement profiles were uneven. In part, findings depended on the assumed structural model of ASCs. Implications for further research are discussed with special regard to factors influencing and moderating dimensional comparisons.

Highlights

Academic self-concept (ASC) is comprised of mental representations of one’s abilities in academic subjects
At a descriptive level, manifest correlations between writing/reading ASC and math ASC decreased with increasing grade level; the correlation between writing and reading ASC was lower in grade 2 than in grade 1, and higher in grade 4 than in grade 3
The aim of the present study was to investigate an important aspect of differentiation of ASC: How do profiles of students’ strengths and weaknesses form across the elementary school years, and which factors influence profile formation? A key characteristic of our study was that we juxtaposed the NMS model, which provides a very clear picture of students’ ASC profiles, with other structural models of ASC, the often-used first-order correlated factor

Summary

Introduction

Academic self-concept (ASC) is comprised of mental representations of one’s abilities in academic subjects. ASC plays an important role in educational psychology because it influences scholastic achievement (e.g., [1]), academic motivation and affect [2], and educational choices [3]. Understanding the development of ASC across the school career and its determinants is an important issue. The investigation of ASC is intrinsically tied to theories about its structure. Research on the structure of ASC demonstrated that, from age 4 onward, ASC is a multidimensional construct with separate, domain-specific mental representations of ASCs for various achievement.

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