Multiple Dimensions Of Self-concept Research Articles

Language Brokering and Self-Concept

This exploratory study examined the relationships among individual characteristics, language brokering experiences and attitudes, and multiple dimensions of self-concept among a sample of Latino adolescents. The sample was comprised of 66 Latino students in 6th through 11th grades who were proficient in both Spanish and English. Results from regression analyses and correlational analyses showed that language brokering frequency was negatively associated with academic self-concept and perceived popularity at school, language brokering difficulty was a positive predictor of academic self-concept, and language brokering attitudes were positively related to academic self-concept, perceived popularity with peers, and confidence in one’s physical appearance. Students who were first-generation immigrants not only reported brokering more frequently, brokering in more difficult situations, and feeling more positive about language brokering, but also reported lower emotional well-being as compared to students born in the United States. Implications of the findings and directions for future research are discussed.

Childhood Sexual Abuse and Multiple Dimensions of Self-Concept

The purpose of this investigation was to examine the relationship between child sexual abuse (CSA) and self-concept in a nonclinical sample of female college students. Participants with a history of CSA had lower scores than participants without a history of CSA on four domains of self-concept: familial, affect, competence, and physical. History of CSA was not associated with lower self-concept in the social and academic domains. The primary conclusions to be drawn from this study are that CSA may be differentially associated with various domains of self-concept, and thus multidimensional assessment of self-concept can yield useful information that cannot be gathered from global measures which yield a single composite score.

Integration of Multidimensional Self‐Concept and Core Personality Constructs: Construct Validation and Relations to Well‐Being and Achievement

Relations between multiple dimensions of self-concept, personality (Big Five), well-being, and academic outcomes (school grades, test scores, coursework selection) for a large (N=4,475) sample of German adolescents support the construct validity of a well-defined, multidimensional set of self-concept factors in relation to personality factors, and vice versa. Confirmatory factor analysis of a German adaptation of the Self Description Questionnaire III demonstrated 17 a priori, reasonably independent self-concept factors (M correlation=.14; SD=.17) that had a highly differentiated pattern of relations with the personality factors and academic outcomes. Consistent with theory and previous research, math and verbal self-concepts were negatively related to each other, and this extreme domain specificity was reflected in the systematic and substantial relations with academic criteria measures. Self-esteem, Big Five, and well-being factors explained only small amounts of variance in academic outcomes and support for their incremental validity after controlling for specific self-concept factors was weak.

How do preschool children feel about themselves? Unraveling measurement and multidimensional self-concept structure.

Theoretical models suggest that 4- and 5-year-old children should be able to differentiate between multiple dimensions of self-concept, but empirical support is limited. A new 38-item Self Description Questionnaire for Preschoolers (SDQP) that measures 6 self-concept factors (Physical, Appearance, Peers, Parents, Verbal, and Math) was developed and tested. Through an individual-interview procedure, young children (4.0-5.6 years) completed the SDQP and achievement tests. The self-concept scales were reliable (.75-.89), first-order and higher order confirmatory factor analysis models fit the data, and factor correlations were mostly moderate (-.03-.73; Mdn = .29). Achievement test scores correlated modestly with academic self-concept factors (rs = .15-40) but were nonsignificantly or significantly negatively related to nonacademic self-concepts. The results contribute to the critical debate about the validity of self-reports for preschool children, who distinguished between multiple dimensions of self-concept at an even younger age than suggested by previous self-concept research.

Adolescent girls' first diets: Triggers and the role of multiple dimensions of self-concept

This study explored 1) triggers for dieting in adolescent girls from grade 7 (n — 140) and grade 10 (n = 152), 2) reasons why potential dieters chose not to diet and 3) the relationship between dieting and multiple dimensions of self-concept. Body dissatisfaction, social comparison, and teasing were the most commonly reported diet triggers. Reasons given for not dieting when considering it included conscious resistance to pressure to diet, a belief that dieting is bad, and acceptance by other people. After controlling for body mass index (BMI), parent relations, and emotional stability, self-concepts were lower for dieters than nondieters.

Differentiated additive androgyny model: Relations between masculinity, femininity, and multiple dimensions of self-concept.

Masculinity (M) and femininity (F) were related to multiple dimensions of self-concept in 2 large studies. Androgyny theory predicts that M and F contribute positively to self-concept, but the effect of F has been nil in research using global self measures. Here, consistent with the new differentiated additive model, the relative contribution of M and F varied substantially, depending on the area of self-concept; F contributed more positively to self-concept facets that were more stereotypically feminine. Support for the model was consistent across self-responses and responses by significant others (Study 1) and across 5 age groups in early-to-middle adolescence (Study 2).

Differentiated additive androgyny model: Relations between masculinity, femininity, and multiple dimensions of self-concept.

Differentiated additive androgyny model: Relations between masculinity, femininity, and multiple dimensions of self-concept.

Age and sex effects in multiple dimensions of self-concept: Preadolescence to early adulthood.

Les effets de l'âge et du sexe sur l'evolution du concept de soi depuis la pre-adolescence jusqu'a l'âge adulte sont analyses a partir de 3 questionnaires d'auto-description (SDQI) portant sur 12266 sujets et les resultats discutes en relation avec les operationalisations de Shavelson et al. (1976)

Age and sex effects in multiple dimensions of self-concept: Preadolescence to early adulthood.

Age and sex effects in multiple dimensions of self-concept: Preadolescence to early adulthood.

The Transition From Single-Sex to Coeducational High Schools: Effects on Multiple Dimensions of Self-Concept and on Academic Achievement

Two single-sex (SS) high schools serving the same neighborhood were reorganized to form two coeducational (coed) high schools. Self-concept was measured for all students in grades 7–11 in each of 4 years that spanned the pretransition (Year 1), the transition (Year 2), and the posttransition (Years 3 and 4). For both boys and girls there was a clear increase in multidimensional self-concepts from the pretransition to the posttransition, despite a small decrease in self-concepts for students attending coed classes during the transition year. Sex differences in specific areas of self-concept—those favoring boys and those favoring girls—were unaffected by the transition. Achievement grades from the statewide School Certificate reference examination, awarded to all students at the end of grade 10, were monitored for the same 4 years. Across the 4 years of the study there were no significant differences in either mathematics or English achievement. Girls performed substantially better than boys in English and relatively poorer in mathematics, but the sizes of these differences were unaffected by the transition. The results of the present investigation suggest the benefits of transition to coeducation for both boys and girls in multiple dimensions of self-concept that are not at the expense of academic achievement.

The Transition from Single-Sex to Coeducational High Schools: Effects on Multiple Dimensions of Self-Concept and on Academic Achievement

Two single-sex (SS) high schools serving the same neighborhood were reorganized to form two coeducational (coed) high schools. Self-concept was measured for all students in grades 7–11 in each of 4 years that spanned the pretransition (Year 1), the transition (Year 2), and the posttransition (Years 3 and 4). For both boys and girls there was a clear increase in multidimensional self-concepts from the pretransition to the posttransition, despite a small decrease in self-concepts for students attending coed classes during the transition year. Sex differences in specific areas of self-concept—those favoring boys and those favoring girls—were unaffected by the transition. Achievement grades from the statewide School Certificate reference examination, awarded to all students at the end of grade 10, were monitored for the same 4 years. Across the 4 years of the study there were no significant differences in either mathematics or English achievement. Girls performed substantially better than boys in English and relatively poorer in mathematics, but the sizes of these differences were unaffected by the transition. The results of the present investigation suggest the benefits of transition to coeducation for both boys and girls in multiple dimensions of self-concept that are not at the expense of academic achievement.

Multidimensional Self-Concepts

Marsh, Richards, and Barnes (1986) examined systematic change and stability in multiple dimensions of self-concept and the effects of participation in a 26-day residential program called Outward Bound. Multidimensional self-concepts measured with the Self Description Questionnaire (SDQ) III increased as a consequence of the intervention and the increases were significantly larger for those facets judged a priori to be more relevant to program goals. For purposes f the present investigation participants from the previous study were asked to complete the SDQ III again, 18 months after completion of the program; and there was little systematic change in the multidimensional self-concepts during the long-term follow-up interval. Coupled with the results of the earlier study and further examination of the psychometric properties of the SDQ III, these findings further support the Outward Bound program as an effective intervention for enhancing self-concept and the construct validity of responses to the SDQ III. The longitudinal study of successful interventions designed to enhance self-concept are rare, and so the findings are important in that they demonstrate that self-concept can be changed through effective intervention and that these effects can be maintained.

Multidimensional self-concepts, masculinity, and femininity as a function of women's involvement in athletics

Measures of multidimensional self-concepts, masculinity (M), and femininity (F) were completed by high-school women athletes and nonathletes, and by young-adult women athletes and nonathletes. Women athletes in both age groups had substantially higher scores in M and in self-concept of physical ability, but did not differ substantially from nonathletes in F and in other areas of self-concept. Women athletes in both groups also judged their self-concept of physical ability to be more important to them than did nonathletes, but the two groups did not differ in the perceived importance of other areas of self-concept. These findings support the androgyny contention that MF should not be considered a bipolar construct and suggest that women can be more M without being less F. The specificity of the relation between athletic involvement and the multiple dimensions of self-concept also provide further support for the construct validity of the self-concept dimensions.

Age and sex effects in multiple dimensions of preadolescent self-concept: A replication and extension

Abstract Age and sex effects in multiple dimensions of self-concept were examined in responses by 3562 preadolescent students (grades 2 to 6) to the Self Description Questionnaire (SDQ). A factor analysis of responses clearly identified the seven facets of self-concept which the SDQ is designed to measure. Significant age and/or sex effects were found in each of the SDQ scales, but the size and direction of the effects varied with the scale. The largest sex effects were for Physical Abilities (favouring boys) and Reading (favouring girls), but the sex difference was small for the sum of all scales. For every scale there was a linear decline in self-concept with increasing age, and a proposal to explain this decline was posited.

Multidimensional self-concepts: Relationships with inferred self-concepts and academic achievement

Multiple dimensions of self-concept, inferred self-concepts based upon responses by peers and by teachers, and academic achievement measures were collected in a sample of 559 fifth grade students. Exploratory/conventional factor analyses of responses to the Self Description Questionnaire (SDQ) clearly identified the eight facets of self-concept that the instrument was designed to measure and confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated the factor loadings to be reasonably invariant for self-report and peers responses. Student/teacher/peer agreement was statistically significant for most self-concept dimensions, and agreement on any one dimension was relatively independent of agreement on other dimensions. Academic achievement scores (both objective test scores and teacher ratings) were significantly and positively correlated with self-concepts based upon self-reports in academic areas, butnot in nonacademic areas. However, students' own self-reports more clearly separated self-concepts in Reading and Math (r = 0.01) than did responses by peers (r = 0.52) or by teachers (r - 0.70), or the actual achievement measures (r = 0.61). The findings of this study demonstrate that the formation of self-concepts is affected by different processes than the self-concepts inferred by significant others, that academic self-concepts are affected by different processes than the academic achievements which they reflect, and that self-concept cannot be adequately understood if its multidimensionality is ignored.

Self-concept: a function of self-perceived somatotype.

The Tennessee Self-concept Scale was employed to assess multiple dimensions of self-concept in 284 college males; the Perceived Somatotype Scale was used to assess three indices of somatotype. MANOVA revealed significant differences in global self-concept among the self-perceived somatotype (PSS), the perceived-ideal somatotype (PSI), and the self-ideal discrepancy (PSD) groups. Univariate analyses indicated that the PSS groups differed significantly in all but the Moral-Ethical dimension of self-concept, while no univariate self-concept differences were found among the PSI groups. The PSD groups differed markedly on all but the Moral-Ethical and Family Self subscales. The assertion that somatotype affords little psychological predictive utility needs amendment in light of the findings of the present study.