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Differentiation of competence and affect self-perceptions in elementary school students: extending empirical evidence

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Abstract

This study aimed to address two underexplored research questions regarding support for the separation between competence and affect self-perceptions due to differential relations to outcome criteria. First, it is tested whether higher relations between affect self-perceptions and effort than between competence self-perceptions and effort can also be found for elementary school students. Second, this study examines the generalizability of such differential outcome relations to the verbal domain. Students’ competence and affect self-perceptions in math and verbal domains and self-reported effort at school were measured in a sample of 156 German 3rd-grade elementary school students. Confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated separate factors for competence and affect self-perceptions in both math and verbal domains. Latent regression analyses showed that affect self-perceptions were more highly related to effort than competence self-perceptions. With these findings, the present study adds further support to the commonly accepted separation between competence and affect self-perceptions by demonstrating their differential relations to effort and extending this finding to elementary school students and the verbal domain.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Alexandre J. S. Morin, Ulrich Trautwein, and Benjamin Nagengast for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this manuscript. Data collection was funded by Hector Foundation II and carried out by the scientific advisory group of the Hector Children's Academy in Baden-Württemberg (Germany) headed by Ulrich Trautwein and Marcus Hasselhorn

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Research on Education and Human Development and Centre for Research on Individual Development and Adaptive Education of Children at Risk (IDeA), German Institute for International Educational Research, Schloßstr. 29, 60486, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    A. Katrin Arens & Marcus Hasselhorn

Authors
  1. A. Katrin Arens
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  2. Marcus Hasselhorn
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to A. Katrin Arens.

Additional information

Dr. A. Katrin Arens. German Institute for International Educational Research, Centre for Research on Education and Human Development and Centre for Research on Individual Development and Adaptive Education of Children at Risk (IDeA), Schloßstr. 29, D-60486 Frankfurt am Main, Germany, Email: arens@dipf.de; Phone: +49 69 24708 138; Fax +49 69 24708 444.

Current themes of research:

—self-concept, motivation in education

Most relevant publications in the field of Psychology of Education:

Arens, A. K., Bodkin-Andrews, G., Craven, R. G., & Yeung, A.S. (2014). Self-concept of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian students: Competence and affect components and relations to achievement. Learning and Individual Differences, 32, 93-103. doi: 10.1016/j.lindif.2014.03.019

Arens, A. K., & Hasselhorn, M. (2014). Age and gender differences in the relation between self-concept facets and self-esteem. Journal of Early Adolescence, 34, 760-791. doi: 10.1177/0272431613503216

Arens, A. K., & Watermann, R. (2015). How an early transition to high-ability secondary schools affects students’ academic self-concept: Contrast effects, assimilation effects, and differential stability. Learning and Individual Differences, 37, 64-71. doi: 10.1016/j.lindif.2014.11.007

Arens, A. K., Yeung, A. S., & Hasselhorn, M. (2014). Native language self-concept and reading self-concept: Same or different? The Journal of Experimental Education, 82, 229-252. doi: 10.1080/00220973.2013.813362

Arens, A. K., Yeung, A. S., Craven, R. G., & Hasselhorn, M. (2011). The twofold multidimensionality of academic self-concept: Domain specificity and separation between competence and affect components. Journal of Educational Psychology, 103, 970-981. doi: 10.1037/a0025047

Prof. Dr. Marcus Hasselhorn. German Institute for International Educational Research, Centre for Research on Education and Human Development and Centre for Research on Individual Development and Adaptive Education of Children at Risk (IDeA), Schloßstr. 29, D-60486 Frankfurt am Main, Germany, Email: hasselhorn@dipf.de; Phone: +49 69 24708 214; Fax +49 69 24708 444.

Current themes of research:

—learning disabilities, working memory, early education, individual preconditions of successful learning

Most relevant publications in the field of Psychology of Education:

Brandenburg, J., Klesczewski, J., Fischbach, A., Schuchardt, K., Büttner, G., & Hasselhorn, M. (2014). Working memory in children with learning disabilities in reading versus spelling: searching for overlapping and specific cognitive factors. Journal of Learning Disabilities. Online first: doi: 10.1177/0022219414521665

Ehm, J.H., Lindberg, S., & Hasselhorn, M. (2014). Reading, writing, and math self-concept in elementary school children: influence of dimensional comparison processes. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 29, 277-294. doi: 10.1007/s10212-013-0198-x

Lehmann, M., & Hasselhorn, M. (2010). The dynamics of free recall and their relation to rehearsal between 8 and 10 years of age. Child Development, 81, 1006-1020. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01448.x

Michalczyk, K., Krajewski, K., Preßler, A.-L., & Hasselhorn, M. (2013). The relationships among quantity-number competencies, working memory, and phonological awareness in 5- and 6-year-olds. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 31, 408-424. doi: 10.1111/bjdp.12016

Preßler, A.-L., Könen, T., Hasselhorn, M., & Krajewski, K. (2014). Cognitive preconditions of early reading and spelling: a latent-variable approach with longitudinal data. Reading and Writing, 27, 383-406. doi: 10.1007/s11145-013-9449-0

Appendix

Appendix

Items used for measuring students’ competence and affect self-perceptions in math and verbal domains

Math competence self-perceptions

 1. Work in mathematics is easy for me.

 2. I learn things quickly in mathematics.

 3. I am good at mathematics.

Math affect self-perceptions

 1. I like mathematics.

 2. I am interested in mathematics.

 3. I look forward to mathematics.

Verbal competence self-perceptions

 1. I am good at German.

 2. Work in German is easy for me.

 3. I learn things quickly in German.

Verbal affect self-perceptions

 1. I like German.

 2. I enjoy doing work in German.

 3. I look forward to German.

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Arens, A.K., Hasselhorn, M. Differentiation of competence and affect self-perceptions in elementary school students: extending empirical evidence. Eur J Psychol Educ 30, 405–419 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-015-0247-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-015-0247-8

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