Self-concept in artistic domains: An extension of the Shavelson, Hubner, and Stanton (1976) model.

Ways of integrating self-perceptions of dance, dramatic art, visual art, and music skills into the R. J. Shavelson, J. J. Hubner, and G. C. Stanton (see record 1978-30429-001) hierarchical model of self-concept were examined among 831 college students who responded to two multidimensional self-concept measures. Dance, dramatic art, visual art, and music self-concepts were best integrated into the hierarchy as components of a higher order artistic self-concept factor distinct from academic (math and verbal) and other nonacademic (physical, social, and moral) higher order factors. Although all domain-specific facets of self-concept were clearly defined, much of the variance in these facets was unaccounted for by higher order factors. These findings support the multifaceted or domain-specific nature of self-concept but only moderately support self-concept hierarchies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Shavelson Model revisited: Testing for the structure of academic self-concept across pre-, early, and late adolescents.

Focusing on the academic component of the Shavelson Model, the purposes of the study were fourfold: (a) to test for the multidimensionality of academic self-concept (SC); (b) to test that academic SC is hierarchically structured; (c) to test that predictive influence flows upward from actual behavior (e.g., academic performance) at the base of the model to general SC at its apex; and (d) to investigate the extent to which academic SC demonstrates increasing differentiation with age. Based on the analysis of covariance structures, and using data from 3rd, 7th, and 11th graders, findings (a) substantiated the multidimensionality of academic SC but yielded no support for increasing differentiation across age, (b) determined minor deterioration of hierarchical structure for early and late adolescents but demonstrated no pattern of progressive weakening structure across age, and (c) revealed direction of predictive flow, whether from academic achievement to general SC, or the reverse, to yield equally well-fitting models for each age group. Questions bearing on academic SC structure across age are addressed, and implications for the reliability of teacher ratings of academic performance are raised. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The structure of academic self-concept: The Marsh/Shavelson model.

New academic self-concept instruments were used to measure self-concepts in 13 (Grades 5–6) or 16 (Grades 7–10) school subjects and to test the structure of academic self-concept posited in the Marsh/Shavelson model. First-order factor analyses identified the scales each instrument was designed to measure, demonstrating that academic self-concept is remarkably subject-specific. As posited, 2 higher order factors were sufficient to explain relations among core academic subjects, but additional higher order factors were needed to explain other school subjects (e.g., physical education, art, and music). The hierarchy, however, was weak, and much of the variance in specific subject self-concepts was unexplained by the higher order factors. Researchers interested in self-concepts in particular subjects are advised to use self-concept scales specific to those subject areas in addition, perhaps, to other measures of academic self-concept. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Suicide, hopelessness, and social desirability: A test of an interactive model.

We examined the relationships among suicidal indices, hopelessness, and social desirability. Both hopelessness and a measure of social desirability that reflected a sense of general capability were significant indicators of suicidal manifestations. In particular, hierarchical multiple regression procedures demonstrated that hopelessness and social desirability interacted in the prediction of suicide variables. Results generalized across various clinical diagnostic subgroups of psychiatric patients and a sample of prisoners and across different clinically evaluated and self-reported indices of suicidal behavior. Findings are interpreted to mean that a sense of general capability buffers the link of hopelessness to suicidal behavior. Implications for understanding the cognitions associated with suicide and for improving prediction of persons at risk are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attachment to parents, social competence, and emotional well-being: A comparison of Black and White late adolescents.

The model tested in this study proposed that the association of parental attachment bonds to emotional adjustment would be mediated by social competence. Relational variables were expected to be more important in the development of social competence and emotional adjustment for Black students than for White students; there were no directional hypotheses for gender differences. Single-group analyses and multiple-group comparisons revealed that the model fit the data reasonably well for a large sample (N ?=?630) of Black and White late adolescents. Gender of parent differences emerged, in which attachment to father generally was a better predictor of social competence than was attachment to mother. In all analyses, social competence was a significant predictor of emotional adjustment. There were no significant differences between groups in comparisons of the relative strengths of construct interrelations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A test of the social development model during the transition to junior high with Mexican American adolescents.

Mexican American adolescents have higher rates of externalizing problems than their peers from other ethnic and racial groups. To begin the process of understanding factors related to externalizing problems in this population, this study used the social development model (SDM) and prospective data across the transition to junior high school from 750 diverse Mexican American families. In addition, the authors examined whether familism values provided a protective effect for relations within the model. Results showed that the SDM worked well for this sample. As expected, association with deviant peers was the primary predictor of externalizing behaviors. There was support for a protective effect in that adolescents with higher familism values had slower rates of increase in association with deviant peers from 5th to 7th grades than those with lower familism values. Future research needs to determine whether additional culturally appropriate modifications of the SDM would increase its usefulness for Mexican American adolescents. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Math, verbal, and general academic self-concept: The internal/external frame of reference model and gender differences in self-concept structure.

Tested predictions from H. W. Marsh's (see record 1987-17104-001) internal/external (I/E) frame of reference model (measuring cognitive dimensions of math and verbal self-concepts [S-Cs]), and gender differences in the structure of academic S-C were examined through path analyses of data from 231 Norwegian 6th-grade students (117 boys and 114 girls). Math and verbal S-Cs on a cognitive level were defined as success expectations on defined tasks. No strong support was found for the I/E model: Math and verbal S-Cs were highly correlated, and no significant negative direct effects were found of verbal achievement on math S-C or of math achievement on verbal S-C for boys, although a negative direct effect of verbal achievement on math S-C was found for girls. The results differed from previous research measuring evaluative dimensions of math and verbal S-Cs, suggesting either remarkable cultural differences or that academic S-Cs are more complex than has been assumed. The structure of S-C differed for boys and girls; math and verbal S-Cs related differently to general academic S-C. The gender differences are discussed in terms of sex stereotypes. This study has implications for research on academic S-C and gender differences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A social relations model test of the interpersonal circle.

Argues that D. J. Kiesler's (see record 1983-30243-001) interpersonal circle theory of structure of relationships does not provide a method to distinguish between the influence of individual differences and relationship specific effects. It is suggested that D. A. Kenny and L. LaVoie's (1984) social relations model separates these effects but lacks a comprehensive guide for which domains of interpersonal behavior to study. The present authors use the social relations model to test Kiesler's proposition that complimentarity on the affiliation dimension results in correspondence, whereas complimentarity on the control dimension results in reciprocity. Round-robin analyses of variance (ANOVAs) of 16 graduate students' ratings of each other in experiential groups revealed clear support for correspondence on the affiliation dimension but inconclusive results for reciprocity on the control dimension. Making a bridge between the interpersonal circle and the social relations model highlights the potential importance of 3 perspectives toward relationships: 2 kinds of individual differences across relationships, 1-sided relationship specific effects, and mutual relationship specific effects. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A meta-analytic review of social, self-concept, and behavioral outcomes of peer-assisted learning.

Meta-analysis was used to examine social, self-concept, and behavioral effects of peer-assisted learning (PAL) interventions with elementary school students. An electronic search of PsycINFO and ERIC databases resulted in 36 relevant PAL studies. Overall, effect sizes were small to moderate across the 3 outcome variable domains. Both social and self-concept outcomes were positively correlated with academic outcomes. Specific PAL components--student autonomy, individualized evaluation, structured student roles, interdependent group rewards, and same-gender grouping--were related to effect sizes. PAL interventions were more effective for low-income versus higher income, urban versus suburban-rural, minority versus nonminority, and Grades 1-3 students versus Grades 4-6 students. Results suggest that PAL interventions that focus on academics can also improve social and self-concept outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interparental conflict, children's social cognitions, and child aggression: A test of a mediational model.

Although correlations between interparental conflict and child maladjustment are well-established, the processes connecting these 2 phenomena are less understood. The present study tested whether an aggressogenic cognitive style mediates the relationship between interparental conflict and child aggression. A multiethnic sample of 115 families with a child between the ages of 7 and 13 years participated. Questionnaires were used to assess parents' and children's perceptions of interparental conflict, children's social problem-solving strategies and beliefs about aggression, and parent and teacher reports of child aggression. Support was found for the mediating effect of aggressogenic cognitions on children's school aggression but not on children's aggression at home. Implications for understanding the associations among interparental conflict, children's social cognitions, and child aggression in different environmental contexts are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A test of a social cognitive model for middle school students: Math and science.

This study tested Propositions 1, 3, and 4 of the R. W. Lent, S. D. Brown, and G. Hackett (see record 1994-47157-001) social cognitive model with ethnically diverse middle school students (N?=?380): that an individual's vocational interests are reflective of his or her concurrent self-efficacy beliefs and outcome expectations, that self-efficacy beliefs affect choice goals and actions, and that outcome expectations affect choice goals and action. R. W. Lent et al. also proposed that demographic and individual difference variables (such as gender or race-ethnicity) mediate learning experiences that play a role in forming self-efficacy beliefs and outcome expectations. The study investigated a model in which age and gender were represented as antecedent conditions to learning experiences. Self-efficacy was modeled to have both a direct influence on interests and an indirect influence on interests through outcome expectancies. Finally, intentions were modeled to be influenced by self-efficacy, outcome expectancies, and interests. Results support the R. W. Lent et al. Propositions 1, 3, and 4 for this middle school population. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gender differences in self-concept among children and adolescents: A meta-analysis of multidimensional studies.

This investigation consolidated the recent research on gender differences in self-concept among children and youth by conducting a systematic meta-analysis of research published since 1980, particularly involving self-concept as a multidimensional phenomenon. Through a comprehensive search process, 22 studies representing over 19,000 child and adolescent participants were analyzed. The articles included participant samples from 7 nations: the US, Australia, Northern Ireland, South Africa, Finland, Norway, and Canada. Participants ranged from 1st grade through 12th grade. Mean effect size estimates across dimensions showed a complex pattern of gender differences and similarities, some of which were consistent across grade levels and others of which were not. Although some of the findings defied stereotypes, several were consistent with previous notions regarding differences in self-concept based on gender. The direction and complexity of these results emphasizes the importance of discussing developmental differences in self-concept in a thoughtful and careful manner and argues against the use of simplistic global generalizations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Big-Fish--Little-Pond effect on academic self-concept: A cross-cultural (26-country) test of the negative effects of academically selective schools.

Academically selective schools are intended to affect academic self-concept positively, but theoretical and empirical research demonstrates that the effects are negative. The big-fish--little-pond effect (BFLPE), an application of social comparison theory to educational settings, posits that a student will have a lower academic self-concept in an academically selective school than in a nonselective school. This study, the largest cross-cultural study of the BFLPE ever undertaken, tested theoretical predictions for nationally representative samples of approximately 4,000 15-year-olds from each of 26 countries (N=103,558) who completed the same self-concept instrument and achievement tests. Consistent with the BFLPE, the effects of school-average achievement were negative in all 26 countries (M beta=-.20, SD=.08), demonstrating the BFLPE's cross-cultural generalizability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Received and perceived social support in times of stress: A test of the social support deterioration deterrence model.

The authors evaluated the impact of receiving social support on subsequent levels of perceived social support and psychological distress in 2 independent samples of victims of severe natural disasters: Hurricane Hugo (n?=?498) and Hurricane Andrew (n?=?404). A social support deterioration deterrence model was proposed that stipulated that postdisaster mobilization of received support counteracts the deterioration in expectations of support often experienced by victims of major life events. LISREL analyses of data collected 12 and 24 months after Hugo and 6 and 28 months after Andrew provided strong evidence for the hypothesized model: Perceived support mediated the long-term effects on distress of both scope of disaster exposure and postdisaster received support. Theoretical and application issues of social support are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Early reading-related skills and performance, reading self-concept, and the development of academic self-concept: A longitudinal study.

Relations between academic self-concept (ASC) and measures of reading-related performance and self-concept were examined in 60 beginning school children who, after 2 years of schooling, were assessed as having positive, negative, or typical ASCs. Data were collected soon after school entry, toward the end of Years 1 and 2, and during the middle of Year 3. Children with negative ASCs performed poorly on reading-related tasks and reported more negative reading self-concepts than did children with positive or typical ASCs. Reading was also highly predictive of negative and positive ASC group membership, but not of typical ASC group membership. Past studies of relations between ASC and achievement involving full-range samples of young children have underestimated the point in time when these factors become causally related to each other. The negative consequences of young children developing patterns of difficulty in learning to read are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sources of social support and burnout: A meta-analytic test of the conservation of resources model.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 96(1) of Journal of Applied Psychology (see record 2010-24169-001). There were errors in transcribing the ρ values from Table 2 to the results section. In the second paragraph of page 1138, the second and third sentences should read “In the present study, work-related support was more strongly related to exhaustion (ρ = -.26) than depersonalization (ρ = -.23) and personal accomplishment (ρ = .24; F(2, 111) = 24.13, p > .01). On the other hand, non-work support was more strongly related to depersonalization (ρ = .16) and personal accomplishment (ρ = .19) than exhaustion (ρ = -.12; F(2, 38) = 3.83, p > .05).” The values in Table 2 are correct and the substantive conclusions have not changed.] [Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in of Journal of Applied Psychology (see record 2010-24169-001). There were errors in transcribing the ρ values from Table 2 to the results section. In the second paragraph of page 1138, the second and third sentences should read “In the present study, work-related support was more strongly related to exhaustion (ρ = -.26) than depersonalization (ρ = -.23) and personal accomplishment (ρ = .24; F(2, 111) = 24.13, p > .01). On the other hand, non-work support was more strongly related to depersonalization (ρ = -.16) and personal accomplishment (ρ = .19) than exhaustion (ρ = -.12; F(2, 38) = 3.83, p > .05).” The values in Table 2 are correct and the substantive conclusions have not changed.] The Conservation of Resources (COR) model of burnout (Hobfoll & Freedy, 1993) suggests that resources are differentially related to burnout dimensions. In this paper, I provide a meta-analysis of the social support and burnout literature, finding that social support, as a resource, did not yield different relationships across the 3 burnout dimensions (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment), challenging the COR model. However, when considering the source of the social support (work vs. nonwork) as a moderator, I found that work-related sources of social support, because of their more direct relationship to work demands, were more closely associated with exhaustion than depersonalization or personal accomplishment; the opposite pattern was found with nonwork sources of support. I discuss the implications of this finding in relation to the COR model and suggest future research directions to clarify the relationship between resources and burnout dimensions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Response time distributions and the Stroop task: A test of the Cohen, Dunbar, and McClelland (1990) model.

The model by J. D. Cohen et al (1990) was tested for Strooplike interference tasks by studying the shape of the distribution of response latencies produced by Ss and by the model. The model correctly anticipates changes in mean response latency (MRT) across congruent and incongruent conditions. It does not, however, correctly anticipate changes in the shape of the distributions, even though changes in the shape of the distributions underlie the changes in MRT. Thus, the model predicted MRT successfully but for the wrong reason. It is concluded that the model is not an adequate account of Ss' performance in the Stroop task. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Validating the measurement and structure of self-concept: Snapshots of past, present, and future research.

Although the study of self-concept has been a topic of great interest and much study in the social sciences for many decades, it is really only in the past 30 years that any fruitful expansion in knowledge of both its theoretical structure and its related measurement has been forthcoming. From three perspectives--past, present, and future--the author presents abbreviated and selected highlights of important construct validity findings related to this research and postulates possible trends and areas of self-concept research yet to be explored. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-esteem, academic self-concept, and achievement: How the learning environment moderates the dynamics of self-concept.

The authors examine the directionality of effects between global self-esteem, domain-specific academic self-concepts, and academic achievement. Special emphasis is placed on learning environments as potential moderators of the direction of these effects. According to the meritocracy principle presented here, so-called bottom-up effects (i.e., self-esteem is influenced by academic self-concept) are more pronounced in meritocratic learning environments than in ego-protective learning environments. This hypothesis was examined using a three-wave cross-lagged panel design with a large sample of 7th graders from East and West Germany, a total of 5,648 students who were tested shortly after German reunification. Reciprocal effects were found between self-esteem, academic self-concept, and academic achievement. In conformance with the meritocracy principle, support for bottom-up effects was stronger in the meritocratic learning environment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Aggressive school troublemakers and victims: A longitudinal model examining the pivotal role of self-concept.

Aggressive Troublemaker (getting into physical fights, getting into trouble, being seen as a troublemaker, and being punished for getting into trouble) and Victim (being threatened with harm, not feeling safe) factors were related to 3 components of self-concept (General, Same Sex, and Opposite Sex) based on the large, nationally representative National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 database. At 8th-, 10th-, and 12th-grade levels, Troublemaker and Victim constructs were reasonably stable over time and moderately positively correlated (many students were both troublemakers and victims). The Victim factor was negatively correlated with self-concept and had negative effects on subsequent self-concept. Whereas the Troublemaker factor was also correlated somewhat negatively with self-concept, it had small positive effects on subsequent self-concept: Low self-concept may trigger troublemaking behavior in a possibly successful attempt to enhance subsequent self-concept. Although boys had higher Troublemaker and Victim scores than did girls, the effects of these constructs on subsequent self-concepts were similar for boys and girls. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)