The present study aimed to investigate the determinants of three measures of self-concept such as the academic self-concept, the general self-esteem, and the non-academic self-concept, on the students in primary and secondary school levels. A quasi-lo...
The present study aimed to investigate the determinants of three measures of self-concept such as the academic self-concept, the general self-esteem, and the non-academic self-concept, on the students in primary and secondary school levels. A quasi-longitudinal design, motivated by the work of Kifer(1975), was used to test the effects of a pattern of academic success or failure on the changes of each measures of self-concept. For this design, the subjects from the fourth through the ninth grades were sampled purposively in Seoul and Cheong-Ju. And another sample from fifth, seventh, ninth, and eleventh grades was selected purposively in Seoul and Cheong-Ju, to examine the main, the combined, and the relative effects of the independent variables on the self-concepts. The independent variables for this study comprised the students` backgrounds(sex, living area, SES IQ), the present academic achievement, and the emotional relationships with their parent and friends.
The major findings of this research were as follows:
First, the academic self-concept was most highly related to cumulative patterns of academic success or failure than were the general self-esteem and the non-academic self-concept. The mean differences of academic self-concept measure between the success group and the failure group were serious with the size of about 1.2 standard deviation for the fourth graders through the seventh graders, and deepened with the size of about 1.8 SD for the ninth graders.
Second, the combined effects of the independent variables on each of three measures of self-concept were significantly differentiated. The effects were estimated at about 35 percent for the academic self-concept, about 30 percent for the general self-esteem, about 25 percent for the non-academic self-concept, respectively.
Third, SES, IQ< school achievement of students and the perceived parent`s attitude of acceptance were turned out to be important determinants of self-concepts. But the relative importance of these variables for each of three measures of self-concept were not the same. For the academic self-concept, the percentage of the combined effect of SES, IQ, and school achievement to the combined effect of all the independent variables was estimated at about 80 percent. And the percentage was decreased to about 30 percent for the general self-esteem and about 2 percent for the non-academic self-concept.