This study examined the factor structure of high school students’responses to the Verbal, Math, Academic, and General self-concept scales of the Self-Description Questionnaire-II (SDQ-II) administered in China at two time points. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) showed that these students clearly distinguished the four scales. Math and Chinese self-concepts were positively correlated with Academic self-concept and with General self-concept. However, Math and Chinese self-concepts were negatively correlated with each other. The stability coefficients for each construct over time was high. The inclusion of Chinese and math achievement scores as well as teachers’ratings of general academic performance in CFA models further confirmed the validity of the multidimensional constructs by demonstrating a high correlation with each matching self-concept construct. All patterns of relations were replicated in a second collection of data 6 months later. The results support the multidimensionality and domain specificity of academic self-concepts found in Western countries.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Bollen, K. A. (1989). Structural equations with latent variables. New York: John Wiley.
2.
Byrne, B. M. (1984). The general/academic self-concept nomological network: A review of construct validation research. Review of Educational Research, 54, 427-456.
3.
Byrne, B. M. (1986). Self-concept/academic achievement relations: An investigation of dimensionality, stability, and causality. Canadian Journal of Behavioral Science, 18, 173-186.
4.
Byrne, B. M. (1988). Measuring adolescent self-concept factorial validity and equivalency of the SDQ-III across gender. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 23, 361-375.
5.
Byrne, B. M. (1989). A primer of LISREL: Basic applications and programming for confirmatory factor analytic models. New York: Springer-Verlag.
6.
Byrne, B. M. , & Gavin, D.A.W. (1996). The Shavelson model revisited: Testing for the structure of academic self-concept across pre-, early, and late adolescents. Journal of Educational Psychology, 88, 215-228.
7.
Byrne, B. M. , & Shavelson, R. J. (1986). On the structure of adolescent self-concept. Journal of Educational Psychology, 78, 474-481.
8.
Byrne, B. M. , & Shavelson, R. J. (1987). Adolescent self-concept: The assumption of equivalent structure across gender. American Educational Research Journal, 24, 365-385.
9.
Calsyn, R. , & Kenny, D. (1977). Self-concept of ability and perceived evaluation of others: Cause or effect of academic achievement?Journal of Educational Psychology, 69, 136-145.
10.
Gonzalez-Pienda, J. A. , Nunez-Perez, J. C., & Valle-Aries, A. (1992). Procesos de comparacion externa/interna, autoconcepto y rendimiento academico [External/internal processes of comparison, self-concept, and academic performance]. Revista de Psicologia General y Aplicada, 45, 73-81.
11.
Helmke, A. , & van Aken, M.A.G. (1995). The causal ordering of academic achievement and self-concept of ability during elementary school: A longitudinal study. Journal of Educational Psychology, 87, 624-637.
12.
Hon, C. C. , & Watkins, D. (1995). Evaluating a social skills training program for Hong Kong students. Journal of Social Psychology, 135, 527-528.
13.
Jöreskog, K. G. (1979). Statistical estimation of structural models in longitudinal investigations. In J. R. Nesselroade & B. Baltes (Eds.), Longitudinal research in the study of behavior and development (pp. 303-351). New York: Academic Press.
14.
Jöreskog, K. G. , & Sörbom, D. (1993). LISREL 8: Structural equation modeling with the SIM-PLIS command language. Chicago: Scientific Software International.
15.
Marsh, H. W. (1986). Verbal and math self-concepts: An internal/external frame of reference model. Educational Research Journal, 23, 129-149.
16.
Marsh, H. W. (1987). The hierarchical structure of self-concept and the application of hierarchical confirmatory factor analysis. Journal of Educational Measurement, 24, 17-39.
17.
Marsh, H. W. (1990). A multidimensional hierarchical self-concept: Theoretical and empirical justification. Educational Psychology Review, 2, 77-172.
18.
Marsh, H. W. (1992). Self-Description Questionnaire II: Manual. New South Wales, Australia: University of Western Sydney, Macarthur, Faculty of Education, Publication Unit.
19.
Marsh, H. W. (1993). Academic self-concept: Theory, measurement, and research. In J. Suls (Ed.), Psychological perspectives on the self (Vol. 4, pp. 59-88). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
20.
Marsh, H. W. , Balla, J. R., & Hau, K. T. (1996). An evaluation of incremental fit indices: A clarification of mathematical and empirical processes. In G. A. Marcoulides & R. E. Schumacker (Eds.), Advanced structural equation modeling techniques. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
21.
Marsh, H. W. , Balla, J. R., & McDonald, R. P. (1988). Goodness-of-fit indices in confirmatory factor analyses: The effect of sample size. Psychological Bulletin, 103, 391-410.
22.
Marsh, H. W. , Byrne, B. M., & Shavelson, R. J. (1988). A multifaceted academic self-concept: Its hierarchical structure and its relation to academic achievement. Journal of Educational Psychology, 80, 366-380.
23.
Marsh, H. W. , & O’Neill, R. (1984). Self-Description Questionnaire III (SDQ III): The construct validity of multidimensional self-concept ratings by late-adolescents. Journal of Educational Measurement, 21, 153-174.
24.
Marsh, H. W. , & Shavelson, R. J. (1985). Self-concept: Its multifaceted hierarchical structure. Educational Psychologist, 20, 107-125.
25.
Marsh, H. W. , Walker, R., & Debus, R. (1991). Subject-specific components of academic self-concept and self-efficacy. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 16, 331-345.
26.
Marsh, H. W. , & Yeung, A. S. (1996). The distinctiveness of affects in specific school subjects: An application of confirmatory factor analysis with the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988. American Educational Research Journal, 33, 665-689.
27.
Marsh, H. W. , & Yeung, A. S. (1997a). Causal effects of academic self-concept on academic achievement: Structural equation models of longitudinal data. Journal of Educational Psychology, 89, 41-54.
28.
Marsh, H. W. , & Yeung, A. S. (1997b). Coursework selection: Relations to academic self-concept and achievement. American Educational Research Journal, 34, 691-720.
29.
Marsh, H. W. , & Yeung, A. S. (in press). Longitudinal structural equation models of academic self-concept and achievement: Gender differences in the development of math and English constructs. American Educational Research Journal.
30.
Martorell, M. C. , Flores, P., Silva, F., & Navarro, A. (1992). Autoconcepto: Adaptation espanola del SDQ-II de Marsh Y Barnes [Self-concept: Spanish adaptation of the SDQ-II by Marsh and Barnes]. Revista de Psicologia de la Educacion, 3, 65-88.
31.
Newman, R. S. (1984). Achievement and self-evaluations in mathematics. Journal of Educational Psychology, 76, 857-873.
32.
Shavelson, R. J. , Hubner, J. J., & Stanton, G. C. (1976). Self-concept validation of construct interpretations. Review of Educational Research, 46, 407-441.
33.
Skaalvik, E. M. , & Hagtvet, K. A. (1990). Academic achievement and self-concept: An analysis of causal predominance in a developmental perspective. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58, 292-307.
34.
Skaalvik, E. M. , & Rankin, R. J. (1995). A test of the internal/external frame of reference model at different levels of math and verbal self-perception. American Educational Research Journal, 32, 161-184.
35.
Tay, M. P. , Licht, B. G., & Tate, R. L. (1995). The internal/external frame of reference in adolescents’ math and verbal self-concepts: A generalization study. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 20, 392-402.
36.
Thomas, M. (1988). Zur Zentralitat intelligenztestbezogener Fahigkeitskonzepte [On the centrality of intelligence-test referent ability concepts]. Zeitschrift fur Padagogische Psychologie, 2, 193-200.
37.
Vispoel, W. P. (1993). The development and validation of the Arts Self-Perception Inventory for Adolescents. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 53, 1023-1033.
38.
Vispoel, W. P. (1995). Self-concept in the arts: An extension of the Shavelson model. Journal of Educational Psychology, 87, 134-145.
39.
Watkins, D. , Akande, A., & Mpofu, E. (1996). Assessing self-esteem: An African perspective. Personality and Individual Differences, 20, 163-169.
40.
Watkins, D. , & Dong, Q. (1994). Assessing the self-esteem of Chinese school children. Psychological Review, 14, 129-137.
41.
Watkins, D. , Juhasz, A. M., Walker, A., & Janvlaitiene, N. (1995). The Self-Description Questionnaire-I: A Lithuanian application. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 11, 41-51.
42.
Watkins, D. , & Mpofu, E. (1994). Some Zimbabwean evidence of the internal structure of the self Description Questionnaire-I. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 54, 967-972.
