The Self-concept is an internal model that uses self-assessments in order to define one‟s self-schemas. Features such as personality skills and abilities, occupations(s) and hobbies, physical characteristics, etc are assessed and applied to self-schemas, which are ideas one has oneself in a particular dimension (e.g. someone that considers himself a geek will associate geek-like qualities and be an expert on those qualities) A collection of concept make up one‟s overall concept. For example, the statement “I am lazy” is a self-assessment that contributes to the self-concept. It is important to note that statements such as
“I am tired” would not be part of someone‟s self-concept, since being tired is a temporary emotional state and therefore cannot become a part of self-schema. A person‟s self-concept may change with time as reassessment occurs, which in extreme cases can lead to identity crises.
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Various studies have examined the effects that success and failure can have on an individual‟s self-concept. Individuals often form their self-concept based on past experiences of success or failure, attributing the outcome to their own personal worth. By doing this, individuals can commit the fundamental attribution error. In this case, the error may arise when the person falsely believes that a specific aspect of who they are determines the positive or negative outcome. By attributing a negative outcome to oneself, self-concept can be unnecessarily harmed. However attributing positive outcomes to oneself can increase self-concept. These attributions can even have an effect on self-perception, achievement behaviours in the future, and expectancies. Austin and Vispoel (1998) found strong links between where an individual attributed success or failure and, specifically, musical self-concept.
Changes in self-concept can be mediated and predicted by various factors. One important factor in academies is evaluation of performance by peers, or peer academic reputation (PAR). Gest, Rulison, Davidson, and Welsh (2008) found evidence for the predictive ability of PAR with regard to students' in upper grades academic self-vineey.it. If a student has a reputation for success or failure in the academic setting, the student may develop a negative self-concept. This shows that it may not only be the actual success or failure that has an effect, but may also be the secondary effects of poor academic reputation among peers that influence students' self-concept. There are also effects that have been studied by looking at how self-concept can influence success or failure and attributions of success and failure. In a study of university undergraduates, self-esteem was studied by examining students' attributions for their success or failure after being given a word association. Button and Brown (1997) found that self-esteem could predict participants' attribution of their success or failure in the word test. Individuals with high self-esteem tended to make more self-esteem.
Gender differences
Gender has a.lso been shown to be an important factor in the formation of self-concept. Early research inspired by the differences in self-concept are culture which suggested that men tend to be more independent while women tend to be more interdependent. Independent self-construct refers to the fact that representation'; of others are separate from the self.
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Interdependent self-construct refers to the fact that representations of others are considered as part of the self. However, more recent research has shown that while men and women do not differ between independence and interdependence generally, they do differ in the distinction between relational and collective interdependence. Men utilize collective interdependence while women utilize relational interdependence. In other words, women identify more with dyadic (one-on-one) relationships or small cliques, whereas men define themselves more often within the context of larger groups. Research also shows that as gender roles become blurred in Western society (e.g., more men are staying at home and women are being empowered in the workplace), these differences may change.
Women have often been stereotyped as being more emotional than men. This area of gender differences is important to research, as self-concepts tin' encompass gentler may also encompass the self-conscious emotions or tendencies associated with gender. Women, for example, allegedly show more guilt, shame and embarrassment whereas men show more pride. Research shows that women, in fact, do show more guilt, shame and embarrassment than men but that men and women show the same amount of pride. Furthermore, gender differences in self-conscious emotions are different between ethnicities and are greatest within white population when compared to Black or African, Asian, and Latin American samples. More research in this area is needed to extrapolate the gender differences across different cultures and ethnicities, as most of the samples used in gender studies are white samples. This reliance on a specific sample can lead researchers to overestimate the magnitude of gender differences in terms of emotions of women in comparison to men.
Academic Self-Concept
Academic self-concept has a research history spanning decades and is often mentioned as an important factor in educational attainment. Although there appears to be some agreement on the definition of academic self-concept issues remain unsettled.
Academic concept, broadly defined, can be thought of as a student‟s self-perception of academic ability formed through individual experience and interactions with the environment (O‟Mara, 2006; Valentine, 2004). Regardless of the scope of specific research, researchers generally employ this central definition of academic self-concept.
A major contribution offered by the educational literature is to distinguish the concept of academic self-concept from self-concepts in other domains of activity. In theory, a
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positive academic self-concept should lead to gains in academic achievement. Specifically, students with positive views of their academic abilities are likely to engage in more achievement-related behaviours, which might include completing homework, studying for tests, and participating in class activities (Valentine, 2004). The key to understanding self-concept in an academic context and from an applied educational perspectives is to understand conceptually what academic self-concept represents and its specific relationship to numerous academic outcomes.
Global Self-Concept and Domain-Specific Self-Concept
One of the more important distinctions within the definition of academic self-concept is that between global and domain-self-concepts. Academic self-concept globally is a student‟s perception of his or her general ability in school. However, many researchers have argued that academic self-concept is multidimensional and varies across school subjects.
Therefore, a large number of researchers have drawn distinctions between, for example, Math self-concept (i.e. students‟ belief that they can do well in Mathematics) and literacy self-concept (i.e. students‟ belief that they can do well in reading or Language Arts). The educational psychology literature demonstrates that students distinguish between the various domain-specific (e.g. math, reading, science) elements of academic self-concept (see, for example, Yeung, 2000). A synthesis of this literature is beyond the scope of this review, but to understand the relationship between academic self-concept and academic achievement outcomes, it is necessary to recognize that general and domain-specific self-concepts maybe different.
The Causal Relationship between Academic Self-Concept and Achievement
Importantly, academic self-concept is formed and developed through interactions with a student's significant others (i.e., parents, teachers, or peers) and therefore is dynamic as a student progresses through schooling. The question of causality between academic concept and achievement outcomes has been featured prominently in the academic self-concept literature. However, the direction of causality remains somewhat unsettled; three popular models describe different causal relationships between self-concept and academic achievement: the skill-development model, the self-enhancement model, and the reciprocal effects model.
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In the skill-development model, academic self-concept is a consequence of prior academic achievement. Academic self-concept, be it global or in relation to a specific academic domain, develops as a student gets feedback on academic work (Guay et al., 2003).
In the self-enhancement model, prior self-concept is a strong determinant of academic achievement. The reciprocal effects model argues that prior self-concept predicts subsequent self-concept and subsequent academic achievement (Marsh & Craven, 2006). Furthermore, prior academic achievement predicts subsequent self-concept, hence reciprocal effects.