Abstract
In two large confirmatory factor analyses (Ns = 11,029 and 1,397) of Self-Description Questionnaire (SDQ-I) responses, we examined how the separation of competency and affect components of reading, math, and school self-concept varies across ages 7-13. The SDQ-I factor structure was well defined with factor loadings invariant over both longitudinal and cross-sectional age comparisons. Correlations among reading, math, and school self-concepts systematically decreased with age, but correlations between competency and affect within each domain remained consistently large. With age and development, students more clearly distinguish between different academic self-concept domains, but the relation between intrinsic liking and competency remains strong. We tentatively recommend that researchers distinguish between competency and affect components of academic self-concept, qualified by the need to evaluate further the construct validity of this separation in relation to additional external validity criteria.
Recommended Citation
Marsh, Herbert W.; Craven, Rhonda; and Debus, Raymond
(1999)
"Separation of Competency and Affect Components
of Multiple Dimensions of Academic Self-Concept:
A Developmental Perspective,"
Merrill-Palmer Quarterly: Vol. 45:
Iss.
4, Article 3.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/mpq/vol45/iss4/3