Self-concept : a synergy of theory, method, and application

The purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of academic self-concept (ASC) theory and research and its application in educational psychology. Briefly reviewing its historical beginnings as one of the oldest and most widely studied constructs in educational psychology, we move to the current status of research in this area, including areas of controversy and implications for learning and teaching. In the past 30 years, the rapid evolution of the self-concept theory and empirical research has been inseparable from the methodological developments, a substantive-methodological synergy that characterizes self-concept research. Major topics considered in this chapter are the structure of self-concept, including the extreme domain specificity of ASC (math self-concept [MSC] and verbal self-concept [VSC] are almost uncorrelated, even though math and verbal achievements are highly correlated); the development of self-concept instruments based on sound theory and strong methodology, even for children as young as 4 years of age; tests of the reciprocal effects model (REM) positing that ASC and achievement are each a cause and an effect of the other; surprising implications of frame of reference effects based on comparisons with other students (i.e., tracking effects such that being in the high-ability track has negative effects, whereas being in the low-ability track has positive effects); and a summary of intervention studies.