Who's on first? : causal ordering of ademic self-concept, motivational goals, and achievement

Investigating causal relations between self-concept and motivational goals represents a leading edge in self-concept research. The objective of the study was to determine the nature and extent of causal relations between students' academic self-concept, motivational goals, and achievement. Three waves of data were collected from approximately 2,000 high-school students using (a) the English and Maths Self-Concept scales from the Self-Description Questionnaire II (Marsh, 1990), and (b) the Mastery, Performance and Social Goals scales from the General Achievement Goal Orientation Scale (McInerney, 1997). The data were used in a series of longitudinal Structural Equation Models to determine whether self-concept, motivational goals, or neither was causally predominant with respect to students' achievement (as measured by their mathematics and English examination results). Results of the study indicate that the models with Goal Orientations (at Time 1) leading to Self-Concept (at Time 2) leading to achievement (at Time 3) fit the data better than models positing Self-Concept as predominant over Goals, and models positing neither Self-Concept nor Goals as predominant. We conclude that students' self-concept is more directly related to their achievement than their motivational goals. However, we also conclude that motivational goals may be an important antecedent of students�� self-concept. Hence, motivational goals and self-concept appear to work together in a causally definable manner to influence students' academic achievement.