The formation of subject-specific values as a two-step process: Self-concepts mediate the relation between achievement and values

• Published in: Contemporary educational psychology Vol. 75; p. 102223
• Main Authors: Schneider, Rebecca, Wolff, Fabian
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Inc 01.10.2023
• Subjects: Academic achievement; Generalized internal/external frame of reference model; Interest; Internal/external frame of reference model; Self-concept; Social and dimensional comparisons; Value; Interest; Self-concept; Internal/external frame of reference model; Academic achievement; Value; Social and dimensional comparisons; Generalized internal/external frame of reference model
• ISSN: 0361-476X; 1090-2384
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cedpsych.2023.102223

•Relations between grades, self-concepts, and values in six subjects were examined.•Self-concepts fully mediate the relation between grades and values.•Grades impact self-concept through assimilation and contrast effects.•Subsequently, self-concepts affect values in the same subject. Within the framework of a generalized internal/external frame of reference model, influences of social and dimensional comparisons of academic achievement on the formation of subject-specific values (or related constructs) are empirically well documented for secondary school students. Furthermore, a wide range of theories also hypothesize an effect of subject-specific self-concepts on values. Accordingly, prior studies suggested a mediating effect of self-concepts on the achievement–value relationship. However, these studies have been limited to two school subjects or exclusively math and science subjects. Based on data from N = 1,339 ninth- through twelfth-grade students, we extended prior research by relating students’ grades in mathematics, physics, social studies, German, English, and the second foreign language to value scores in these subjects; subject-specific self-concepts were included as mediators. Our results support the hypothesis of a full mediation of the relationship between grades and values through self-concepts. Additional analyses showed a comparable fit between a mediation model with direct paths from grades to values and a mediation model without these direct paths. We discuss which subject-specific self-concepts are the most important mediators for the achievement–value relationship and the importance of self-concepts for forming values above grades.