Adolescents' Domain-Specific Self-Concepts of Ability Predict Their Domain-Specific Causal Attributions: A Longitudinal Study

• Published in: Merrill-Palmer Quarterly Vol. 64; no. 4; pp. 539 - 569
• Main Authors: Clem, Anna-Leena, Aunola, Kaisa, Hirvonen, Riikka, Määttä, Sami, Nurmi, Jari-Erik, Kiuru, Noona
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Detroit Wayne State University Press 01.10.2018
• Subjects: Academic Ability; Academic achievement; Academic self concept; Adolescents; Attribution Theory; Child development; Children & youth; Cognition & reasoning; Cognitive ability; Cognitive Development; Educational Attainment; Educational Objectives; Educational psychology; Educational research; Finnish language; Foreign Countries; Grade 7; Grade 9; Learning; Literacy; Longitudinal Studies; Mathematics; Mathematics education; Numeracy; Perceptions; Psychologists; Questionnaires; Secondary education; Self Concept; Self esteem; Student attitudes; Success; Teenagers; Thinking Skills; Finland
• ISSN: 0272-930X; 1535-0266
• DOI: 10.13110/merrpalmquar1982.64.4.0539

This study investigated longitudinal associations between mathematics- and literacy-related causal attributions and self-concepts of ability among Finnish adolescents (N = 237). Questionnaires were administered to adolescents in Grades 7 and 9 to obtain information on their causal attributions and self-concepts of ability. The results showed that adolescents attributed their successes and failures in a self-consistent way. Specifically, self-concepts of ability predicted subsequent causal attributions in both school subjects. In mathematics, a higher self-concept of ability contributed to more self-enhancing and self-protective attributions. However, in both school subjects, a lower self-concept of ability contributed to more maladaptive attributions.