The relationship between personality and attainment in 16-19 year-old students in a sixth form college. I: Construction of the Student Self-Perception Scale

• Published in: British journal of educational psychology Vol. 69; no. 2; pp. 159 - 172
• Main Authors: Summerfield, Margaret, Youngman, Michael
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.06.1999; British Psychological Society; Scottish Academic Press
• Subjects: Academic Achievement; Achievement; Achievement Need; Adolescent; Adult; Biological and medical sciences; Colleges; Educational Attainment; Educational psychology; Educational Research; Evaluation; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Male; Measures; Orientation. Evaluation; Personality; Personality Development; Personality Inventory - statistics & numerical data; Pilot Projects; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Psychometrics; Relationship; Reproducibility of Results; Self Concept; Selfperception; Student Self-Perception Scale; Students; Students - psychology; Human; Locus of control; Factor analysis; Questionnaire; Evaluation scale; Psychometrics; Self perception; Personality; Cross validation; Academic ability; Item analysis; Test validation; Construct validity; Adolescent; Self concept
• ISSN: 0007-0998; 2044-8279
• DOI: 10.1348/000709999157644

Background. Of the research that has been undertaken into the relationship between personality and attainment, relatively little exists relating to the 16‐19 age range. In a substantive study examining the relationship between academic self‐concept, attainment and personality in sixth form students, a first requirement was to design a self‐perception instrument. Aims. The psychometric element of the study aimed to construct a Student Self‐Perception Scale (SSPS) that would be effective for students in the FE (further education) context. Samples. The samples comprised a pilot sample of 152 students (aged 16‐17 years from two sixth form colleges) and a main sample of 364 students (mean age, 16yrs 10mths, range 16:0 to 18:6 years, from one sixth form college). The main sample included similar numbers of male and female students (46% male, 54% female) and ethnic minority students comprised 14% of this sample. Method. An initial item pool of 88 four‐point Likert type statements was compiled from comparable existing scales and from responses to a Student Induction Questionnaire. Item analysis was based on oblique factor analysis of the pilot sample responses, followed by cross‐validation on the main sample to refine the scale structures. Construct validity was established from the substantive study, especially the Nowicki & Strickland (1973) locus of control results. Results. Exploration of the four‐ and five‐factor structures led to a final specification based on 52 items from five oblique factors. The constituent scales were Passivity (12 items, alpha = .81). Mastery (15 items, alpha = .79), Work Related Inadequacy (11 items, alpha = .72), Extraversion (4 items, alpha = .70) and Social Dependence (10 items, alpha = .66), all statistics compiled from the cross‐validation sample. Correlations with Locus of Control ranged from 0.52 for Mastery to‐.34 for Work Related Inadequacy. Distribution statistics for Locus of Control matched a comparable American sample. Conclusions. The five‐scale structure exhibits good cross‐validation characteristics and supports revealing analyses of relationships within the substantive study. Its 52‐item format is suitable for research or exploratory use within its intended FE context.