TY - JOUR

T1 - Academic self-concept and causal attributions for success and failure amongst elementary school children

AU - Lohbeck, Annette

AU - Grube, Dietmar

AU - Moschner, Barbara

PY - 2017/4/3

Y1 - 2017/4/3

N2 - A great deal of research shows that the way in which children attribute causes to their successes and failures in school has implications for the development of their academic self-concept (ASC). The most common attributions are ability, effort, task difficulty, and luck. The present study asked 68 elementary school children aged seven to eight years how they explained their successes and failures in school subjects. The aim of the study was to examine whether there were gender differences in the children’s responses which might indicate differences in ASCs or in their explanations for the causes of success or failure. Data were collected via quantitative questionnaires. Results showed no gender differences in ASC but, within the group, boys were more likely to attribute their success to high ability; on the other hand girls were more likely to attribute their failures to low ability or the difficulty level of task. This suggests that boys are more likely than girls to provide positive, self-enhancing reasons for their success while girls are more likely than boys to provide negative, self-deprecating reasons for their failures.

AB - A great deal of research shows that the way in which children attribute causes to their successes and failures in school has implications for the development of their academic self-concept (ASC). The most common attributions are ability, effort, task difficulty, and luck. The present study asked 68 elementary school children aged seven to eight years how they explained their successes and failures in school subjects. The aim of the study was to examine whether there were gender differences in the children’s responses which might indicate differences in ASCs or in their explanations for the causes of success or failure. Data were collected via quantitative questionnaires. Results showed no gender differences in ASC but, within the group, boys were more likely to attribute their success to high ability; on the other hand girls were more likely to attribute their failures to low ability or the difficulty level of task. This suggests that boys are more likely than girls to provide positive, self-enhancing reasons for their success while girls are more likely than boys to provide negative, self-deprecating reasons for their failures.

KW - Academic self-concept

KW - causal attributions

KW - elementary school children

KW - gender differences

KW - relations

KW - Educational science

KW - Psychology

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85015631482&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1080/09669760.2017.1301806

DO - 10.1080/09669760.2017.1301806

M3 - Journal articles

AN - SCOPUS:85015631482

VL - 25

SP - 190

EP - 203

JO - International Journal of Early Years Education

JF - International Journal of Early Years Education

SN - 0966-9760

IS - 2

ER -