Self-concept, self-esteem and academic achievement: Strategies for maintaining self-esteem in students experiencing academic failure

Previous research into the relationship between self-esteem and academic achievement shows that despite differences in academic self-evaluation, students’ global self-representations do not differ as a result of their grades at school. In this study, we will analyse the strategies that underachiever...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autor principal: Peixoto, Francisco José Brito (author)
Outros Autores: Almeida, Leandro da Silva (author)
Formato: article
Idioma:eng
Publicado em: 2012
Assuntos:
Texto completo:http://hdl.handle.net/10400.12/1865
País:Portugal
Oai:oai:repositorio.ispa.pt:10400.12/1865
Descrição
Resumo:Previous research into the relationship between self-esteem and academic achievement shows that despite differences in academic self-evaluation, students’ global self-representations do not differ as a result of their grades at school. In this study, we will analyse the strategies that underachievers used to maintain their self-esteem at an acceptable level. The participants were 955 adolescents in the 7th, 9th and 11th grades at four secondary schools in Lisbon. Three hundred fifty-two of these students had retaken a year at least once in their school careers, whilst 603 had never done so. We collected the data using both a self-concept scale and a scale for evaluating attitudes towards school. Results show that self-esteem is maintained through positive self-representations in non-academic facets of self-concept and/or by devaluing school-related competences. They also show that younger students are less likely to maintain self-esteem by devaluing the school experience.