Academic self-concept and academic achievement: Taking account of the twofold multidimensional structure of academic self-concept and cultural influences on learning beliefs

The domain-specific feature of academic self-concept (i.e., math and verbal domains) and the reciprocal relationships between academic self-concept and academic achievement have been well documented in the existing literature on self-concept research. Moving forward, recent research found that each domain of academic self-concept can be further differentiated into two component-level self-perceptions: competence and affect. Together with the domain-specific feature, the further distinctiveness between the competence and affect self-perceptions has been conceptualized as the twofold multidimensional structure of academic self-concept. To seek for deeper understanding of the relationship between academic self-concept and academic achievement, this chapter reviewed an increasing number of studies that have incorporated the competence-affect separation within math and verbal domains of academic self-concept. Cultural influences on students’ learning beliefs and self-perceptions were also integrated in this review. In general, the twofold multidimensional structure of academic self-concept was supported by research findings of studies across different cultures. Specifically, for students in Western cultures, the competence self-perceptions were found to have stronger relationships with matching domains of academic achievement compared to the affect self-perceptions, whereas for those in Chinese culture, stronger relationships were found between the affect self-perceptions and matching domains of academic achievement. The results are discussed in light of cultural influences on students’ learning and self - perceptions. Theoretical and practical implications of this updated review to self-concept research, student learning and future directions are discussed. Copyright © 2016 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.