Juxtaposition of multidimensional self-concept and personality constructs in educational settings: Construct validity in relation to academic outcomes

How well can diverse academic outcomes (school grades, test scores, coursework selection in different school subjects) be predicted by big-five and well-being personality factors and multiple dimensions of self-concept? Whereas educational research has embraced a multidimensional perspective of self-concept with a particular emphasis on academic self-concept, personality research has continued to employ a unidimensional persepective of self-concept with a particular emphasis on global self-esteem. In support of a multidimensional perspective of self-concept based on a large (N = 4,475) sample of German adolescents, academic criteria are substantially related to academic self-concepts, whereas correlations between global self-esteem and all nine academic outcomes are close to zero (rs = -.03 to .05). There is strong support for the discriminant validity of math and verbal self-concepts factors in that they are slightly negatively related to each other and have clearly contrasting patterns of relations with different academic outcomes - particularly coursework selection into advanced German, English, and mathematics courses. In contrast to self-concept measures, big-five and well-being personality factors explained only small amounts of variance in academic outcomes and support for their incremental validity after controlling for specific self-concept factors is weak.