I wish to identify whether high school students placing an emphasis on excelling academically is associated with self-worth. The predictor variable will be measured based on how important students find grades (question SFIS38). The outcome variable will be measured based on various responses to questions of self-worth (NWIS47A, NWIS47D, NWIS47H, NWIS47L). I will also investigate possible confounding variables: if students are enrolled in advanced classes (question SSIS19) previous grades (NWIS38), how important students feel that getting good grades is to their friends (SFIS70D), if students’ families expect their best from the student (NWIS202C), if the student tries to make their family proud (NWIS202D), if teachers encourage higher understanding of course material (SFIS26), social class, gender, race, and grade.
Adolescence is marked by rapid changes in self-image. There has been much research on the effects of self-esteem on academic performance. There is general academic consensus that greater self-esteem has a positive impact on academic performance (Richardson 2012, Lane et al 2004), though there have been studies with differing conclusions (Thompson 1994, Forsyth et al 2007). There is additional research that suggests that this relationship may be reciprocal (Marsh & Martin 2011). This perspective, of attempting to understand what factors bolster self-esteem, prioritizes the student and their well-being rather than their output.
There is evidence that this relationship may be impacted by gender (Pomerantz et al 2002), race (Lay & Wakstein 1985), socio-economic class (Muijs 1997), teacher-student and parent-child relationships (Martin et al 2007), the values of friends (Wouters et al 2013), and how academic success is defined (Marsh et al 1991). It is important to note that the focus of my investigation is not on if academic achievement has a significant effect on self-worth, but if emphasis on academic achievement is significant. Though the two are associated, it is useful to differentiate because a studious student may not be a successful one. However, I will also investigate academic achievement itself as a confounding variable to this relationship.
Dataset: https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/ICPSR/studies/04551/summary.
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Wouters, Sofie, et al. “Early Adolescents' Academic Self-Concept Formation: Do Classmates or Friends Matter Most?” Learning and Individual Differences, vol. 27, 2013, pp. 193–200., https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2013.09.002.