Sex differences in school achievement: what are the roles of personality and achievement motivation?

Abstract

It is consistently reported that despite equal cognitive ability, girls outperform boys in school. In several methodological steps, the present study examined sex differences in school achievement and some of the most important personality and motivational constructs in a sample of 204 females and 138 adolescent males (mean age M = 16.94 years; SD = 0.71). Grades in Math and German as well as grade point average (GPA) served as achievement criteria. Intelligence, the Big Five of personality and motivational variables (achievement motives, goal orientation, task values and ability self‐concepts) served as predictors. After controlling for intelligence, girls' grades were significantly better than boys'. Mean sex differences were found for most variables. There were no gender‐specific associations between predictors and grades. Agreeableness, work avoidance, ability self‐concepts and values ascribed to German mediated the association between sex and grades in German. Controlling for ability self‐concepts and values ascribed to Math enhanced the association between sex and math grades. We concluded that personality and motivation play important roles in explaining sex differences in school attainment. Results are discussed against the background of practical and methodological implications. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Do girls and boys perceive themselves as equally engaged in school? The results of an international study from 12 countries

“…These findings are different from those of Freudenthaler et al (2008), who found that school-related intrinsic motivation was more important to school achievement for boys than for girls. However, the findings from the present study are consistent with those of Ruban and McCoach (2005);Sánchez, Colón, and Esparza (2005); and Steinmayr and Spinath (2008). They did not find differences in the predictability of school performance and the relative importance of predictors across the two genders.…”

“…However, the findings of Freudenthaler et al (2008) were not conclusive, as other studies reported conflicting evidence. For instance, Steinmayr and Spinath (2008) did not find any gender difference in the relations between motivation and school achievement. Similarly, Ruban and McCoach (2005) found no gender differences in the impact of selfregulatory and motivation factors on college academic achievement.…”

Dominant Goal Orientations Predict Differences in Academic Achievement during Adolescence through Metacognitive Self-Regulation

“…Previous research has shown that goal orientations can predict academic achievement in children, adolescents and undergraduates, although the amount of variance explained by goals is small (Diseth, 2011;Elliot et al, 1999;Freudenthaler, Spinath, & Neubauer, 2008;Keys, Conley, Duncan, & Domina, 2012;Patrick, Ryan, & Pintrich, 1999;Simons, Dewitte, & Lens, 2004;Steinmayr, Bipp, & Spinath, 2011;Steinmayr & Spinath, 2008, 2009Wigfield & Cambria, 2010;Wolters, 2004;Huang, 2012). Independent of age, positive relations with academic achievement have been found for performance-approach goals (Daniels et al, 2008;Elliot et al, 1999;Wigfield & Cambria, 2010), and mastery goals (Bipp, Steinmayr, & Spinath, 2012;Daniels et al, 2008;Keys et al, 2012;Steinmayr et al, 2011).…”

Socio – demografske determinante školskog uspjeha

“…Brojna istraživanja vezana za polne razlike u školskom uspjehu učenika, pokazala su da djevojčice nadmašuju dječake u školskom uspjehu i u većini školskih predmeta [5,[10][11][12]. Naše istraživanje je potvrdilo da pol učenika može biti izvor razlika u školskom uspjehu, tj.…”