The influence of SES, cognitive, and non-cognitive abilities on grades: cross-sectional and longitudinal evidence from two Swedish cohorts

Abstract

It is well established that socioeconomic status, cognitive ability, and non-cognitive abilities such as self-efficacy are substantially associated with academic achievement. However, the specific relationships of these variables remain a relatively unexplored topic in regard to more recent and representative samples. The current study examined such relations by taking advantage of two cohorts (total N = 12,315) of Swedish students at the elementary (Grade 6) and lower-secondary school levels (Grade 8) in the compulsory school. The regression models showed that all three variables explained a substantial portion of grade variance, with cognitive ability having the strongest relationship, followed by non-cognitive abilities, and SES. Longitudinal associations, which accounted for previous academic achievement, showed that the three variables did still explain a substantial amount of grade variance.

Is the SES and academic achievement relationship mediated by cognitive ability? Evidence from PISA 2018 using data from 77 countries

“…Hence, the second hypothesis was not confirmed by the analyses. The third hypothesis, which suggested that SES does not mediate the relationship between cognitive ability and PISA scores, is partly confirmed, but the correlation between SES and cognitive ability is moderate and thus larger compared to what much individual level data show (e.g., Marks and O'Connell, 2021;Boman, 2022c).…”

“…However, as the authors underline, the cognitive ability cannot completely explain SES, and nor can SES explain the entirety of cognitive ability. Hence, these two constructs may be estimated separately but should be included in the same multivariate models (e.g., Boman, 2022c).…”

“…H3: Because of the comparatively smaller correlation between SES and cognitive ability (Marks & O'Connell, 2021;Boman, 2022c), it is hypothesized that SES does not mediate the relationship between cognitive ability and PISA scores.…”

“…A long-lasting debate within educational research concerns which factors are the strongest predictors of educational achievement [e.g., grades, test scores, and international large-scale assessments (ILSAs)]. Recent research (Guez et al, 2018;Vazsonyi et al, 2022;Boman, 2022c) suggests that cognitive ability is more important than conscientiousness or self-control, followed by socioeconomic status (SES). Others have stressed the near-equal magnitude of cognitive ability and conscientiousness for school achievement (Poropat, 2009;O'Conell and Marks, 2022).…”

Regional differences in educational achievement: A replication study of municipality data

“…Moreover, children whose parents have higher SES do generally develop higher cognitive ability levels which are then transmitted to their children through both genes and the environment (Turkheimer et al, 2003;Engelhardt et al, 2018;Falk et al, 2021). Conversely, the lower degree of nurture and support among lower-SES children can affect the cognitive ability levels, and hence outputs in for example school tests, negatively (Turkheimer et al, 2003;Sackett et al, 2009;Flynn, 2012;Boman (2022d)). However, it is possible that earlier academic achievement among larger groups of students might decrease over time because of various social (e.g., immigration, fewer adolescents read in their leisure time), socioeconomic (e.g., increased relative poverty), and school-related factors (e.g., Flynn, 2012;Dutton et al, 2016).…”