Cross-legged Regression Analysis of Relationship between Academic Self-concept and Academic Achievement in Primary and Middle School Students: Test of Reciprocal Effect Model and Development Perspective

The present 10-months longitudinal study aimed to explore reciprocal relations between academic selfconcept and academic achievement in primary and middle school students,test reciprocal effect model and development perspective. 357 students from one primary school,one junior high school and one high school were investigated by Self Description Questionnaire. The results indicated that academic self-concept scores of Grade 5 in primary school has developmental differences and was higher than middle school students significantly. Cross-lagged regression analyses for the total samples were in line with reciprocal effect model. For students at Grade 5 in primary school,the first academic self-concept can predict subsequent academic achievement. But for middle school students,the first academic achievement can predict subsequent academic self-concept. These results indicated that causal ordering of academic self-concept and achievement changed when students ' age transformed,and development perspective was confirmed in this study.