Extension of the internal/external frame of reference model of self-concept formation: Importance of native and nonnative languages for Chinese students

The authors extended the internal/external frame of reference (I/E) model of self-concept formation by relating Chinese, English, and math achievement to Chinese, English, and math self-concepts in a 5-year longitudinal study based on a large (N = 9,482) representative sample of Hong Kong high school students. Tests of the I/E model are typically based on math and English constructs for a single wave of data in Western countries, This study involved testing its cross-cultural generalizability to a non-Western country, including native and normative languages, as well as mathematics, and evaluating longitudinal effects over a 5-year period starting shortly before the beginning of high school. In support of the extended I/E model, (a) math, English, and Chinese achievements were highly correlated, whereas math, English, and Chinese self-concepts were nearly uncorrelated; (b) math, English, and Chinese achievements each had positive effects on the matching self-concept domain but negative effects on nonmatching domains (e.g., English achievement had a positive effect on English self-concept but negative effects on math and Chinese self-concepts); and (c) these results were very stable over tim

Quality of life of Chinese urban community residents: a psychometric study of the mainland Chinese version of the WHOQOL-BREF

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The short version of the World Health Organization's Quality of Life Instrument (WHOQOL-BREF) is widely validated and popularly used in assessing the subjective quality of life (QOL) of patients and the general public. We examined its psychometric properties in a large sample of community residents in mainland China.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The WHOQOL-BREF was administered to 1052 adult community residents in a major metropolitan city in southern China. The structural integrity of the 4-factor model in confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) and the relationship of QOL with demographic variables were examined. Validity was assessed using the known-group comparison (229 with vs. 823 without chronic illness), item-domain correlations, and CFA using the ML estimation in LISREL.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Internal consistency reliability of the whole instrument (26 items) was 0.89, and the psychological, social, and environment domains had acceptable reliability (alpha = 0.76, 0.72, 0.78 respectively), while that of the physical domain was slightly lower (α = 0.67). The respective mean scores of these domains were 13.69, 14.11, 12.33 and 14.56. Item-domain correlations were much higher for corresponding domains than for non-corresponding domains, indicating good convergent validity. CFA provided a marginally acceptable fit to the a priori four-factor model when two matching content item pairs were allowed to be correlated; χ²(244) = 1836, RMSEA = 0.088, NNFI = 0.898, CFI = 0.909. This factorial structure was shown to be equivalent between the participants with and without chronic illness. The differences in means between these two groups were significant but small in some domains; effect size = 0.55, 0.15, 0.18 in the physical, psychological, and social relationship domains respectively. Furthermore, males had significantly higher QOL scores than females in the psychological domain, while individuals with a younger age, higher income, and higher education levels also had significantly higher QOL. Compared with the international data, the Chinese in this study had relatively low QOL scores with about 5% of males and 16% of females being at risk for poor QOL.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This study has provided psychometric properties of the WHOQOL-BREF as used in China and should definitely be useful for researchers who would like to use or further refine the instrument.</p

Self-concept and academic motivation of Chinese students in Hong Kong

We examined the frame-of-reference effects of potentially important self-constructs (e.g., self-concepts, values, goals) among Grade 7 Hong Kong Chinese students (N=1950). Specifically, the study analysed how the immediate context of schoolmates’ ability affected students’ perceptions of their own ability. It was postulated that students formulated their self-concept by comparing their own performance (e.g., math achievement) with that of other students (i.e., the external frame) as well as their own performance in other academic areas (e.g., language; the internal frame). This would have negative effects on the self-concept of students studying in schools with high average student ability (big-fish-little-pond effects, BFLPE). In this study, we explored how other individual difference attributes moderate the frame-of-reference effects on self-concept. Results showed that in general stronger mastery goal, persistence strategies, and utility (value) helped to reduce the negative BFLPE, while stronger avoidance goal, and ability attribution (for Mathematics) further increased this negative BFLPE.published_or_final_versio

Reporting Goodness of Fit with RMSEA-P Curve: Structural Equation Modeling in Environmental Sciences

Structural equation models are extensively used in environmental research. To assess Goodness of Fit in structural equation modeling, one can report the upper-bound of RMSEA confidence interval (e.g.043) at a commonly used probability criterion (e.g., 90% confidence level). Alternatively one can report the p-value using a popular RMSEA close-fit criterion (e.g.05). In essence both approaches summarize the RMSEA-p curves into some quantities, but with reference to different common standards (RMSEA&amp;le.05, p &amp;le.05 respectively). SAS CNONCT/PROBCHI codes are provided online to search for boundary conditions in which the two approaches may provide different information and conclusion. We differentiate the implicit and explicit roles of substantial knowledge against statistical conclusion and recommend using RMSEA-p curves. ? 2012 IEEE.EI

Applications of latent-variable models in educational psychology: The need for methodological-substantive synergies

As emphasized in the call for papers by Jonna Kulikowich and Gregory Hancock, the primary goal of this special issue of Contemporary Educational Psychology is to assemble a collection of illustrative empirical studies in educational psychology that utilize one or more state-of-the-art latent variable modeling procedures. Distinguishing these articles from those in leading measurement and statistical journals, Kulikowich and Hancock encouraged the submission of manuscripts from authors (or teams) with strong backgrounds in both latent variable methodology and substantive issues in educational psychology. In this respect, they sought to provide an outlet for articles representing a synergy between sophisticated methodology and meaningful substantive issues. Here we briefly review why we think that this is such an important undertaking; consider some of the problems that such undertakings must address; emphasize a construct validity approach to the interpretations based on such studies; and highlight some of the key issues in the particular articles in this special issue. © 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Achievement orientation and academic causal attribution of Chinese students in Hong Kong

tocabstractpublished_or_final_versionPsychologyDoctoralDoctor of Philosoph

Big-fish-little-pond effect on academic self-concept : a cross-cultural (26-country) test of the negative effects of academically selective schools

Academically selective schools are intended to affect academic self-concept positively, but theoretical and empirical research demonstrates that the effects are negative. The big-fish--little-pond effect (BFLPE), an application of social comparison theory to educational settings, posits that a student will have a lower academic self-concept in an academically selective school than in a nonselective school. This study, the largest cross-cultural study of the BFLPE ever undertaken, tested theoretical predictions for nationally representative samples of approximately 4,000 15-year-olds from each of 26 countries (N=103,558) who completed the same self-concept instrument and achievement tests. Consistent with the BFLPE, the effects of school-average achievement were negative in all 26 countries (M beta=-.20, SD=.08), demonstrating the BFLPE's cross-cultural generalizability