The relationship between assumed-Competence and communication about learning in high school

Abstract

This study investigated the relationship between assumed-competence (based on undervaluing others in general belief) and learning-related communication. Two-hundred-seventy-one high school students completed a questionnaire measured assumed-competence, engagement in study-related conversations with friends (planned courses after high school, students' own achievements in learning, school subjects they like and dislike, anxiety about failure, criticism of others), help-seeking behavior directed towards teachers and friends, and help-giving to friends. Students who had high assumed-competence tended to brag about their own achievements, criticize their teachers' methods, and talk negatively about their friends' academic failures. Furthermore, assumed-competence correlated positively with avoidance of help-seeking from friends, avoidance of help-giving to friends, and giving away answers on assignments. These types of help-seeking and help-giving behaviors are apparently not connected with learning, given that people with high assumed-competence tended not to seek help from friends or help friends in appropriate ways. The present results indicate that assumed-competence could be an obstruction to the formation of good relationships with others.