Beyond level of self-esteem: exploring the interplay of level, stability, and contingency of self-esteem, mediating factors, and academic achievement

Abstract

Self-esteem plays a decisive role for students in achievement situations. However, it is still unclear how different self-esteem facets and their interactions influence academic achievement and which psychological mechanisms mediate these relationships. In Study 1, we investigated self-handicapping and effort-management as mediators of the effects of self-esteem facets on academic Study 2 achievement in a sample of N = 600 university students, while in we examined test anxiety as mediating variable in a sample of N = 1052 school students. Path analyses revealed various relations between self-esteem facets, learning strategies, test anxiety, and academic achievement. Moreover, effort-management and test anxiety were identified as meaningful mediators of the effects of self-esteem facets. Implications for further research and for educational practice are discussed.