Year: 2026
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Do perceptions about one’s competence shape learning, or are they simply reflections of actual skills? This study revisits this longstanding question by replicating and extending preliminary findings by Marsh et al. (2024) on the temporal dynamics linking students’ academic self-concept (i.e., their perceived academic competence) and their academic skills. Using longitudinal data from a large-scale field study ( N > 9000 students, 3 measurement points), we tested how academic self-concept and skills relate to each other over time. Consistent with Marsh et al., results revealed a consistent temporal asymmetry: Academic skills predicted concurrent changes in self-concept within the same semester (contemporaneous effects), whereas self-concept predicted changes in academic skills across semesters (lagged effects). These findings were robust to several stress tests, including measurement error, unmeasured confounding, and competing models of change. Together, the results are consistent with a renewed theory of learning behavior, in which perceived competence and skills influence each other at different speeds. This temporal asymmetry helps integrate short-term and long-term cognitive-motivational processes in theories of learning behavior. It also underscores the importance of aligning intervention strategies and model specifications with the timescales of the underlying psychological processes, with implications for both fundamental and intervention research.
Source: Educational Psychology Review
Authors: Fernando Núñez-Regueiro, Herbert W. Marsh, Pascal Bressoux, Anatolia Batruch, Marinette Bouet, Marco Bressan, Genavee Brown, Fabrizio Butera, Anthony Cherbonnier, Céline Darnon, Marie Demolliens, Anne-Laure de Place, Olivier Desrichard, Luc Goron, Brivael Hémon, Pascal Huguet, Eric Jamet, Vincent Mazenod, Nathalie Mella, Estelle Michinov, Nicolas Michinov, Nana Ofosu, Laurine Peter, Céline Poletti, Isabelle Régner, Mathilde Riant, Anaïs Robert, Ocyna Rudmann, Camille Sanrey, Arnaud Stanczak, Farouk Toumani, Emilio Paolo Visintin, Pascal Pansu
Institutions: Laboratoire de Recherche sur les Apprentissages en Contexte, Université Grenoble Alpes, University of Oxford, Australian Catholic University, University of Lausanne, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université Clermont Auvergne, Aix-Marseille Université, Laboratoire de Psychologie : Cognition, Comportement, Communication, Université de Rennes, Laboratoire de Psychologie Sociale et Cognitive, Université Paris Nanterre, Laboratoire Parisien de Psychologie Sociale, Université Paris 8, University of Geneva, Laboratoire Cognition, Langues, Langage, Ergonomie, Laboratoire d'Informatique, de Modélisation et d'Optimisation des Systèmes
Language: English
Subfield: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $4,790
OpenAlex ID: W4414080845