Br. J . educ. Psychol., 46, 2 12-219.1I976

INTEREST, MENTAL HEALTH, AND ATTlTUDlNAL CORRELATES OF ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS BY K. M. BANRETI-FUCHS (Department of Educational Psycliology, University of Calgary, Alberta) AND

w. M.

MEADOWS

(Departmeiit of Psychology, University of Waterloo, Otitario)

SUMMARY.The relationships between three levels of academic achievement and various interest, mental health, and attitudinal variables were examined. Using the regression equation method, a sample of 239 students enrolled in introductory psychology were assigned to a high-achieving, average-achieving, or low-achieving group. The classification of each student was based on the relationship between his actual grade point average (GPA) in introductory psychology and the GPA which would be expected on account of his IQ score. All subjects completed the Strong Vocational Interest Blank for Men/Women, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, and the Student Interest and Attitude Study 11. Two separate factor analyses, one for men and one for women, were carried out on all variables which differentiated significantly and systematically between the high-, average-, and low-achieving groups. For men seven factors were identified, for women only two factors. Especially noteworthy was the small number of interest variables which differentiated between the high-, average-, and low-achieving women. INTRODUCTION IN a recent study on academic achievement at the university level Banreti-Fuchs (1975) demonstrated a positive relationship between level of academic achievement and degree of mental health as measured by the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory. High-achievers came closest to the population average on the MMPI scales, low-achievers deviated furthest from the population average in a negative direction, while average-achievers received scores falling between those of the high- and the low-achievers. These results did not seem to support the claims of Furneaux (1962) and Kelvin, Lucas, and Ojha (1965) who suggested a positive relationship between neuroticism and academic achievement at the university level. The personality picture of the high-achievers emerging from this study, however, confirmed the findings of Lavin (1965), Entwistle and Entwistle (1970), Entwistle and Brennan (1971), and Entwistle (1972), who had described high-achievers as essentially stable introverts. The results were also consistent with the findings of Davids et a/. (1968), Desiderato and Koskinen (1969), Spielberger (1966), Barton et al. (1972), and Kohn and Rosman (1974) on the negative effects of anxiety and emotional instability with regard to academic achievement. Also the important positive role of motikation, study habits, and task orientation was confirmed, as previously demonstrated by, among others, Finger and Schlesser (1965), Khan (1969), Herrenkohl(1972), and Entwistle (1972). The present study was designed to investigate further the correlates of academic achievement, with special emphasis on interest, mental health, and attitudinal variables. Compared to the previous studies by the senior author (Banreti-Fuchs, 1972, 1975) several major changes were made. Firstly, an 212

K. M. BANRETI-FUCHS and W. M. MEADOWS

213

important part of the study was based on the role of interest variables. Secondly, the responses of the male and female subjects were analysed separately in order to assess potential sex difTerences. Thirdly, the comparisons between the highachieving, average-achieving, and low-achieving groups were not based on a small number of scales, such as the F, Hs, D, Pd, Pt, Sc, and Ma scales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory which previously had been shown to differentiate between the three achievement levels (Banreti-Fuchs, 1975), but every single item of the tests used was considered independently. Since the method of considering each item separately may result in a relatively large number of items statistically significant on the basis of chance alone, it should be pointed out clearly that only those significant items were used in the factor analyses which discriminated between the three achievement levels in a systematic order. This means that the average-achieving group had to be between the high-achieving and the low-achieving groups in the response distribution. This additional condition reduces the number of discriminating items, whose significance may be based on chance alone, by two-thirds. METHOD I14 male and 125 feniale students enrolled in introductory psychology were asked to complete the Dominion Test of Learning Capacity (Advanced, FormA)(Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, 1970),the StrongVocational Interest Blank for Men/Women, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, and the Student Interest and Attitude Study I1 (Banreti-Fuchs, 1973). Administration of these instruments took place in small groups, spread over several sessions. Subsequently, all students were classified as high-, averageor low-achievers. Assignment to one of the three groups was based upon the regression equation method (Guilford, 1956), using the subjects’ IQ scores and their grade point averages (GPAs) in introductory psychology. Those students whose actual GPAs were between plus and minus 0-7 standard error of estimate from their expected GPAs were classified as average-achievers. Students whose actual GPAs were 0.7 standard error of estimate or more above their expected GPAs were classified as high-achievers, while students whose actual GPAs were 0.7 standard error of estimate below their expected GPAs were classified as low-achievers. A standard error of estimate of 0.7 was chosen in order to have a sufficient number of subjects in the high-, and the low-achieving groups.

Item analysis was carried out on the responses of the three achievement groups to all items of the three instruments. Only those items which discriminated significantly ( P c -05, two-tailed) between the high-, average-, and lowachieving groups in the systematic manner already mentioned (Appendix 1 and 2) were subjected to factor analysis using the principal component solution and the varimax rotation method (Kaiser, 1958). In deciding which variables to consider in the interpretation of the factors, a factor loading of f0.40 was chosen as the cut-off score, which was the same as in two previous studies on academic achievement by the senior author (Banreti-Fuchs, 1972, 1975). Separate factor analyses were carried out for males and females.

A problem inherent in the use of correlational techniques in general should be kept in mind when evaluating the results of this project. It would be unjustified to draw conclusions regarding cause-and-effect relationships. In the absence of experimental evidence, only the gradual accumulation of supportive data from a variety of sources will make assumptions on cause-and-effect relationships increasingly more justified.

214

Corrclates oj' Academic Acltievement

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The Pearson product-moment correlation between 1Qs and GPAs for the 239 subjects produced an r=0.34 (P< 401). Based on the regression equation method (Guilford, 1956), 60 subjects were classified as high-achievers, 127 as average-achievers, and 52 as low-achievers (Table 1). As expected, the three achievement groups did not differ significantly in average age or IQ, but were highly different in average GPA. TABLE I MEAN Scorn

AND

I

I

,

Measure Age .......... .... Learning Capacity . . Grade Point Average

1

STANDARDDEVIATIONS BY ACHIEVEMENT GROUP.

Achievers (N=60) Mean(SD)

H:l&

Average Achievers (N=127) Mean (SD)

Low Achievers (N=52) Mean (SD)

20.2 (2.3) 108.0 (12.9) 8 1 4 (5.6)

20.0 (1.5) 107.0 (11.6) 69.1 (5.1)

20.7 (1 ' 8 ) 108.2 (13.3)

P* 0.13

0.81 co.01

55.6 (6.4)

Analysis of Variance. TABLE 2 RO~ATEDFAC~ORMATRIXOF MALES.

Variable*

I

11

I11

1v

v

20.8 12.4 11.5 Percentage of variance Total variance accounted for: 81.4 per cent.

VII

.16 -23 *00 --lo .24 *08 -13 --07 '67 --15 so2 a4 -.09 --27 -el6 --08 011 -a16 *13 -.22 - *21 - '05 .04 -.12 .58 *14 -a14 *-01 '00 --06 a50 a20 --07 --a12 *I7 -*36 -33 .03 --07 --06

Physical Health (S 19) Parents nag (S 20) Estimated mark (S 35A) Estimated marks (S 35C) Postgraduate aspirations (S 65) Optimistic (S 133) Biblical prophecy (M 58) I'm important (M 73) Like dramatics (M 126) No heart pounding (M 230) No dolls (M 300) Satisfactory sex (M 310) Never in love (M 324) Never drugs (M 466) Usual urination ( M474) Read Bible (M 490) Daydream (M 511) Mother attachment (M 562) Like basketball (V 60) Like school teaching (V 82) Like drill (V 123) Like hunting (V 139) Like competition (V 222) Like thrift (V 247) Definite salary (V 335) Start activities (V 361)

* Full items are shown in Appendix 1.

v1

-

h' a16 *05

-70 -69 .58

*o1

*62 -63 -4 .4 1 I .14 .43 .42 .27 -26 .5 1 .68 -49 -13 49 *51 -32 .70 -68

*17 -*lo --.I1

10.1

9.8

9.0

7.8

a04

-

I

Interest, mental health, and attitudinal correlates of academic achievement among university students.

Br. J . educ. Psychol., 46, 2 12-219.1I976 INTEREST, MENTAL HEALTH, AND ATTlTUDlNAL CORRELATES OF ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS BY K...
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