DISTINGUISHING MULTIPLE DIMENSIONS OF CONCEPTIONS OF ABILITY - IMPLICATIONS FOR SELF-EVALUATION

Three separate lines of research have suggested that conceptions of ab ility may play a key role in the development of self-evaluation. Each line has focused on a different dimension of conceptions of ability: c onceptions of ability as uncontrollable, conceptions of ability as con stant, and conceptions of ability as capacity. Unfortunately, there ha s been little attention to the convergences and divergences among the 3 dimensions. The present study examined this issue in 236 second-thro ugh fifth-grade children. Children indicated the extent to which they conceived of ability as uncontrollable, as constant, and as capacity. Two forms of self-evaluation (performance following failure and the ex tent to which self-perceptions of competence converge with external in dicators of competence) were investigated. In addition, cognitive comp etence was assessed. The near-zero correlations, 3-factor solution yie lded by confirmatory factor analysis, variability in age-related diffe rences, differential links to cognitive competence, and diverse forms of self-evaluation among the 3 dimensions suggested that the 3 are rel atively distinct, and that they may play different roles in the develo pment of self-evaluation. Moreover, the 3 dimensions appear to interac t with one another to influence self-evaluation.