I Feel Competent, Therefore I Am: Self-concept and Skill Interact at Different Speeds

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.

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Publication Details

Journal
Educational Psychology Review
Published
2026-04-11
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-026-10131-w
Primary Topic
Creativity in Education and Neuroscience
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

I Feel Competent, Therefore I Am: Self-concept and Skill Interact at Different Speeds

Herbert W. Marsh, Ocyna Rudmann, Brivael Hémon, Luc Goron et al.
Educational Psychology Review
Creativity in Education and Neuroscience
article

I Feel Competent, Therefore I Am: Self-concept and Skill Interact at Different Speeds

Herbert W. Marsh, Ocyna Rudmann, Brivael Hémon, Luc Goron, Isabelle Régner, Céline Darnon, Genavee Brown, Arnaud Stanczak, Estelle Michinov, Vincent Mazenod, Anthony Cherbonnier, Nicolas Michinov, Anaïs Robert, Céline Poletti, Farouk Toumani, Olivier Desrichard, Laurine Peter, Anne‐Laure de Place, Anatolia Batruch, Pascal Huguet, Fernando Núñez‐Regueiro, Camille Sanrey, Nathalie Mella, Nana Ofosu, Fabrizio Butera, Emilio Paolo Visintin, Marie Demolliens, Mathilde Riant, Éric Jamet, Marco Bressan, Marinette Bouet
article en

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.

Educational Psychology ReviewVol. 38(1)
University of Geneva (CH), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), University of Oxford (GB), Université Paris Nanterre (FR), Laboratoire d'Informatique, de Modélisation et d'Optimisation des Systèmes (FR), University of Clermont Auvergne (FR), Laboratoire Cognition, Langues, Langage, Ergonomie (FR), Laboratoire de Psychologie Sociale et Cognitive (FR), Laboratoire de Psychologie : Cognition, Comportement, Communication (FR), Clermont Université (FR), Université Paris 8 (FR), Université de Rennes (FR), Australian Catholic University (AU), Université Grenoble Alpes (FR), University of Lausanne (CH)
Ministère de l'Enseignement supérieur, de la Recherche et de l'Innovation
Openalex Percentile: Top 100%
Creativity in Education and Neuroscience
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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