Mathematics self-concept correlates strongly with mathematics achievement (r = .43), while verbal self-concept barely does (r = .12)¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · review r3 · q3 · i3 large · n=30 meta-analyses, 66 correlations from 13,853 effect sizes (~4.66 million participants)
Currency · newest study 2025 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Mathematics self-concept correlates r = .43 with mathematics achievement and verbal self-concept only .12 (Möller et al. 2009, k = 69, n = 125,308). These are correlations compiled across meta-analyses: they describe how strongly the characteristic goes with mathematics achievement, not what causes it.

Subclaims¶

q3 i3 Mathematics self-concept correlates r = .43 with mathematics achievement and verbal self-concept only .12 (Möller et al. 2009, k = 69, n = 125,308). → Breit et al. 2025

Evidence¶

Breit et al. 2025¶

Breit, M., Schneider, M., & Preckel, F. (2025). Mathematics achievement and learner characteristics: A systematic review of meta-analyses. Learning and Individual Differences, 118, 102621. doi:10.1016/j.lindif.2024.102621

q3 · systematic review of meta-analyses · i3 · large effect, r = .43 vs .12 · n=30 meta-analyses, 66 correlations from 13,853 effect sizes (~4.66 million participants) · review · r3

The review compiles zero-order correlations from published meta-analyses (each with at least ten effect sizes, the largest one kept where several covered a variable), found by a systematic PsycINFO search in July 2024. It pools nothing further and controls for nothing: many of these characteristics correlate with one another, so a correlation here says how strongly the characteristic goes with mathematics achievement, not that it causes it. Mathematics self-concept r = .43 and verbal self-concept .12, both from Möller et al. (2009), school and university samples. Publication bias was not examined for these estimates. Mathematics self-concept had the largest correlation of all 18 personality variables.

Discussion¶

The authors read the pattern through the internal/external frame of reference model: students compare their mathematics achievement with other students' and with their own verbal achievement, so verbal self-concept stays nearly unrelated to mathematics achievement even though verbal and mathematics achievement correlate strongly. They describe a reciprocal relationship between self-concept and achievement, and cite an earlier meta-analysis (O'Mara et al. 2006) in which domain-specific self-concept interventions were effective; that evidence is not part of this review.

Learner Variables¶

• Academic Self-Concept — predictor: learners who differ on it differ in outcomes

Related Claims¶

• Mathematics achievement correlates more strongly with learners' knowledge, skills and cognitive abilities than with their personality traits, goals or emotions
• Verbal achievement, reading and language abilities correlate strongly with mathematics achievement (r = .42 to .67) — related
• Mastery goals correlate positively (r = .17) and performance-avoidance goals negatively (r = −.17) with mathematics achievement, while performance-approach goals barely do — related
• Achievement goals show small consistent correlations with academic achievement, positive for approach goals and negative for avoidance goals — related
• Spatial ability correlates moderately with mathematics achievement (r = .25), less strongly than verbal ability — related
• Need for cognition correlates moderately with mathematics achievement (r = .25) — related
• Self-regulation and metacognition correlate strongly with mathematics achievement (r = .42 and .37) — related
• Of the Big Five personality traits, only conscientiousness (r = .22) and openness (r = .13) correlate appreciably with mathematics achievement — related
• Students' math and verbal self-concepts are near-zero correlated even though their math and verbal achievement levels are strongly positively correlated — related
• Meta-analytic path analyses show math and verbal achievements correlate highly positively while the corresponding self-concepts correlate near zero, with significant negative cross-domain paths — related
• Meta-analytic evidence supports strong positive within-domain effects and small to moderate negative between-domain effects in the classic I/E model — related