Relationship Between Self-Concept and Achievement in Cognitive Domains of Mathematical Thinking: Comparative Study of the Highest Achieving Countries in TIMSS 2019

Previous research in the area has established a positive correlation between math self-concept and math achievement. However, little attention is paid to the fact that there are multiple content and cognitive domains of students’ cognitive abilities. The present study explored the relationship between math self-concept and student performance on tasks of three cognitive domains of mathematical thinking used in TIMSS 2019 by the means of multilevel regression and factor analysis. Obtained results were compared for the TOP-5 highest-performing countries. Three math self-concept components were identified based on the “Students Like Learning Mathematics” and “Students Confident in Mathematics” scales: affective, positive cognitive and negative cognitive math self-concept components. All three math self-concept variables were positively related to achievement on tasks of three cognitive domains of mathematical thinking, but no significant difference in the strength of relationship was observed across cognitive domains. However, within-country between-domain homogeneity in regard to the math self-concept component with the largest effect size was established. Further research is encouraged to investigate the multidimensional nature of math achievement and its relationship with math self-concept components.