Self-esteem and educational achievement: Independent constructs with a common cause?

Used causal modeling techniques to examine the relationships among social class, ability, educational achievement, and self-esteem for 4 samples of children born in the years 1961-1964. 715 predominately White, urban Ss were involved. Self-esteem was measured through the Self-Esteem Inventory, ability through the WISC, and achievement through the Stanford Achievement Test and Wide Range Achievement Test. Measures were collected when the Ss were between the ages of 4 and 15 yrs. Social class and ability were found to be strongly interrelated and to "cause" both achievement and self-esteem. Achievement was highly stable across the age range 9-25. Results indicate that achievement and self-esteem are not causally related.(32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).