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Cited by 891Education, Achievement, and GiftednessMotivation and Self-Concept in SportsEarly Childhood Education and Development

What it takes to do well in school and whether I've got it: A process model of perceived control and children's engagement and achievement in school.

Skinner, Ellen A., Wellborn, James G., Connell, James P.·1990·Journal of Educational Psychology
DOI 10.1037/0022-0663.82.1.22
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Abstract

A new conceptualization of perceived control was used to test a process model describing the contribution of these perceptions to school achievement for students in elementary school (N = 220). Three sets of beliefs were distinguished: (a) expectations about whether one can influence success and failure in school (control beliefs); (b) expectations about the strategies that are effective in producing academic outcomes; and (c) expectations about one's own capacities to execute these strategies. Correlational and path analyses were consistent with a process model which predicted that children's perceived control (self-report) influences academic performance (grades and achievement test scores) by promoting or undermining active engagement in learning activities (as reported by teachers) and that teachers positively influence children's perceived control by provision of contingency and involvement (as reported by students). These results have implications for theories of perceived control and also suggest one pathway by which teachers can enhance children's motivation in school. Several decades of research have demonstrated that an important contributor to school performance is an individual's expectations about whether he or she has any control over academic successes and failures. A robust body of empirical findings has been produced using a variety of constructs, such as locus of control, causal attributions, learned helplessness, and self-efficacy. Beginning with the examin…

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  • Early teacher-child relationships, measured by teacher ratings of closeness versus conflict, are moderately to strongly predictive of students' attention and engagement during classroom activities.

    “those early relationships have been found to be moderately to strongly predictive of students’ attention and engagement during classroom activities (Skinner et al. 1990, Split et al. 2012).”

    From School Readiness and Self-Regulation: A Developmental Psychobiological Approach (2015) · cites this paper as Skinner et al. 1990

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Authors
Skinner, E. A., Wellborn, J. G., & Connell, J. P.
Affiliations
University of Rochester (US)
ORCID
Skinner, Ellen A.
Venue
Journal of Educational Psychology
Publisher
American Psychological Association (APA)
Published
1990-03
Volume
82
Issue
1
Pages
22-32
ISSN
  • 0022-0663 (ISSN-L)
  • 1939-2176
DOI
10.1037/0022-0663.82.1.22
OpenAlex
W1976832559
Cited by
891
References
4
Citations by year
2026: 14 · 2025: 25 · 2024: 28 · 2023: 36 · 2022: 31 · 2021: 40 · 2020: 38 · 2019: 36 · 2018: 39 · 2017: 37 · 2016: 36 · 2015: 44 · 2014: 48 · 2013: 53 · 2012: 47
FWCI
13.63
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
Journal of Educational Psychology (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Education, Achievement, and Giftedness
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Motivation and Self-Concept in Sports
  • Social Sciences › Education › Early Childhood Education and Development
Keywords
perceived control, self-efficacy, academic performance, student engagement, locus of control, attribution theory, teacher influence, learning strategies, elementary school students, academic motivation, process model

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