This study addresses the academic, social, and self-image self-concepts of females ages 13-17 who are labeled emotionally and behaviorally disordered by their public school systems and are in residential treatment, and females ages 13-17 who are adjudicated, or labeled “juvenile offenders” and are involved with the juvenile justice system. The purpose of this study is to examine and compare the self-concepts of these populations of adolescent females. Research questions focus on whether or not there is a difference in the confidence scores of self-image, academic, and social self-concepts, the importance scores of self-image, academic, and social self-concepts, and the confidence composite and outcome composite scores among female adolescents according to whether or not the female is adjudicated. Results show no statistically significant differences on seven of the eight measures. On the eighth measure, a statistically significant difference was found, with the non-offenders having a higher Outcome Confidence Composite score than the offenders.

Vad gör att vissa lärare lyckas bättre än andra? Lärare ser ofta skiljt på rollen de innefattar och ansvaret de har. Syftet med denna studie är att visa på modern forskning inom hur en lärare-elev relation inom skolan för vuxna och gymnasieelever påverkar och förändrar lärande och lärmiljön. Denna studie har genomförts som en systematisk litteraturstudie. Resultat är uppdelat i fyra underkategorier: relation, motivation, känslor och beteende. Diskussionen utgår ifrån huvudresultatet att lärare-elev relationen är till stor vikt i elevernas utveckling, kognitivt, behavioristiskt samt för akademiska resultat. / What makes some teachers succeed in their role better than others? Teachers often view the role they are in and the responsibility they have differently, this study hopes to show a facet of modern research in the field of student-teacher relationships and their effect on factors like motivation and results. This study has been modeled as a systematic literature review. Results are divided into four categories: relationship, motivation, emotion and behavior. The discussion is based on the main results that teacher-student relationship is of great importance in students' development of cognitive and behavioral faculties as well as academic achievement.

With educational effectiveness studies, school-level aggregates of students' characteristics (e.g. achievement) are often used to assess the impact of school composition on students' outcomes – school compositional effects. Empirical findings on the magnitude and direction of school compositional effects have not been consistent. Relevant methodological studies raise the issue of under-specification at level 1 in compositional models - evident when the student-level indicator on which the aggregation is based is mis-measured. This phenomenon has been shown to bias compositional effect estimates, leading to misleading effects of the aggregated variables – phantom compositional effects. My thesis, consisted of three separate studies, presents an advanced methodological framework that can be used to investigate the effect of school composition net of measurement error bias. In Study 1, I quantify the impact of failing to account for measurement error on school compositional effects as used in value added models of educational effectiveness to explain relative school effects. Building on previous studies, multilevel structural equation models are incorporated to control for measurement error and/or sampling error. Study 1a, a large sample of English primary students in years one and four (9,059 students from 593 schools) reveals a small, significant and negative compositional effect on students' subsequent mathematics achievement that becomes more negative after controlling for measurement error. Study 1b, a large study of Cyprus primary students in year four (1694 students in 59 schools) shows a small, positive but statistically significant effect that becomes non-significant after controlling for measurement error. Further analyses with the English data (Study 2), demonstrates a negative compositional effect of school average mathematics achievement on subsequent mathematics self-concept – a Big Fish Little Pond Effect (BFLPE). Adjustments for measurement and sampling error result in more negative BFLPEs. The originality of Study 2 lies in verifying BFLPEs for students as young as five to eight/nine years old. Bridging the findings related to students' mathematics self-concept (Study 2) and the findings on students’ mathematics achievements (Study 1a), I demonstrate that the prevalence of BFLPEs with the English data partly explains the negative compositional effect of school average mathematics achievement on students' subsequent mathematics achievement. Lastly, in Study 3 I consider an alternative approach to school accountability to conventional value added models, namely the Regression Discontinuity approach. Specifically, I use the English TIMSS 1995 primary (years four and five) and secondary (years eight and nine) data to investigate the effect of one extra year of schooling on students' mathematics achievement and the variability across schools in their absolute effects. The extent to which school composition, as given by school average achievement, correlates with schools' added-year effects is addressed. Importantly the robustness of the RD estimates to measurement error bias is demonstrated. My findings have important methodological, substantive and theoretical implications for on-going debates on the school compositional effects on students' outcomes, because nearly all previous research has been based on traditional approaches to multilevel models, which are positively biased due to the failure to control for measurement error.

Thesis focuses on self conception of primary school children impaired by specific learning disabilities. Based on case histories of nine children it states factors influencing the building of a self concept, and also follows a development of monitored children. The theoretic section defines a conceptual framework based on characteristics of a preadlolescent child with specific regard to her/his sensoric, cognitive and emotional development, with regard to development of child's self concept and to specific learnind disabilities in general. It describes the stage of children's development and learning disorders they are afflicted by. The practical section of the thesis describes case histories of nine pupils (and their development), which the author of the thesis followed for two years. The group consists of 9 pupils (2 girls and 7 boys). The thesis gives a thorough view on self conception of monitored children, their positionin the school group and areas of succes, it shows the individuality of each child's personality and his/her life story.

Sen några år tillbaka har den psykiska hälsan försämrats hos ungdomar i Sverige. Två utav många frisk- och skyddsfaktorer som främjar psykisk hälsa är socialt stöd, framför allt av jämnåriga och en god grundläggande självkänsla. Därför var syftet med denna undersökning att studera ungdomars sociala stöd i relation till kroppsform/vikt och självkänsla. Undersökningen studerar även om de skiljer sig mellan pojkar och flickor. Undersökningens metod hade en kvantitativ ansats vilket möjliggjorde för kartläggning av faktorerna, undersökning om samband förekommer mellan faktorerna och om skillnader mellan könen existerar. I tidigare forskning och teorier redogörs att det finns samband mellan socialt stöd och självkänsla, vilket denna studie inte kunnat påvisa. Resultatet visade istället att en stor del av respondenterna hade en låg självkänsla men ett högt socialt stöd i relation till kroppsform/vikt och att det inte fanns något samband mellan dessa variabler. De huvudsakliga fynden i undersökningen redogjorde att cirka tre fjärdedelar av respondenterna hade låg självkänsla, fler tjejer än killar hade en låg självkänsla och både flickor och pojkar hade ett relativt högt socialt stöd. Den låga självkänslan bland ungdomar kan påverka deras hälsa negativt både nu och i framtiden, därför ligger det i både samhällets och individens intresse att möta detta problem. / Since a few years back the mental health has deteriorated among the Swedish adolescents. Two of many health and safety factors that prevent mental health are social support, especially by peers and a good basic self-esteem. Therefor was the purpose of this survey to examine adolescents’ social support in relation to body shape/weight and self-esteem. The survey also analyzes differences between boys and girls. The method of the survey was executed with a quantitative approach which made it possible to map the health factors, analyze if there exist any correlations between the health factors and if there occur gender differences. Earlier research and theories describe a connection between social support and self-esteem, which this survey could not confirm. The result of this survey showed instead that a bigger part of the respondents had a low self-esteem but high social support in relation to body shape/ weight and that there were no correlations between these variables. The main findings of the survey showed that about three quarters of the respondents had low self-esteem, more girls than boys had a low self-esteem and both girls and boys had a relatively high social support. The low self-esteem among adolescents can have a damaging effect on their health in both short and long term therefor it is in both society and individuals best interest working to encounter this issue.

O objetivo deste estudo é identificar os efeitos de diferenças individuais dos consumidores sobre a experiência de marca e a qualidade do relacionamento com a marca para produtos de consumo público (roupas) e privado (eletrodomésticos de linha branca). Para alcançar esse objetivo, foi concebido um modelo teórico para ser testado empiricamente. A partir de uma revisão de literatura acerca de experiência de marca e qualidade do relacionamento com a marca, percebeu-se o potencial do emprego de experiências de marca para construir relacionamentos com marca. Observou-se também que as variáveis de diferenças individuais têm sido negligenciadas em pesquisas sobre relacionamentos com a marca. Além disso, há divergências de resultados de pesquisas envolvendo distintas categorias de produto. Tais constatações possibilitaram a elaboração de um conjunto de hipóteses, as quais permitiram observar as relações entre constructos que definem as características individuais dos consumidores, a experiência de marca e a qualidade do relacionamento com a marca. Assim, foi realizada uma pesquisa empírica utilizando um questionário auto administrado. Neste levantamento de campo, foram entrevistados 660 consumidores a partir de uma amostragem não probabilística. As técnicas de análise incluem análise fatorial exploratória e modelagem de equações estruturais PLS. A análise exploratória demonstrou que os constructos experiência de marca e qualidade do relacionamento com a marca apresentam inconsistências em sua operacionalização. Os resultados indicam também que há um efeito significativo da experiência de marca sobre a qualidade do relacionamento com a marca. O engajamento da marca no autoconceito mostrou ser um importante preditor da experiência de marca e da qualidade do relacionamento com a marca. O envolvimento com a categoria de produto apresentou um efeito significativo sobre a experiência de marca. Curiosamente, o envolvimento com a categoria produziu um efeito significativo sobre a qualidade do relacionamento com a marca somente na categoria roupas. A propensão ao relacionamento apresentou um efeito significativo sobre a qualidade do relacionamento com a marca somente na categoria roupas. O envolvimento com a categoria de produto não apresentou efeitos de moderação significativos na relação entre a experiência de marca e a qualidade do relacionamento com a marca em ambas categorias. A propensão ao relacionamento produziu efeitos de moderação significativos na relação entre a experiência de marca e a qualidade do relacionamento com a marca em ambas categorias. O valor dessa pesquisa está em: a) evidenciar a experiência de marca como um antecedente da qualidade do relacionamento com a marca; b) Chamar atenção para a necessidade de discussão acerca da operacionalização dos constructos experiência de marca e qualidade do relacionamento com a marca; c) Discutir o papel das variáveis de diferenças individuais como antecedentes ou moderadoras da experiência de marca e da qualidade do relacionamento com a marca; d) Discutir a natureza dos relacionamentos com marca no contexto de produtos de consumo público e privado, apresentando similaridades e dissimilaridades e; por fim, explicitar, por meio de um modelo de gestão de marcas, como as experiências de marca podem ser um importante mecanismo para a construção de relacionamentos com a marca / The objective of the present study is to identify the effects of the individual differences of the consumers over brand experience and consumer-brand relationship quality to products of public (clothing) and private (household appliances) consumption. To achieve the objective, a theoretical model was conceived to be empirically tested. From a literature\'s revision regarding the brand experience and consumer-brand relationship quality the potential employment of brand experience to build brand relationships was perceived. Was also observed that the variables of individual differences have been neglected in the researches about brand relationships. Furthermore, there are divergences in the researches\' results involving distinct products\' categories. Such findings enabled the elaboration of a group of hypothesis, which enabled to observe the constructs\' relations that define individual characteristic of the consumers, brand experience and consumer-brand relationship quality. Thereby, an empirical research was realized utilizing a self-administered questionnaire. In this field survey, 660 consumers were interviewed from a non-probabilistic sample. The analysis techniques includes exploratory factorial analysis and structural equation modeling PLS. An exploratory analysis demonstrated that the constructs brand experience and consumer-brand relationship quality outlines inconsistence on its operationalization. The results also indicate that there is a significant brand experience effect. Brand engagement in self-concept presented to be an important predictor of brand experience and consumer-brand relationship quality. Curiously, category involvement produced a significant effect over the consumer-brand relationship quality solely in the clothing category. Relationship proneness presented a significant effect over the consumer-brand relationship quality solely in the clothing category. Involvement with the products\' category did not present significant moderation effects in the relationship between brand experience and the consumer-brand relationship quality in both categories. Relationship proneness produced significant moderation effects in the relation between brand experience and consumer-brand relationship quality in both categories. The value of the present research is to evidence brand experience as consumer-brand relationship quality antecedent. Draws attention to the necessity of discussion regarding the operationalization of the constructs, brand experience and consumer-brand relationship quality. Inserts variables of individual differences as antecedents and brand experience and consumer-brand relationship quality moderators. Discusses the nature of the brand relationships in the context of public and private consumption products, presenting similarities and dissimilarities. The study evidences, through a brand management model, how brand experiences can be an important mechanism to build brand relationships

Ziel des Dissertationsprojekts war eine differenzierte Betrachtung des akademischen Selbstkonzepts in den naturwissenschaftlichen Fächern. Unter anderen wurden die Abgrenzung des akademischen Selbstkonzepts von Selbstwirksamkeitserwartungen, seine dimensionale Struktur, Geschlechtsunterschiede sowie seine Beeinflussung durch die Konzeption des Naturwissenschaftsunterrichts und durch dimensionale Vergleiche untersucht. Im Mittelpunkt der ersten Teilstudie stand die Frage nach der empirischen Trennbarkeit von akademischem Selbstkonzept und Selbstwirksamkeitserwartung in den Naturwissenschaften. Es konnte gezeigt werden, dass die beiden Konstrukte messtheoretisch klar abgrenzbar sind und differentielle Zusammenhänge zu anderen Konstrukten aufweisen: Das Selbstkonzept wurde stärker durch soziale Vergleiche, Selbstwirksamkeitserwartungen stärker durch Unterrichtscharakteristika beeinflusst. In der zweiten Teilstudie wurde die fachspezifische Ausdifferenzierung naturwissenschaftlicher Selbstkonzepte untersucht. Es konnte gezeigt werden, dass Schüler zwischen den Selbstkonzeptfacetten in Biologie, Chemie und Physik unterscheiden und diese drei Facetten differentielle Zusammenhänge zu Leistungsmaßen und zum Geschlecht aufweisen. Die dritte Teilstudie beschäftigte sich mit interdisziplinärem Naturwissenschaftsunterricht als Einflussfaktor auf die Selbstkonzeptstruktur. Dabei konnte gezeigt werden, dass Schüler, die interdisziplinär beschult werden, deutlich höhere Zusammenhänge zwischen den Selbstkonzeptfacetten in Biologie, Chemie und Physik aufweisen als Schüler, die getrennt in den drei Fächern unterrichtet werden. In der vierten Teilstudie wurde der Einfluss dimensionaler Leistungsvergleiche auf naturwissenschaftliche Selbstkonzepte sowie Mathematik und Deutsch untersucht. Es zeigten sich Kontrasteffekte zwischen Mathematik, Physik und Chemie auf der einen und Deutsch auf der anderen Seite. Die Befunde haben Implikationen für die Theorie dimensionaler Vergleiche. / In this dissertation project, academic self-concept in the science subjects is scrutinized. Amongst others, its separability from self-efficacy, its dimensionality, and gender differences were examined. The dissertation includes four research articles. All are based on data from large-scale assessment studies. In the first research article, we examined whether academic self-concept and self-efficacy in the science subjects can be distinguished empirically. We found a moderate positive correlation between self-concept and self-efficacy in science, advocating distinguishable constructs. Furthermore, science self-concept was better predicted by the average peer achievement, whereas science self-efficacy was more strongly affected by inquiry-based learning opportunities. The second research article focused on the internal structure of academic self-concept in the sciences. It could be shown that students differentiate between their abilities in biology, chemistry and physics and that the subject-specific self-concept facets are differentially related to achievement and gender. For example, stereotypical gender differences in favor of boys were found for chemistry and physics. The effect of interdisciplinary science teaching on the structure of academic self-concept in the sciences was examined in the third research article. Students who were taught science as an interdisciplinary subject showed substantially higher relations between the self-concept facets in biology, chemistry, and physics than students who were taught these subjects separately. In the fourth research article, the effects of dimensional comparisons on academic self-concepts in the sciences as well as mathematics and German were scrutinized. We found contrast effects between the German and math, physics, and chemistry as well as assimilation effects between math, physics, and chemistry. The results further advance dimensional comparison theory.

In meiner Dissertationsschrift unterschied ich zwischen expliziten und impliziten Repräsentationen der eigenen Persönlichkeit und konzeptualisierte diese als Teile des reflektiven bzw. impulsiven Systems (Strack & Deutsch, in press). Am Beispiel der Persönlichkeitseigenschaften Schüchternheit, Ängstlichkeit und Ärgerlichkeit erfasste ich implizite Repräsentationen des Persönlichkeits-Selbstkonzeptes mit Hilfe von Impliziten Assoziations Tests (IATs, Greenwald, McGhee & Schwartz, 1998) und den neuen Impliziten Assoziations Prozeduren (IAPs) als indirekte Messverfahren. Im Gegensatz zu direkten Fragebogen-Verfahren, die das explizite Persönlichkeits-Selbstkonzept erfassen, stellen indirekte Verfahren chronometrische Messverfahren dar, die das direkte Fragen nach Selbsteinschätzungen vermeiden. Die Ergebnisse zeigten vier wichtige Dissoziationen zwischen direkten und indirekten Verfahren bei der Messung des Persönlichkeits-Selbstkonzeptes. Erstens waren indirekte Verfahren robuster gegen Verfälschungsinstruktionen als direkte Verfahren. Zweitens war die konvergente Validität zwischen indirekten Verfahren geringer als zwischen direkten Verfahren. Drittens leisteten indirekte Verfahren einen inkrementellen Beitrag zur Vorhersage von Verhalten. Viertens waren indirekte Verfahren weniger geeignet für das gleichzeitige Erfassen von zwei unterschiedlichen Eigenschaften als direkte Verfahren. / In my dissertation thesis I differentiated between explicit and implicit representations of one’s own personality and considered them as elements of reflective and impulsive information processing, respectively (Strack & Deutsch, in press). Using the traits of shyness, anxiousness, and angriness as examples, I assessed implicit representations of the personality self-concept with the Implicit Association Tests (IATs, Greenwald McGhee, & Schwartz, 1998) and the new Implicit Association Procedures (IAPs) as the tools for indirect measures. In contrast to direct questionnaire measures that assess the explicit personality self-concept, indirect measures are chronometric procedures that avoid asking direct self-judgment questions. The results showed four important dissociations between direct and indirect measures in the assessment of the personality self-concept. First, indirect measures were more robust against faking than direct measures. Second, the convergent validity between indirect measures was lower than that between direct measures. Third, indirect measures added incremental validity to the prediction of behavior. Fourth, indirect measures were less apt for the concurrent assessment of two traits within one sample than direct measures.

In der vorliegenden Dissertation wird untersucht, wie die Beschulungsart mit den schulischen Kompetenzen und der schulischen Motivation von Schülerinnen und Schülern mit sonderpädagogischem Förderbedarf (SPF) in der vierten Jahrgangsstufe zusammenhängt. In der ersten Teilstudie wurde geprüft, ob die Kompetenztests im IQB-Ländervergleich 2011 geeignet sind, die schulischen Kompetenzen von Kindern mit SPF in Förderschulen und allgemeinen Schulen reliabel und valide zu erfassen. Die Messeigenschaften der Kompetenztests waren zwischen den Schülergruppen mit SPF in Förderschulen und allgemeinen Schulen vergleichbar. Jedoch zeigten sich Einschränkungen in der Testgüte für die Kompetenztests im Fach Mathematik für Kinder mit SPF in Förderschulen. In der zweiten Teilstudie wurden die schulischen Kompetenzen in den Fächern Deutsch und Mathematik zwischen Kindern mit SPF in Förderschulen und allgemeinen Schulen miteinander verglichen. Kinder mit SPF in allgemeinen Schulen erzielten in beiden Fächern höhere schulische Kompetenzen als Kinder mit SPF in Förderschulen mit vergleichbaren Lernvoraussetzungen und Hintergrundmerkmalen. Insbesondere Kinder mit dem Förderschwerpunkt Lernen profitierten von einer Beschulung in allgemeinen Schulen. In der dritten Teilstudie zeigte sich, dass die fähigkeitsbezogene Klassenkomposition unter Berücksichtigung individueller Hintergrundmerkmale und Schulart positiv mit den schulischen Kompetenzen von Kindern mit SPF zusammenhing. In der vierten Teilstudie wurden Zusammenhänge zwischen der Beschulungsart und Merkmalen der schulischen Motivation untersucht. Kinder mit SPF in Förderschulen wiesen ein höheres akademisches Selbstkonzept in den Fächern Deutsch und Mathematik sowie fächerübergreifend eine höhere Lernfreude auf als Kinder mit SPF in allgemeinen Schulen. Diese motivationalen Unterschiede konnten auf die geringere Leistungsstärke in Förderschulen im Vergleich zu allgemeinen Schulen zurückgeführt werden. / The present dissertation examines the relation between the educational placement of students with special educational needs (SEN) in special education schools or regular schools and their school achievement and achievement motivation at the end of fourth grade. In the first study, we investigated if the achievement tests in German and mathematics assess SEN students’ proficiencies reliably and validly. Overall, the interpretation of the test scores was comparable between students with SEN in special education schools and regular schools. Comparability of the achievement tests in mathematics, however, was constrained for SEN students in special education schools compared to students without SEN. In the second study, we compared SEN students’ school achievement in German and mathematics between special education schools and regular schools. SEN students in regular schools had significantly higher test scores across both domains than comparable SEN students in special education schools. In particular, students with special needs in learning benefitted from an education in regular schools. In the third study, we found a significant positive relationship between the average cognitive abilities at the class level and SEN students’ individual school achievement in German and mathematics after accounting for students’ achievement-related characteristics and educational placement in special education schools or regular schools. The fourth study focused on the relation between SEN students’ educational placement and their achievement motivation. SEN students in special education schools reported higher academic self-concepts in German and mathematics as well as more enjoyment of learning than SEN students in regular schools. Placement differences could be explained by the lower class-average achievement in special education schools compared to regular schools.

Durch die zunehmende Durchführung von Kompetenztestungen haben Dimensionalitäts- und Zusammenhangsanalysen an Wichtigkeit zugenommen. In der vorliegenden Studie wurde Kompetenz in Biologie mit den Dimensionen Konzept- und Prozesswissen einer Dimensionalitätsprüfung unterzogen und mit externen Kriterien in Verbindung gebracht. Die hierfür angewandten Strukturgleichungsmodelle wurden auf der Grundlage von 3 156 Zehntklässlern in Deutschland modelliert. Konkurrierende Modelle zeigten die dimensionale Struktur von Kompetenz in Biologie. Das Modell mit dem besten Modellfit wurde systematisch mit den externen Maßen in Zusammenhang gebracht. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass Kompetenz in Biologie aus den zwei hoch miteinander korrelierenden Dimensionen Konzept- und Prozesswissen zusammengesetzt ist. Neben den erwarteten hohen Zusammenhängen mit sprachlichen Kompetenzen und kognitiver Grundfähigkeit, lagen differentielle Effekte nur für Konzeptwissen vor. Dieses hängt höher mit sprachlichen Kompetenzen als mit kognitiver Grundfähigkeit zusammen. Die Zusammenhänge mit den Fachnoten und dem Selbstkonzept sind hingegen inkonsistent. Das vermutete Zusammehangsmuster zeigte sich für die Fachnoten nicht. Das Selbstkonzept in Biologie leistet gleichermaßen einen Erklärungsbeitrag zu den beiden Dimensionen von Kompetenz in Biologie, die Selbstkonzepte in Chemie und Physik nicht. Die Studie zeigt, dass Mehrdimensionalität von Kompetenz in Biologie und andren Disziplinen untersucht werden muss, bevor sie in Testungen, in der Lehrerbildung und in Curricula implementiert wird. / With the growing popularity of competence testing, there is a need for more research on newly developed test instruments. Therefore, I investigated competence in biology for dimensionality with regard to concept and process knowledge and its relations to linguistic competencies, cognitive ability, grades and self-concept in biology, chemistry and physics. The structural equation analyses are based on 3 165 German tenth-graders. First, concurring models reveal the dimensional structure. Second, covariates are applied systematically to the dimensional model with the best fit. The results show that competence in biology consists of two highly correlated dimensions: concept and process knowledge. Besides the high relations with linguistic competencies and general cognitive ability with both biology dimensions, differential effects could be detected for concept knowledge which is stronger associated to linguistic competencies than to general cognitive ability. The relation to the covariates grades and academic self-concept is inconsistent. Concerning grades, none of the expected patterns were found. One’s self-concept in biology helps explain concept and process knowledge in biology whereas self-concept in chemistry and physics does not. This study shows that multidimensionality of competence in biology and other disciplines will need to be tested before implementation in assessment, teacher education and curricula.