ABSTRACT
At issue in this first application is the plausibility of a multidimensional SC structure for early adolescents. Although numerous studies have supported the multidimensionality of the construct for Grade 7 children, others have counterargued that SC is less differentiated for children in their preadolescent and early adolescent years (e.g., Harter, 1990). Thus, the argument could be made for a two-factor structure comprising only GSC and ASC. Still others postulate that SC is a unidimensional structure so that all facets of SC are embodied within a single SC construct (GSC). (For a review of the literature related to these issues, see Byrne, 1996.) The task presented to us here is to test the original hypothesis that SC is a four-factor structure comprising a general component (GSC), an academic component (ASC), and two subject-specific components (ESC, MSC), against two alternative hypotheses: (a) that SC is a two-factor structure comprising GSC andASC, and (b) that SC is a one-factor structure in which there is no distinction between general and academic SCs.
