Implizite Fähigkeitstheorien, akademisches Selbstkonzept und schulisches Wohlbefinden

Implicit theories of ability are important factors for students’ adaptive learning behavior and performance. These effects are mediated in cognitive meaning systems through competence self-perceptions. In addition to learning behavior and performance, well-being has increasingly come into focus recently as a central goal of schooling and instruction. However, studies on the association between implicit theories and well-being are scarce. Existing work has predominantly considered well-being as the absence of pathological features, whereas more recent approaches emphasize the presence of resources and the multidimensionality of well-being in adolescence. One such model is the EPOCH model with the dimensions engagement, perseverance, optimism, connectedness, and happiness. This study examines relationships between incremental implicit theory of ability, academic self-concept, and student well-being. Well-being, adapted to the school context, is operationalized as a context-specific construct by the five EPOCH dimensions. The sample of the questionnaire study comprised 1484 Austrian students (52% female; M = 12.95; SD = 2.10) from 87 classes. To examine the relationships, a latent mediation model was specified with incremental ability theory as the independent variable, self-concept as the mediator, and well-being as the dependent variable. The results showed positive relations of incremental ability theory with self-concept as well as with all five EPOCH dimensions. The effects of incremental ability theory on engagement, perseverance, and optimism were mediated by self-concept. Limitations of this study as well as implications for theory, practice, and future research are discussed.