Secondary School Students’ Academic Self-Confidence, Mental Toughness and Self-Esteem as Predictors of Academic Achievement in Mathematics Anambra State, Nigeria

Abstract

Students’ academic self-confidence, mental toughness and self-esteem are non-cognitive constructs as well as indicators for effective learning. The study aimed to elucidate students’ academic self-confidence, mental toughness and self-esteem as predictors of academic achievement in mathematics in Anambra State. Four research questions and three null hypotheses  guided the study. The study adopted a predictive correlational research design. The population of the study comprised of 21204 SS II students from which a sample of 791 were drawn. Multi-stage procedure was used to select the sample. Three standardized research instruments namely; Academic Self-Confidence Scale (ASCS), Mental Toughness Questionnaire (MTQ), and Self-esteem Questionnaire (SQ) were used for data collection. Students’ Mathematics Achievement Scores (SMAS) from the state wide promotion examination were used to represent mathematics achievement.  Cronbach’s alpha was used to determine the reliability of the items in the instruments. Reliability index were found to be 0.81 for academic self-confidence, .68, for mental toughness, 0.83, for high self-esteem, and 0.76, for low self-esteem respectively. The data were analyzed using standard multiple regression analyses. The t-test for r, F-test and test of significance for β, were used to test hypotheses at .05 level of significance. Findings from the study showed that using academic self-confidence, mental toughness and self-esteem scores the seven assumptions tested in the study were fit and statistically significant to predict the regression model. Findings also indicated that academic self-confidence, mental toughness and self-esteem scores jointly predicted academic achievement in mathematics. Based on the above findings, it was recommended that students should invest more time in developing their academic self-confidence, mental toughness and self-esteem since the variables, uniquely and jointly predicted academic achievement.