Self-concept in reading: Factor structure, cross-cultural invariance and relationships with reading achievement in an international context (PIRLS 2011)

Abstract Using data from 48 countries, this study investigated the factorial structure and tested the cross-cultural invariance of the PIRLS 2011 reading self-concept scale and its relationships with reading achievement. The study showed that a two-factorial structure of the self-concept scale in reading had the best fit with the data. Configural invariance and metric invariance were achieved, scalar invariance was not. The two dimensions ‘Perception of competence’ and ‘Perception of difficulty’ showed robust within-country correlations with reading achievement, especially the second one. At the country level, the ‘Perception of competence’ was negatively related with reading, illustrating the attitudes-achievement paradox: countries in which students on average reported a more positive self-concept performed lower. On the contrary, for the ‘Perception of difficulty’, the sign of the correlation remained the same at the within-country and at the country level.