The link between basing self-worth on academics and student performance depends on domain identification and academic setting

Two studies showed that the link between how much students base their self-worth on academics and their math performance depends on whether their identification with math was statistically controlled and whether the task measured ability or not. Study 1 showed that, when math identification was uncontrolled and the task was ability-diagnostic, basing self-worth on academics was unrelated to the students' math performance. When math identification was controlled, however, the more students based self-worth on academics the worse their math performance. Study 2 showed that, when math identification was uncontrolled and the task was ability non-diagnostic, the more students based self-worth on academics the better their math performance. When math identification was controlled, however, students' level of basing self-worth on academics was unrelated to math performance. These results held for females and males even when gender was made salient. In both studies, higher math identification linked to better math performance.