NotesFAQContact Us
Collection
Advanced
Search Tips
Back to results
Peer reviewed Peer reviewed
Direct linkDirect link
ERIC Number: EJ685009
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2004-Sep
Pages: 5
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0022-0663
EISSN: N/A
Why Multicollinearity Matters: A Reexamination of Relations Between Self-Efficacy, Self-Concept, and Achievement
Marsh, Herbert W.; Dowson, Martin; Pietsch, James; Walker, Richard
Journal of Educational Psychology, v96 n3 p518-522 Sep 2004
Multicollinearity is a well-known general problem, but it also seriously threatens valid interpretations in structural equation models. Illustrating this problem, J. Pietsch, R. Walker, and E. Chapman (2003) found paths leading to achievement were apparently much larger for self-efficacy (.55) than self-concept (-.05), suggesting--erroneously, as the authors' reanalysis shows--that self-efficacy was a better predictor of achievement. However, because standard errors for these two paths were so huge (.25) thanks to the extremely high correlation between self-concept and self-efficacy (r = .93), interpretations were problematic. In a model comparison approach to this multicollinearity problem, constraining these two paths to be equal provided a better, more parsimonious fit to the data and also substantially reduced the standard errors (from .25 to .03).
American Psychological Association, 750 First Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002-4242. Tel: 800-374-2721 (Toll Free); Tel: 202-336-5510; TDD/TTY: 202-336-6123; Fax: 202-336-5502; e-mail: journals@apa.org.
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A