Academic Potential Beliefs and Feelings: Conceptual Development and Relations with Academic Outcomes

Students' beliefs about their own academic potential and corresponding feelings of satisfaction in reaction to those beliefs may be influential motivators of academic attitudes and behaviors. To explore this possibility, the authors developed and tested a 10-item Academic Potential Beliefs and Feelings Questionnaire (APBFQ) in three independent samples across two studies. The measure was found to have two coherent factors: (i) beliefs about academic potential; and (ii) satisfaction in academic potential. Both subscales had good reliability, temporal stability, and were differentiated from other self-perceptions. Results suggested that perceived academic potential had desirable relations with academic outcomes. In contrast, while satisfaction correlated positively with intrinsic value for coursework, it was also linked with a variety of maladaptive academic beliefs, behaviors, and underachievement, particularly for male students low in perceived academic potential.