Sousa, Alberto Barros2011-10-012011-10-011989http://hdl.handle.net/10400.12/963Dissertação de Mestrado em Psicologia EducacionalThere has been great concern to predict academic results based on certain prominent psycho1ogica1 factors. After putting aside IQ because no correlation with academic achievement has been found, some writers point to academic INTERESTS as the factor most directly related to academic results. While others, in more recent studies, lean more towards the SELF-CONCEPT. This research studies the relationships between Academic Results, Interests and the Self-Concept among approximately 200 pupils from primary and preparatory schools in Lisbon and in the provinces. Among other matters the following conclusions were drawn: - there is a significant and positive correlation between the Self-Concept and Academic Results, but not between .Interests and Academic Results; - pupils with a high Self-Concept tend to retain their Self- Concept and Academic Results at a high level even when they receive 1ow marks , while pupils with a middle to low Self—concept tend to lower their levels of Self-concept and Academic Results still further when faced by low marks - the Self-Concept, Self-Esteem and Self-Worth have a greater influence on how pupils apply themselves to school work than the Interests the school affords them. In fact, it appears that disinterest for school increases with the number of years of schoo1ing; - no significant differences were witnessed in terms of the Self-Concept, Interests and Academic Results between pupils from schools in the capital and those from the provinces; - the sex factor appears to influence the relationship between Interests and Academic Results, but not the relationship between the Self-Concept and Academic Results.engmaster thesis