Locus of Control, Self-Esteem, and Field Independence as Predictors of School Achievement Among Anglo American and Mexican American Children

The relation of measures of locus of control, self-esteem, and field independence to the reading and math achievement of 170 Mexican American and Anglo American children is explored. The Anglo American-Mexican American school achievement gap was confirmed, but no significant cultural difference on any personality variable was observed. The intercorrelations among the personality variables and between the personality variables and school achievement were greater among Mexican American children compared to Anglo American children, and the per sonality variables were also more highly related to school achievement for Mexican American children. This pattern of results is discussed as possibly due to (a) a greater impact of school achievement on personality for Mexican Americans; (b) personality differences as more important precursors of school achievement among Mexican Americans; (c) lack of cultural equivalence of meaning of the personality variables; and (d) grade as a mediating variable. Implications of the findings are discussed.