Expectation matters: The effect of cognitive dissonance on self-esteem, academic disengagement, achievement and associated emotions

Abstract

Objective. This study examined the effect of achievement dissonance on academic disengagement, academic achievement, self-esteem and associated emotions. The main objective of this study was to investigate if a discrepancy between desired achievement and actual achievement would affect the motivation to study. Methods. Participants were 124 undergraduate students. They were categorized into three groups, the neutral, negative and positive dissonance group. Students who got a lower mark than expected were classified into the negative group and those who got a higher mark than expected were labeled the positive group. Neutral group indicated that there was no difference between the actual and expected marks. They had to fill in 3 sets of questionnaire in 3 intervals. Results. Results showed that the negative dissonance group had significant differences in academic disengagement, associated emotions and self-esteem as compared with the other two groups. Both positive and negative groups disengaged significantly than the neutral group. Conclusion. Academic dissonance did have effects on the motivation of studying. The role of self-esteem had important influences on the dissonance process.