Intelligence, Academic Self-Concept, and Information Literacy: The Role of Adequate Perceptions of Academic Ability in the Acquisition of Knowledge about Information Searching

Introduction: The present paper argues that adequate self-perceptions of academic ability are essential for students' realization of their intellectual potential, thereby fostering learning of complex skills, e.g., information-seeking skills. Thus, academic self-concept should moderate the relationship between intelligence and information literacy: a positive relationship between intelligence and information literacy is only expected for students with a high academic self-concept. It is expected that this moderator effect is mediated by students' effort: Whenever students recognise their actual deficits or strengths, they will invest more effort than if they are over- or under-confident. Method: Data were gathered in a quantitative field study with 137 psychology freshmen from the University of Trier, Germany. Measures included a standardised information literacy test, Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices test for fluid intelligence as well as standardised measures for students' academic self-concept and work avoidance tendencies. Analysis: Data was analysed through multiple regression analysis and tests for mediated moderation. Results. With regard to the hypothesised interaction effect, it was confirmed that a positive relation between intelligence and information literacy solely exists for students with a high academic self-concept. A high academic self-concept may even be detrimental for information literacy when paired with a low intelligence. These effects were partially mediated by students' tendency for work avoidance. Conclusions: Our findings corroborate that adequate self-perceptions of academic abilities are a basic requirement for information-seeking skills. Hence, we emphasise a need for ability-tailored information literacy training paired with performance feedback to foster realistic self-perceptions. [This paper was published in: "Proceedings of ISIC: The Behaviour Conference" (Leeds, England, Sep 2-5, 2014), Part 2, Paper isic34.]