Daydreaming, Self Concept and Academic Performance

A continuous interaction model was proposed to explain the relationship among daydreaming, self concept and academic performance. Daydreams were hypothesized to both influence performance and attitudes and in turn be affected by performance outcomes and self concept. A second aim of the study was to evaluate the usefulness of a semantic differential scale as a method for subjects to rate their own daydreams. Subjects recorded school-related daydreams during two time periods in a semester, completed three self concept scales and took four psychology exams. Multiple regressions were used to analyze the proposed model. The second self concept score was predicted by the initial self concept score, daydream activity, and gender. The third self concept score was explained by the second self concept score and an exam score. The three summary dimensions of the semantic differential were independent and stable over seven weeks. The stream of consciousness is a comprehensive conceptualization of cognitive processes which includes thoughts, fantasies, memories, images, and daydreams. The stream is continuous in that it is always active during wakefulness and continuous in that the contents of the stream are not independent, but overlap and merge into each other. For example, today's thoughts about an upcoming math exam may stimulate daydreams about earning a Ph.D. or flunking out of school and in a few weeks these thoughts may become but distant memories. One important research issue is how the stream of consciousness interacts with and influences behavior and attitudes or beliefs about self. The primary focus of this study was to investigate the relationship among daydreams about school, self concept as a student, and academic performance.