Reading Self-Concept and Text Type: Can Literary and Factual Reading Self-Concept be Differentiated?

Reading self-concept is an important predictor of general reading competence. Thus far it is not clear whether a further differentiation depending on the text type (literary vs. non-fictional) is appropriate. Therefore, we examined whether a reading self-concept which refers to factual texts can be differentiated from a reading self-concept that refers to literary texts. The psychometric properties of the newly developed scales of non-fictional and literary reading self-concept were examined in a sample of 1004 9th graders attending the intermediate (Realschule) and the higher (Gymnasium) school tracks. Factor analyses show that literary and non-fictional reading self-concept can, in fact, be distinguished from each other as well as from general reading self-concept and correlate significantly differentially with intrinsic reading motivation, school grades, and gender. While the literary reading self-concept correlates exclusively with literary text comprehension, factual reading self-concept is only associated with factual text comprehension. Thus, our measures of non-fictional and literary reading self-concept provide a solid basis for detailed analyses of literary and non-fictional text comprehension.