This cross-cultural study examines national variations in the association of youths’ attitudinal characteristics and socio-psychological resources at school with their mathematics achievements between South Korea and the US. Using the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study 2015 data, it finds comparative results between two countries. By employing multilevel modeling, we discover that youths’ attitudinal factors such as educational aspirations, interest, and values are closely associated with mathematics achievement, but the association is stronger in South Korea. Also, teacher effect is more prominent in the US while peer effect is more noticeable in South Korea. These results imply that socio-psychological resources are accumulated differently in the two countries, and shared educational aspirations would be an important factor for Korean youths in collectivism and Confucianism society.

这项跨文化研究考察了韩国和美国之间青少年在学校的态度特征和社会心理资源与其数学成就之间关联的国家差异。使用 2015 年国际数学和科学研究趋势数据，它发现了两国之间的比较结果。通过采用多层次模型，我们发现青少年的教育志向、兴趣和价值观等态度因素与数学成绩密切相关，但在韩国这种关联更强。此外，美国的教师效应更为突出，而韩国的同伴效应更为明显。这些结果意味着两国社会心理资源的积累方式不同，