Abstract

Academic achievement and behavior have been demonstrated to be clearly associated in the western literature. However, few studies concerning these relationships have been conducted in Asian contexts. This study attempts to provide empirical evidence from the east to complement the wealth of research in the west and examine whether the findings in the west can be generalized to Asian cultures. Data were collected from 636 students in year 11 at four Chinese high schools. Students’ academic achievement was assessed using their grade point average (GPA). Behavior was assessed from students’ reports and three aspects: truancy; substance use and antisocial behavior were focused on. Correlation analysis indicated that some problematic behaviors (e.g., truancy, stealing, receiving, and vandalism) were not related to GPA and some problematic behaviors (e.g., drinking, smoking and violence) were weakly, negatively but significantly related to students’ GPA. Moreover, high academic achievement was negatively but weakly related to a number of problematic behaviors. There was also no statistically significant difference in the strength of the relationship for males and females.

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