Self-perception in children

Children's (Grades 4-8) expected self, best friend, male and female peer groups' reactions to academic performance and school affect were examined in relation to academic outcomes as measured by achievement test scores, school grades, and peer-based performance and affect judgments. The main hypothesis that expected self-reactions would show the strongest relationship to school outcomes was supported for both sexes. Some evidence of best friend influences was found for girls, with best friend reactions to positive affect in girl targets a positive predictor of achievement, and best friend reactions to positive affect in boy targets a negative predictor. Both boys' and girls' anticipated positive self-reactions to high academic performance in male (but not female) targets were strong predictors of children's own achievement scores and grades. Theoretical and practical implications of the research findings were discussed.

The present study examines whether one aspect of problematic adjustment--poor self-concept--contributes to victimization, is a consequence of victimization, or both. A sample of 187 third- through seventh-grade children were tested in both the fall and spring of the academic year on four self-report, self-concept measures: (a) global self-esteem, (b) social self-esteem, (c) self-efficacy for assertion, and (d) self-efficacy for aggression. At both times of testing, children also reported classmates who manifested both victimized and aggressive behaviors. Results indicated that social self-esteem and self-efficacy were both antecedents of victimization even after controlling for T1 levels of victimization. Social self-esteem was also an outcome of victimization after controlling for T1 levels of social self-esteem. A secondary consideration of the research was to investigate whether poor self-concept is predictive or an outcome of aggression, and results are discussed. Theoretical explanations for the specific relations found are advanced.

The development of the concept of self was measured in second, fourth, sixth, and eighth graders. Recall of psychological and physical adjectives were used as a cognitive measure of the concept of self. The adjectives were presented under three conditions (self referent, semantic, and control). The children also asked to rate the adjectives for similarity or dissimilarity to themselves. Differences between grades for levels of recall for physical versus psychological adjectives were examined. In contrast to earlier research, a developmental trend was not discovered. Increased recall was found for adjectives presented under the self referent condition for all grades.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether there is a
significant difference between the reported self-concepts of children
living in one-parent homes and children living in two-parent homes. In
addition, the variables of sex and grade level were investigated to
determine whether there is a significant difference between the reported
self-concepts of males and females in grades one and three. Based on the population studied, the findings of an analysis of
variance, a multivariate analysis of variance, and the Fisher t-test all
indicated and supported that there is a statistically significant
difference, at the .05 level, between the reported self-concepts of
children living in one-parent and two-parent homes. Children from two-parent
homes had a considerably higher mean, 44.6, as compared to a 39.1
mean for children from one-parent homes. The findings indicated that there is a statistically significant difference between the reported
self-concepts of male and female students in the primary grades. Females
had a mean of 44.4 as compared to a 39.3 mean for males. There was no
statistically significant difference between first and third graders with
means of 42.0 and 41.7 respectively. Implications of these conclusions pertain specifically to the
sample included in this study; limitations imposed by definition and by
selection should be observed before making broad application of the
findings to populations which are not closely similar in design.