Education, Faculty of
Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of
DSpace
UBCV
Dillabough, Jo-Anne
Master of Arts - MA
University of British Columbia
In recent years we have witnessed a burgeoning interest in the role socializing agents' play in the development of children's self-perceptions of competence. Outlined extensively by Harter (1981, 1982, 1985), the basic assumption underlying this work is that the self-concept is a multidimensional construct reflecting cognitive representations of individuals' socialization experiences across achievement contexts. These multiple dimensions are subsumed under the guise of self-perceptions and are thought to reflect distinct cognitive structures within the phenomenological world of the child. To date, however, the majority of research stemming from Harter's original theoretical conceptualizations has been limited to examining the impact of socializing agents' expectations on children's self-perceptions of academic competence. The differential contributions made by socializing agents to the prediction of children's self-perceptions of competence across achievement domains, however, has not been assessed. In the present study, an attempt was made to fill this research gap. In accordance with the recognition of the multidimensional nature of perceived competence, the purposes of this study were: (1) to compare the contributions made by different socializing agents' expectations to the prediction of children's self-perceived academic, social, behavioral and athletic competence; (2) to assess the extent to which socializers' expectations contribute differentially to children's perceived competence when examined in conjunction with additional variables instrumental in the development of self-concept in children; (3) to extend Harter's (1981) original conceptualization of the self by testing a uniform perceived competence model across achievement domains; and (4) to identify the primary references children utilize to define themselves. Data were collected from 87 fourth and fifth grade children. The children completed questionnaires that assessed their self-perceived academic, social, behavioral and athletic competence. Teachers' and parents' actual expectations, children's perceptions of these expectations and children's academic and social performance were also measured. Four stepwise hierarchical regression analyses were conducted (i.e., one for self-perceived academic, social, behavioral and athletic competence, respectively) to identify those variables which best predict children's domain-specific self-perceptions. Results revealed that: (a) the relative contributions made by socializers' expectations to the prediction of children's perceived competence across achievement contexts vary as a function of the domain assessed; (b) children's perceptions of significant others' expectations and performance factors also play a significant role in the prediction of domain-specific perceived competence; and (c) the social references children utilize when making self-evaluations can be conceptualized within a domain and context specific framework. Issues related to the development of self-concept theory, empirical research and counselling practices are discussed in relation to the acquisition of self-knowledge in children.
The Domain S p e c i f i c Nature of Children's S e l f -Perceptions of Competence: An Exploratory Paradigm for Understanding the Soc i a l Construction of Self-Knowledge in Children By Jo-Anne D i l l a b o u g h B.A. (Honours), U n i v e r s i t y of Western O n t a r i o , 1987 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS i n THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES (Department of C o u n s e l l i n g Psychology) We accept t h i s t h e s i s as conforming to the r e q u i r e d standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA AUGUST 1990 © Jo-Anne D i l l a b o u g h , 1990 In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the head of my department or by his or her representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Department of The University of British Columbia Vancouver, Canada DE-6 (2/88) i i ABSTRACT In recent years we have witnessed a burgeoning interest in the role s o c i a l i z i n g agents' play in the development of children's self-perceptions of competence. Outlined extensively by Harter (1981, 1982, 1985), the basic assumption underlying t h i s work i s that the self-concept i s a multidimensional construct r e f l e c t i n g cognitive representations of individuals' s o c i a l i z a t i o n experiences across achievement contexts. These multiple dimensions are subsumed under the guise of self-perceptions and are thought to r e f l e c t d i s t i n c t cognitive structures within the phenomenological world of the c h i l d . To date, however, the majority of research stemming from Harter's o r i g i n a l t h e o r e t i c a l conceptualizations has been limited to examining the impact of s o c i a l i z i n g agents' expectations on children's self-perceptions of academic competence. The d i f f e r e n t i a l contributions made by s o c i a l i z i n g agents to the prediction of children's self-perceptions of competence across achievement domains, however, has not been assessed. In the present study, an attempt was made to f i l l t h i s research gap. In accordance with the recognition of the multidimensional nature of perceived competence, the purposes of thi s study were: (1) to compare the contributions made by d i f f e r e n t s o c i a l i z i n g agents' expectations to the prediction of children's self-perceived academic, s o c i a l , behavioral and a t h l e t i c competence; (2) to i i i assess the extent to which s o c i a l i z e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s c o n t r i b u t e d i f f e r e n t i a l l y to c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e i v e d competence when examined i n c o n j u n c t i o n with a d d i t i o n a l v a r i a b l e s i n s t r u m e n t a l i n the development of s e l f - c o n c e p t i n c h i l d r e n ; (3) to extend H a r t e r ' s (1981) o r i g i n a l c o n c e p t u a l i z a t i o n of the s e l f by t e s t i n g a uniform p e r c e i v e d competence model across achievement domains; and (4) to i d e n t i f y the primary r e f e r e n c e s c h i l d r e n u t i l i z e to d e f i n e themselves. Data were c o l l e c t e d from 87 f o u r t h and f i f t h grade c h i l d r e n . The c h i l d r e n completed q u e s t i o n n a i r e s that assessed t h e i r s e l f -p e r c e i v e d academic, s o c i a l , b e h a v i o r a l and a t h l e t i c competence. Teachers' and parents' a c t u a l e x p e c t a t i o n s , c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of these e x p e c t a t i o n s and c h i l d r e n ' s academic and s o c i a l performance were a l s o measured. Four stepwise h i e r a r c h i c a l r e g r e s s i o n analyses were conducted ( i . e . , one f o r s e l f - p e r c e i v e d academic, s o c i a l , b e h a v i o r a l and a t h l e t i c competence, r e s p e c t i v e l y ) to i d e n t i f y those v a r i a b l e s which best p r e d i c t c h i l d r e n ' s d o m a i n - s p e c i f i c s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s . R e s u l t s r e v e a l e d t h a t : (a) the r e l a t i v e c o n t r i b u t i o n s made by s o c i a l i z e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s to the p r e d i c t i o n of c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e i v e d competence a c r o s s achievement contexts vary as a f u n c t i o n of the domain assessed; (b) c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of s i g n i f i c a n t o t h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s and performance f a c t o r s a l s o p l a y a s i g n i f i c a n t r o l e i n the p r e d i c t i o n of d o m a i n - s p e c i f i c p e r c e i v e d competence; and (c) the s o c i a l r e f e r e n c e s c h i l d r e n u t i l i z e when making s e l f - e v a l u a t i o n s can be c o n c e p t u a l i z e d w i t h i n a 1 iv domain and context s p e c i f i c framework. Issues r e l a t e d to the development of s e l f - c o n c e p t theory, e m p i r i c a l r e s e a r c h and c o u n s e l l i n g p r a c t i c e s are d i s c u s s e d i n r e l a t i o n to the a c q u i s i t i o n of self-knowledge i n c h i l d r e n . V TABLE OF CONTENTS A b s t r a c t i i Table of Contents v L i s t of Tables v i i L i s t of F i g u r e s x Acknowledgements x i Quotations x i i D e d i c a t i o n . x i i i Chapter One: I n t r o d u c t i o n 1 L i t e r a t u r e review 2 P e r c e i v e d Competence 2 The Role of S i g n i f i c a n t Others In I n f l u e n c i n g C h i l d r e n ' s P e r c e i v e d Competence 5 The Role C h i l d r e n ' s P e r c e p t i o n s Of S i g n i f i c a n t Others' Play i n I n f l u e n c i n g C h i l d r e n ' s P e r c e i v e d C o m p e t e n c e 1 0 Performance and i t s R e l a t i o n s h i p To P e r c e i v e d Competence 12 T h e o r e t i c a l Framework 17 Purposes of the Study 18 Research Questions and Hypotheses 19 Chapter Two: Method 22 Subjec t s 23 Measures of the Independent V a r i a b l e ..24 Measures of the Dependent V a r i a b l e 27 Procedure 29 Data A n a l y s i s Procedures 31 Chapter Three: R e s u l t s 33 vi Phase 1: D e s c r i p t i v e and Psychometric Analyses 34 Phase 2: Main Analyses 46 C o r r e l a t i o n a l Analyses 46 M u l t i v a r i a t e A n a l y s i s of V a r i a n c e 56 Phase 3: E x p l o r a t o r y Regression Analyses 58 Phase 4 (Part A): Stepwise H i e r a r c h i c a l Regression Analyses 72 Phase 4 (Part B): F R e c a l c u l a t i o n s 76 Chapter Four: D i s c u s s i o n 83 General Overview 83 P r e d i c t i n g Domain-Specific P e r c e i v e d Competence 86 Parents and Teachers as Expectancy S o c i a l i z e r s 86 C h i l d r e n ' s P e r c e p t i o n s of S i g n i f i c a n t Others' E x p e c t a t i o n s 1 00 Performance F a c t o r s 104 I m p l i c a t i o n s f o r Theories of C h i l d Development 105 I m p l i c a t i o n s f o r C o u n s e l l i n g 109 L i m i t a t i o n s of the Study 112 General Conclusions 112 Footnotes 114 References 115 Appendix A: Parent and Teacher Expectancies f o r C h i l d r e n ' s Future Performance 125 Appendix B: C h i l d r e n ' s P e r c e p t i o n s of Parent and Teacher E x p e c t a t i o n s 127 Appendix C: The S e l f - P e r c e p t i o n P r o f i l e f o r C h i l d r e n 130 Appendix D: Q u e s t i o n n a i r e I n s t r u c t i o n s 134 v i i LIST OF TABLES Table 1 Subscale Means and Standard Deviations for the Academic Domain 36 Table 2 Subscale Means and Standard Deviations for the Social Domain 37 Table 3 Subscale Means and Standard Deviations for the Behavioral Conduct Domain 38 Table 4 Subscale Means and Standard Deviations for the At h l e t i c Doma in 39 Table 5 Means and Standard Deviations for Performance Variables 40 Table 6 Multivariate Analysis of Variance: Gender Di f f erences 42 Table 7 Psychometric Properties of the Independent Variables 45 Table 8 Corre l a t i o n a l Matrix: Academic Domain 52 Table 9 Corre l a t i o n a l Matrix: Social Domain 53 v i i i Table 10 C o r r e l a t i o n a l M a t r i x : B e h a v i o r a l Conduct Domain 54 Table 11 C o r r e l a t i o n a l M a t r i x : A t h l e t i c Domain 55 Table 12 M u l t i v a r i a t e A n a l y s i s of V a r i a n c e 57 Table 13 F l o a t i n g Stepwise Regression A n a l y s i s : Academic Doma i n 61 Table 14 F l o a t i n g Stepwise Regression A n a l y s i s : S o c i a l Domain 62 Table 15 F l o a t i n g Stepwise Regression A n a l y s i s : B e h a v i o r a l Conduct Domain 63 Table 16 F l o a t i n g Stepwise Regression A n a l y s i s : A t h l e t i c Domain 64 Table 17 F l o a t i n g Stepwise Regression A n a l y s i s : Academic Domain 68 Table 18 F l o a t i n g Stepwise Regression A n a l y s i s : S o c i a l Domain 69 Table 19 F l o a t i n g Stepwise Regression A n a l y s i s : B e h a v i o r a l Conduct Domain 70 ix-Table 20 F l o a t i n g Stepwise Regression A n a l y s i s : A t h l e t i c Domain ..71 Table 21 Stepwise H i e r a r c h i c a l Regression A n a l y s i s : Academic Domain 79 Table 22 Stepwise H i e r a r c h i c a l Regression A n a l y s i s : S o c i a l Domain 80 Table 23 Stepwise H i e r a r c h i c a l Regression A n a l y s i s : B e h a v i o r a l Conduct Domain 81 Table 24 Stepwise H i e r a r c h i c a l Regression A n a l y s i s : A t h l e t i c Domain 82 X LIST OF FIGURES F i g u r e 1 . F i g u r e o u t l i n i n g p r e d i c t o r and c r i t e r i o n v a r i a b l e s u t i l i z e d i n b u i l d i n g a uniform p e r c e i v e d competence model 2 2 xi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS As t h i s t h e s i s attempts to argue, any i n d i v i d u a l p r o j e c t engages and resonates with l i f e from i t s i n t e l l e c t u a l surroundings and in t i m a t e r e l a t i o n s . T h e r e f o r e , I can only take p a r t i a l c r e d i t i n the i n c e p t i o n , g e s t a t i o n and completion of t h i s work, as i t i s the product of many i n d i v i d u a l s ' i d e a s , c r i t i c i s m s , and encouragement. F i r s t , I am indebted to Dr. R i c h a r d Young f o r c o n t r i b u t i n g a r e l e v a n t agenda of q u e s t i o n s and c r i t i c i s m s to both my w r i t i n g and r e s e a r c h . H i s s c h o l a r s h i p has had a d i r e c t i n f l u e n c e on the substance of t h i s work. Notwithstanding t h i s i n f l u e n c e , i t should a l s o be mentioned that Dr. Young's ongoing p a t i e n c e , support and democratic s t y l e p r o v i d e d me with a bearing form which I c o u l d gage the completion of t h i s work. Second, a s p e c i a l thanks i s extended to Dr. Bob Conry f o r h i s ongoing c o n s u l t a t i o n , s t a t i s t i c a l guidance and continued support through-out the resear c h p r o j e c t . T h i r d , Dr. Micheal Chapman i s g r a t e f u l l y acknowledged f o r h i s c o n t r i b u t i o n s to the t h e s i s and h i s involvement i n t h i s p r o j e c t . Fourth, I would l i k e to thank Dr. Lynne Zarbatany f o r her a s s i s t a n c e i n making t h i s M.A. p r o j e c t p o s s i b l e . F i n a l l y , I am p e r s o n a l l y indebted to M.C. Zak, P.S. Robinson, and S. S e i d a l f o r t h e i r l o y a l t i e s i n c o n t i n u a l l y r e s c u i n g me from being a v i c t i m of bad f o r t u n e . Commiseration of t h i s nature always has i t s p l a c e . x i i QUOTATIONS An acceptance of i nt e r s ubj e cl i v / t y helps-us to come to terms with our vulnerability lo and dependence on others, our commitment to and responsibility for others. Unlike communal i sm, it recognizes and allows a real difference between self and other. But unlike individualism, it does not turn that difference into a divisive barrier. I nt e r s ubj e ct i v i t y suggests a relation between self and other that is based on fragility and need rather than on suspicion or suppression. Alan Hutchinson, (1988). Dw e l l i n g on the T h r e s h o l d : C r i t i c a l Essays i n Modern Legal Thought., p. 328-286. Childhood is an invention, a social construct Ian McEwan, (1987). A C h i l d i n Time, p. 105. The individual begins by understanding and feeling everything through himself herself . . . I t is only through contact with the judgements and expectations of others that this anomi e will gradually yield. Jean P i a g e t , (1932). The Moral Judgement of the C h i l d , p., 303. x i i i DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to the memory of my late brother Ian who gave this work the life and/or self it has acquired. 1 C H A P T E R ONE INTRODUCTION In the past decade numerous s t u d i e s have been conducted concerning the nature and o r i g i n s of c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f -p e r c e p t i o n s of competence. O u t l i n e d e x t e n s i v e l y by Harter (1981, 1982, 1985), the t h e o r e t i c a l framework u n d e r l y i n g t h i s work i s that the s e l f - c o n c e p t i s a m u l t i d i m e n s i o n a l c o n s t r u c t r e f l e c t i n g c o g n i t i v e r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s of i n d i v i d u a l s ' s o c i a l i z a t i o n experiences across achievement contexts (Harter, 1981, 1982, 1985). These dimensions are subsumed under the guise of s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s and are thought to r e f l e c t d i s t i n c t c o g n i t i v e s t r u c t u r e s w i t h i n the phenomenological world of the i n d i v i d u a l (Harter, 1982). D e s p i t e the recent development of H a r t e r ' s (1982, 1982, 1985) t h e o r e t i c a l model arid i t s a p p l i c a t i o n s a c r o s s c o n t e x t s , few s t u d i e s have attempted: (1) to u t i l i z e H a r t e r ' s (1981) o r i g i n a l framework i n understanding the nature and o r i g i n s of s e l f - c o n c e p t development a c r o s s achievement domains; and/or (2) compare and c o n t r a s t domain-s p e c i f i c s o c i a l i z a t i o n i n f l u e n c e s on c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e i v e d competence a c r o s s achievement c o n t e x t s . In an attempt to r e c t i f y t h i s omission, t h i s t h e s i s r e p r e s e n t s an extension of the o r i g i n a l work conducted by Harter (1981, 1982) and others ( E c c l e s , 1983; Horn, 1985; P h i l l i p s , 1982, 1987) i n two ways. F i r s t , i t e x t r a p o l a t e s from and extends H a r t e r ' s (1981, 1982) o r i g i n a l p e r c e i v e d competence model, which i d e n t i f i e s as i t s t h e o r e t i c a l 2 d e r i v a t i v e s , s i g n i f i c a n t o t h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s and c h i l d r e n ' s performance success, by a s s e s s i n g the e m p i r i c a l s i g n i f i c a n c e of an a d d i t i o n a l c o g n i t i v e c o n s t r u c t known as c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of s i g n i f i c a n t o t h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s ( E c c l e s , 1983). Second, i t r e l i e v e s one shortcoming of re s e a r c h i n t h i s area by examining the c o n t r i b u t i o n s made by these v a r i a b l e s to the p r e d i c t i o n of c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s of competence a c r o s s achievement domains. The r o l e of parents' and te a c h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s , c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of these e x p e c t a t i o n s and performance f a c t o r s i n shaping c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s of competence i s the p a r t i c u l a r f o c u s . A review of the r e l e v a n t l i t e r a t u r e f o l l o w s . L i t e r a t u r e Review: P e r c e i v e d Competence The c o n s t r u c t " p e r c e i v e d competence" has become p i v o t a l i n the e v o l u t i o n of s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n theory and t h e o r i e s of s o c i a l - c o g n i t i v e development (see H a r t e r , 1985 f o r a b r i e f review). Harter (1982) d e f i n e s " p e r c e i v e d competence" as a combination of two a p p r a i s a l s : (a) the s u b j e c t i v e a p p r a i s a l of one's own a b i l i t i e s across a spectrum of achievement domains; and (b) a g l o b a l s e l f - w o r t h a p p r a i s a l independent of any p a r t i c u l a r s k i l l domain. The b a s i c assumption u n d e r l y i n g t h i s d e f i n i t i o n i s that c h i l d r e n , without r e l i n q u i s h i n g an a p p r a i s a l of t h e i r general s e l f - w o r t h , can and do d i f f e r e n t i a t e among f a c e t s of themselves when making sel f - a s s e s s m e n t s (Cauce, 1986). T h i s assumption d e l i n e a t e s the h i e r a r c h i c a l l y ordered self-assessment processes c h i l d r e n engage i n , whereby g e n e r a l s e l f - w o r t h i s deemed a 3 " s u p e r o r d i n a t e c o n s t r u c t " (Harter, 1982, p., 88) and the "p e r c e i v e d competence" c o n s t r u c t t y p i f i e s a subordinate e v a l u a t i v e dimension (Cauce, 1986; Coopersmith, 1967; Epstein,1973; H a r t e r , 1982, 1983, 1985; Marsh, Smith, & Barnes, 1985; P h i l l i p s , 1984, 1987; Rosenberg, 1979; see a l s o H a r t e r , 1981, 1982, 1983 f o r a general d i s c u s s i o n on t h i s p o s i t i o n ) . The convergence of t h i s c o n s t r u c t a c r o s s t h e o r i e s of c h i l d development and e m p i r i c a l r e s e a r c h on i t s v i c i s s i t u d e s have l e d to an i n c r e a s e d i n t e r e s t i n understanding the nature and o r i g i n s of c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s . As a consequence, a small body of l i t e r a t u r e has developed i n the past decade i d e n t i f y i n g v a r i o u s f a c t o r s found to be r e l a t e d to c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s . For example, classroom c l i m a t e s and experiences ( P i n t r i c h & Blumenfeld, 1985), I.Q. ( N i c h o l l s , 1978), past performance (Harter, 1982), peer comparisons (Ruble, Boggiano, Feldman & L o e b l , 1980), c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e i v e d c o n t r o l over successes and f a i l u r e s (Harter & C o n n e l l , 1984), and c h i l d r e n ' s achievement e f f o r t s (Dweck & E l l i o t , 1983; E c c l e s , Midgley & A d l e r , 1984; P h i l l i p s , 1984) have a l l been r e l a t e d to c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f -judgements. The i n i t i a l s t u d i e s by Harter (1982) and more recent v a l i d a t i o n s t u d i e s by Cauce (1986) and others ( P h i l l i p s , 1984, 1987; Shavelson & Bolus, 1986; S t i g l e r , Smith & Mao, 1987) c l e a r l y demonstrate that one can r e l i a b l y assess s e l f -p e r c e i v e d competence i n c h i l d r e n over the age of e i g h t 4 a c r o s s c l a s s and c u l t u r e . Moreover, i t seems that there are s i g n i f i c a n t i n d i v i d u a l d i f f e r e n c e s i n how c h i l d r e n regard themselves, d e s p i t e t h e i r a c t u a l competence l e v e l s . P h i l l i p s (1984), f o r example, i d e n t i f i e d a group of c h i l d r e n who have a c q u i r e d n e gative s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s of competence, d e s p i t e o b j e c t i v e assessments suggesting otherwise. In a more recent study, C o n n e l l and I l a r d i (1987) re p o r t e d that among c h i l d r e n who have a c q u i r e d erroneous and d y s f u n c t i o n a l i n f e r e n c e s regarding t h e i r a b i l i t i e s , there may a l s o be a group comprised of c h i l d r e n who overestimate t h e i r l e v e l of competence. Contrary to e a r l i e r arguments supported by Harter (1982) and P h i l l i p s (1984) that f e a t u r e o v e r r a t i n g c h i l d r e n as h i g h l y motivated and s e l f - c o n f i d e n t , the f i n d i n g s from the Connel l and I l a r d i (1987) study i n d i c a t e that when the l e v e l of p e r c e i v e d competence i s c o n t r o l l e d , o v e r e s t i m a t i o n of a b i l i t y i s more l i k e l y to be r e l a t e d to an an x i e t y based r e g u l a t i o n of achievement behavior than s e l f -c o n f i d e n c e . Such p o s i t i v e s e l f - d i s t o r t i o n , C o n n e l l and I l a r d i (1987) argue, i s a defense mechanism used by o v e r r a t i n g c h i l d r e n to mask s e l f - d i s p a r a g i n g p e r c e p t i o n s of themselves. Indeed, i n a c c u r a t e s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s may have important i m p l i c a t i o n s f o r c h i l d r e n ' s p s y c h o s o c i a l adjustment and achievement o r i e n t a t i o n s a c r o s s c o n t e x t s (Harter, 1982, 1983; Horn, 1985; Lewinsohn, M i s c h e l , Chaplain & Barton, 1980; P h i l l i p s , 1984, 1987). For example, the s t u d i e s by Harter (1982, 1983) and P h i l l i p s (1984, 1987) i n d i c a t e that c h i l d r e n who underrate t h e i r 5 academic competence are low i n s e l f - e s t e e m , have l i t t l e m o t i v a t i o n and choose l e s s c h a l l e n g i n g tasks than t h e i r a c t u a l a b i l i t i e s would p r e d i c t . Such i n d i v i d u a l s , Harter (1982, 1985) argues, are more l i k e l y to a v o i d p o t e n t i a l l y rewarding e x p e r i e n c e s . Moreover, by approaching tasks with e x c e s s i v e s e l f - d o u b t , c h i l d r e n may focus only on p e r s o n a l inadequacies g e n e r a t i n g a n x i e t y that c r e a t e s i n t e r n a l o b s t a c l e s to e f f e c t i v e achievement outcomes (Bandura, 1977; H a r t e r , 1985). Despite ample e m p i r i c a l v e r i f i c a t i o n of the b e h a v i o r a l consequences of c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s , l i t t l e a t t e n t i o n has been d i r e c t e d towards examining the r o l e of v a r i o u s s o c i a l i z i n g i n f l u e n c e s i n the development of c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e p t s . The few e m p i r i c a l s t u d i e s attempting to e x p l i c a t e such i n f l u e n c e s have focused on the e f f e c t s of m a r i t a l d i s c o r d / s t a t u s (Long, Forehand, Fauber, & Brody, 1987) on c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e i v e d c o g n i t i v e and s o c i a l competence, parents' p e r c e p t i o n s of task d i f f i c u l t y (Ladd & P r i c e , 1986) on c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e i v e d academic competence, and coaches performance feedback in r e l a t i o n to c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - a p p r a i s a l s of p h y s i c a l competence (Horn, 1985). The Role of S i g n i f i c a n t Others i n I n f l u e n c i n g C h i l d r e n ' s P e r c e i v e d Competence In an e f f o r t to r e c t i f y t h i s omission, more recent i n v e s t i g a t i o n s have focused on the r o l e parents' and teachers' e x p e c t a t i o n s and a b i l i t y a p p r a i s a l s p l a y i n shaping c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s ( E c c l e s , 1983; E n t w i s l e 6 & Hayduk, 1982; Parsons, A d l e r , & Kac z a l a , 1982; P h i l l i p s , 1984, 1987; Stevenson & Newman, 1986). For example, E c c l e s (1983) has suggested that c h i l d r e n ' s estimates of t h e i r math a b i l i t i e s stem from p a r e n t a l e x p e c t a t i o n s f o r f u t u r e math performance r a t h e r than c h i l d r e n ' s a c t u a l math achievement or teacher e x p e c t a t i o n s . Likewise, Thomas (1985, as c i t e d i n P h i l l i p s , 1987) has re p o r t e d that assumptions parents make about t h e i r c h i l d r e n ' s math c a p a b i l i t i e s supercede v a r i a b l e s such as classroom c l i m a t e i n p r e d i c t i n g c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s of competence. In a recent study by P h i l l i p s (1987), support was provided f o r a p r e d i c t i v e r e l a t i o n between parents' p e r c e p t i o n s of t h e i r c h i l d r e n ' s a b i l i t i e s and c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e i v e d competence. In t h i s study c h i l d r e n ' s c o l l e c t i v e p e r c e p t i o n s of academic competence and t h e i r p e r c e p t i o n s of parents' judgements were more d i r e c t l y i n f l u e n c e d by t h e i r parents' p e r c e p t i o n s of t h e i r a b i l i t y than by t h e i r own achievement h i s t o r y . E n t w i s l e and Hayduk (1982) pr o v i d e d evidence of a r e l a t i o n s h i p between parents' performance e x p e c t a t i o n s and c h i l d r e n ' s achievement e x p e c t a t i o n s ; teachers' e x p e c t a t i o n s were not s i g n i f i c a n t l y r e l a t e d to c h i l d r e n ' s achievement a t t i t u d e s . Stevenson and Newman (1986) found that teacher r a t i n g s of c h i l d r e n ' s academic a b i l i t i e s were not s a l i e n t when p r e d i c t i n g elementary school g i r l s ' a t t i t u d e s regarding math and reading achievement. Rather, the c r i t i c a l v a r i a b l e i n p r e d i c t i n g c h i l d r e n ' s a t t i t u d e s r e g a r d i n g math and reading was the mother's achievement e x p e c t a t i o n s f o r t h e i r c h i l d r e n ' s f u t u r e performance. In c o n t r a s t , Weinstein, B r a t t e s a n i , Weinstein and M a r s h a l l (1982) found that c h i l d r e n who were aware of and attended to teacher e x p e c t a t i o n s i n an o b s e r v a t i o n a l s i t u a t i o n were more l i k e l y to develop teacher-congruent a b i l i t y p e r c e p t i o n s . C o n n e l l and I l a r d i (1987) p r o v i d e d evidence of a r e l a t i o n s h i p between c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f -e v a l u a t i o n s of competence and teacher e x p e c t a t i o n s ; however, t h e i r f i n d i n g s suggested c h i l d r e n were more l i k e l y to develop teacher-congruent a b i l i t y p e r c e p t i o n s when they r e c e i v e d low r a t i n g s by teachers on s e l f - s y s t e m v a r i a b l e s such as coping s t r a t e g i e s , m o t i v a t i o n a l o r i e n t a t i o n and s e l f - r e g u l a t o r y s t y l e ( i . e , reasons s t a t e d by c h i l d r e n f o r doing w e l l on schoolwork). In a review a r t i c l e , Rosenholtz and Simpson (1984) provide evidence f o r a r e l a t i o n between teacher e x p e c t a t i o n s and c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of academic a b i l i t y . In that a r t i c l e c h i l d r e n were s a i d to process a b i l i t y i n f o r m a t i o n conveyed by t h e i r teachers when the s o c i a l o r g a n i z a t i o n i n which those e v a l u a t i o n s were made were deemed important by c h i l d r e n . S i m i l a r l y , Weinstein, M a r s h a l l , Sharp and Botkin (1987) have provided evidence of a r e l a t i o n s h i p between te a c h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s and c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - a p p r a i s a l s of a b i l i t y i n the academic domain. Of i n t e r e s t i n t h i s study i s that even very young c h i l d r e n manifested s e l f - e v a l u a t i o n s that r e f l e c t e d an awareness of t h e i r t e a c h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s . 8 The s i g n i f i c a n c e of these f i n d i n g s leads to three important c o n c l u s i o n s : (1) developmental t h e o r i z i n g has underestimated the s a l i e n c e of s i g n i f i c a n t o t h e r s ' performance e x p e c t a t i o n s when examining c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f -assessments of a b i l i t y ; (2) there i s ample evidence s u p p o r t i n g the c e n t r a l i t y of an expectancy c o n s t r u c t although, f o r the most p a r t , t h i s c o n s t r u c t has been l i m i t e d to the p r e d i c t i o n of math, reading or academic s e l f -p e r c e p t i o n s ; and (3) evidence that parents' and teachers' e x p e c t a t i o n s f u n c t i o n to i n f l u e n c e c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f -e v a l u a t i v e processes have been obtained, although not un i f o r m l y a c r o s s s t u d i e s . In some s t u d i e s teacher e x p e c t a t i o n s was the c r i t i c a l v a r i a b l e i n p r e d i c t i n g c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - v i e w s . Conversely, other i n v e s t i g a t i o n s suggested parents' e x p e c t a t i o n s are more important. The lack of convergent f i n d i n g s across s t u d i e s h i g h l i g h t s two problems i n the c h i l d development l i t e r a t u r e . F i r s t , e v a l u a t i o n s of c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e i v e d competence have not yet been examined o u t s i d e the parameters of more than one s o c i a l i z i n g agent's e x p e c t a t i o n s a c r o s s s k i l l domains. For example, P h i l l i p s (1987) examined the e f f e c t s of parents' e x p e c t a t i o n s on c h i l d r e n ' s c o g n i t i v e competence, but n e g l e c t e d other important s o c i a l i z i n g agents' i n f l u e n c e s . E c c l e s (1983) c o n s i d e r e d both parents and teachers e x p e c t a t i o n s but only r e l a t e d e x p e c t a t i o n s to s e l f -p e r c e p t i o n s of math competence/achievement. S i m i l a r l y , Stevenson and Newman (1986) i n v e s t i g a t e d the e f f e c t s of both 9 parents' and teachers' e x p e c t a t i o n s on c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f -r a t i n g s of a b i l i t y and achievement a t t i t u d e s , but r e s t r i c t e d t h e i r p r e d i c t i o n s to the academic domain ( i . e . , math and reading s e l f - r a t i n g s and a t t i t u d e s ) . Since recent t h e o r i z i n g has emphasized d o m a i n - s p e c i f i c s e l f - e v a l u a t i v e p a t t e r n s i n c h i l d r e n and resea r c h has more d e f i n i t i v e l y c l a r i f i e d the r o l e of s o c i a l i z e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s i n c o n t r i b u t i n g to such s e l f - e v a l u a t i v e p a t t e r n s , i t seems reasonable to assume that parents' and tea c h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s i n f l u e n c e c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - a p p r a i s a l s d i f f e r e n t i a l l y a c r o s s s k i l l domains. The d i f f e r e n t i a l c o n t r i b u t i o n s made by expectancy s o c i a l i z e r s to the p r e d i c t i o n of c h i l d r e n ' s d o m a i n - s p e c i f i c s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s , however, remain l a r g e l y undocumented. In an e f f o r t to f i l l t h i s r e s e a r c h gap, the present study sought to compare and c o n t r a s t the domain s p e c i f i c c o n t r i b u t i o n s made by parents' and t e a c h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s to the p r e d i c t i o n of c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s of competence a c r o s s achievement domains. A second problem that c o n t r i b u t e s to the i n c o n s i s t e n t f i n d i n g s i s that i n v e s t i g a t o r s have proceeded autonomously in search of the developmental o r i g i n s of c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f -p e r c e p t i o n s . Thus, while recent r e s e a r c h has pro v i d e d support f o r the no t i o n that s o c i a l i z e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s are one of the primary mechanisms g u i d i n g c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f -p e r c e p t i o n s , the m a j o r i t y of these s t u d i e s f a i l to examine the c o n t r i b u t i o n s of other s a l i e n t v a r i a b l e s i n v o l v e d i n p r e d i c t i n g s e l f - p e r c e i v e d competence i n c h i l d r e n . Thus, i n 10 l i g h t of recent evidence concerning the c e n t r a l r o l e a s s i g n e d to past performance (Harter, 1982) and c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of s i g n i f i c a n t o t h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s i n p r e d i c t i n g s e l f - p e r c e i v e d competence ( E c c l e s , 1983), these v a r i a b l e s were a l s o i n c l u d e d f o r examination i n the present study. Relevant l i t e r a t u r e p e r t a i n i n g to these secondary v a r i a b l e s i s reviewed below. The Role C h i l d r e n ' s P e r c e p t i o n s of S i g n i f i c a n t Others' E x p e c t a t i o n s Play i n I n f l u e n c i n g C h i l d r e n ' s P e r c e i v e d Competence In a d d i t i o n to the r e s e a r c h documenting the importance of s o c i a l i z e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s i n shaping c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f -p e r c e p t i o n s of competence, recent r e s e a r c h has suggested that c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of s o c i a l i z e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s a l s o i n f l u e n c e c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - v i e w s ? While t h i s l i t e r a t u r e i s sparse, the b a s i c p r e s u p p o s i t i o n u n d e r l y i n g work in t h i s area i s t h a t c h i l d r e n ' s development, p a r t i c u l a r l y the development of s e l f - p e r c e p t s , i s s t r o n g l y i n f l u e n c e d by c a p a c i t i e s used by c h i l d r e n to i n t e r p r e t e x p e c t a t i o n s that a u t h o r i t i e s such as s i g n i f i c a n t o t hers impose on c h i l d r e n ( E c c l e s , 1983). Since how s o c i a l i z e r s t r e a t c h i l d r e n i s "presumably determined in p a r t by what parents expect and/or b e l i e v e about t h e i r c h i l d r e n " ( M i l l e r , 1988, p., 259), then examining the extent to which c h i l d r e n ' s i n t e r p r e t a t i o n s of these e x p e c t a t i o n s / b e l i e f s p r e d i c t c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e i v e d competence i s an i n t e r e s t i n g r e s e a r c h q u e s t i o n i n and of i t s e l f . 11 In support of t h i s view, Poffenberger and Norton (1959) found a p o s i t i v e s i g n i f i c a n t r e l a t i o n s h i p between c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e i v e d p a r e n t a l e x p e c t a t i o n s and c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f -p e r c e p t i o n s of competence. Kaminski, E r i k s o n and Ross (1977) found a p a r a l l e l r e l a t i o n s h i p between c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of parents' e x p e c t a t i o n s and c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f -p e r c e p t i o n s of competence. Likewise, Ladd and P r i c e (1986) found a p r e d i c t i v e r e l a t i o n s h i p between c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of p a r e n t a l b e l i e f s and c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f -p e r c e p t i o n s of academic and s o c i a l competence. P a r a l l e l f i n d i n g s have been found elsewhere (Calsyn & Kenny, 1977; E c c l e s , 1983). For example, E c c l e s (1983) demonstrated a c a u s a l l i n k between c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of parents' e x p e c t a t i o n s and c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - a s s e s s m e n t s of math a b i l i t y . In t h i s study, path a n a l y s i s r e v e a l e d that c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of parents e x p e c t a t i o n s were c a u s a l l y l i n k e d to c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - c o n c e p t of math a b i l i t y . P h i l l i p s (1987) a l s o p r o v i d e d support of a c a u s a l l i n k between c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of parents' b e l i e f s and c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s of academic competence. Although E c c l e s (1983) work and r e l a t e d s t u d i e s have pro v i d e d i n s i g h t s r e g a r d i n g the r e l a t i o n between c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of s i g n i f i c a n t o thers' e x p e c t a t i o n s and c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e i v e d competence, t h e i r primary f o c i has been the p r e d i c t i o n of c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e i v e d academic and/or math competence from c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of parents' e x p e c t a t i o n s ; p e r c e p t i o n s of te a c h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s has not 12 been a primary concern. In other words, the parent -nonparent comparison ac r o s s achievement domains has not been of c e n t r a l concern. Given the p l a u s i b i l i t y that s o c i a l i z e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s make d i f f e r e n t i a l c o n t r i b u t i o n s to the p r e d i c t i o n of p e r c e i v e d competence, a n a t u r a l extension of t h i s h y p o thesis i s that c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of parents' and teachers' e x p e c t a t i o n s w i l l a l s o c o n t r i b u t e d i f f e r e n t i a l l y to p e r c e i v e d competence ac r o s s achievement domains. I f support i s found f o r t h i s suggestion i t f u r t h e r c l a r i f i e s that c h i l d r e n do make d i s t i n c t i o n s between s o c i a l i z e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s when making s e l f - a s s e s s m e n t s . Of a d d i t i o n a l i n t e r e s t i s whether c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of othe r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s c o n t r i b u t e s s i g n i f i c a n t l y to the p r e d i c t i o n of p e r c e i v e d competence ac r o s s achievement domains above and beyond v a r i a n c e accounted f o r by performance. These assumptions were a l s o t e s t e d i n the present study. Performance and I t s R e l a t i o n to P e r c e i v e d Competence The r e l a t i o n between a c t u a l performance and c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s of competence has been r e p o r t e d i n s e v e r a l s t u d i e s . A summary of t h i s r e s e a r c h suggests that the fo r m u l a t i o n of s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s depends upon proof of a t t a i n e d mastery of s k i l l s i n p a r t i c u l a r s o c i a l c o n t e x t s (Stipek & Mac Iver, 1989). Thus, a secondary purpose of the present study was to assess the v a l i d i t y of these f i n d i n g s when examining c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e i v e d competence a c r o s s achievement domains. Academic and s o c i a l competence were 13 i n c l u d e d as performance measures so t h a t t h e i r p r e d i c t i v e powers c o u l d be measured. In l i g h t of numerous reviews a v a i l a b l e on t h i s t o p i c (e.g., Rosenholtz & Simpson, 1984; Stipek & Mac I v e r , 1989), t h i s s e c t i o n summarizes only those reviews and s t u d i e s p a r t i c u l a r l y r e l e v a n t to the present study. A vast body of l i t e r a t u r e has documented the r o l e a c t u a l competence p l a y s i n c h i l d r e n ' s developing s e l f -p e r c e p t i o n s (see f o r example, Bandura, 1977; H a r t e r , 1982; P h i l l i p s , 1987). The i n i t i a l work i n t h i s area c o n c e n t r a t e d p r i m a r i l y on the r e l a t i o n s h i p between i n t e l l e c t u a l a b i l i t y and c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s of academic competence. The assumption u n d e r l y i n g these i n v e s t i g a t i o n s i s that competence i s based on c h i l d r e n ' s a u t h e n t i c accomplishments. These accomplishments, i t i s argued, serve as a b a s i s f o r f o r m u l a t i n g t h e i r s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s (Bandura, 1977). In a comprehensive review of the l i t e r a t u r e , S t i p e k and Mac Iver (1989) repo r t e d that e d u c a t i o n a l research has amply documented that young c h i l d r e n d e s c r i b e assessments of a b i l i t y i n terms of t h e i r past performance. For example, in an i n t e r v i e w study c a r r i e d out by S t i p e k and Tannett (1984), general smartness i n c o n j u n c t i o n with grades were most commonly used by c h i l d r e n to d e s c r i b e i n d i c a t o r s of s e l f -p e r c e p t i o n s of g l o b a l and academic competence. Weinstein and M i d d l e s t a d t (1979) a l s o p r o v i d e d support f o r a r e l a t i o n s h i p between academic performance and c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s of academic competence. T h e i r c o n c l u s i o n s 14 suggested that competency feedback serves as one element in the formation of c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s . N i c h o l l s (1978,1979) found a r e l a t i o n s h i p between c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f -p e r c e p t i o n s of a b i l i t y and academic performance; however s e l f - r a t i n g s of a b i l i t y were not r e l a t e d to grades u n t i l c h i l d r e n reached the f o u r t h and f i f t h grade. Harter (1982) found a r e l a t i o n s h i p between c h i l d r e n ' s s t a n d a r d i z e d achievement scores and c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s of c o g n i t i v e competence acr o s s the t h i r d , f o u r t h , f i f t h and s i x t h grade. The c o r r e l a t i o n s were .28, .32, .50, and .55, r e s p e c t i v e l y demonstrating a p r o g r e s s i v e i n c r e a s e i n the magnitude of the r e l a t i o n s h i p s . Harter (1982) was a l s o able to demonstrate a r e l a t i o n s h i p between c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e i v e d academic competence and s o c i o m e t r i c s t a t u s . In a study examining c h i l d r e n ' s i n t e r e s t i n pursuing math as an academic s u b j e c t , Parsons et a l . (1982) found a strong p r e d i c t i v e r e l a t i o n s h i p between academic performance and c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - c o n c e p t of math a b i l i t y . For example, students with a s u c c e s s f u l academic h i s t o r y were more l i k e l y to maintain a strong math s e l f - c o n c e p t . Conversely, students with a poor academic h i s t o r y maintained lower s e l f -p e r c e p t i o n s of math competence. S e v e r a l other s t u d i e s c o r r o b o r a t e these r e s u l t s suggesting that f a i l i n g grades attenuate young c h i l d r e n ' s a b i l i t y judgements, f u t u r e e x p e c t a t i o n s and v o c a t i o n a l c h o i c e s ( E c c l e s , 1983; H a r t e r , 1982; Spence, 1983). 15 In c o n t r a s t to younger c h i l d r e n , there i s a l a r g e body of l i t e r a t u r e that suggests that middle and upper elementary school c h i l d r e n r e l y h e a v i l y on grades and r e l a t e d performance f a c t o r s such as s o c i o m e t r i c s t a t u s to eva l u a t e t h e i r a b i l i t y (see Asher & Hymel, 1981; Ausebel, S c h i f f & G l a s s e r , 1952, Blumenfeld, P i n t r i c h & Hamilton, 1986). Blumenfeld et a l . (1986) found that the percentage of c h i l d r e n r e f e r r i n g to grades when asked "how do you know when someone i s smart?" i n c r e a s e d e x p o n e n t i a l l y (2nd grade = 15.2 % vs 6th grade = 38.6 %) from second to s i x t h grade. Moreover, Mac Iver (1988) found a r e l a t i o n s h i p between the degree of v a r i a b i l i t y i n s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s of math a b i l i t y and the degree of v a r i a b i l i t y i n re p o r t c a r d grades i n classrooms. In f u r t h e r support of t h i s r e l a t i o n s h i p , Mac Iver (1987) found that i n classrooms where academic assessments were frequent, s i x t h grade c h i l d r e n having d i f f i c u l t y a t t a i n i n g grades a c c o r d i n g to s t a n d a r d i z e d achievement l e v e l s "were l e s s l i k e l y to b e l i e v e that they were mastering t h e i r assignments or outperforming others then when grades were given i n f r e q u e n t l y " (Stipek & Mac Iver , 1989, p. 527). Marsch et a l . (1985) found that i n d i c a t o r s of math achievement and v e r b a l competence were h i g h l y c o r r e l a t e d with a c t u a l reading and math s e l f - c o n c e p t , even though the two s e l f - c o n c e p t s c a l e s were not c o r r e l a t e d . Horn (1985) demonstrated a p r e d i c t i v e r e l a t i o n s h i p between a t h l e t i c a b i l i t y and four s e l f - p e r c e i v e d competence domains: p h y s i c a l , g e n e r a l , s o c i a l and a t h l e t i c competence. Horn 16 (1985) concluded that students' a s s i g n e d a b i l i t y ranking s i g n i f i c a n t l y p r e d i c t e d changes i n students' s e l f -p e r c e p t i o n s of competence. However, a d d i t i o n a l stepwise r e g r e s s i o n a n a l y s e s demonstrated that e v a l u a t i v e feedback pro v i d e d by teachers c o n t r i b u t e d to the r e g r e s s i o n equation over and above that which was pr o v i d e d by the performance measure. S i m i l a r r e s u l t s were found by both E c c l e s (1983) and P h i l l i p s (1984, 1987); i n both s t u d i e s academic performance was s t r o n g l y r e l a t e d to c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f -p e r c e p t i o n s of competence. However, of p a r t i c u l a r i n t e r e s t i s s o c i a l i z e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s f o r c h i l d r e n ' s success i n math c o n t r i b u t e d over and above the c o n t r i b u t i o n s made by achievement f a c t o r s . In g e n e r a l , the s t u d i e s reviewed support the importance of performance f a c t o r s when a s s e s s i n g c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f -p e r c e p t i o n s of competence. The r e l a t i o n , however, between a c t u a l competence and s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s of competence ac r o s s achievement domains has r e c e i v e d l i t t l e d i r e c t examination. In f a c t the only study a s s e s s i n g the p r e d i c t i v e r e l a t i o n s h i p between performance ( a t h l e t i c competence) and c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s of competence a c r o s s achievement domains f a i l e d to use standard measures of performance such as grades (academic competence) and s o c i o m e t r i c s t a t u s ( s o c i a l competence) i n t h e i r assessment (Horn, 1985). In l i g h t of the strong r e l a t i o n between performance and p e r c e i v e d competence, performance measures thought to d i f f e r e n t i a l l y p r e d i c t p e r c e i v e d competence and which have been found to be 17 c r i t i c a l v a r i a b l e s i n the p r e d i c t i o n of p e r c e i v e d competence were used as p r e d i c t o r s i n the present study. Based on the work of E c c l e s (1983), Harter (1982, 1985) and P h i l l i p s (1984, 1987), two separate r e s e a r c h q u e s t i o n s were c o n s i d e r e d s a l i e n t : (1) Do performance f a c t o r s c o n t r i b u t e d i f f e r e n t i a l l y to the p r e d i c t i o n of c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f -p e r c e p t i o n s of competence a c r o s s achievement domains; and (2) I f so, to what degree do performance f a c t o r s c o n t r i b u t e to t h i s p r e d i c t i o n when examined i n c o n j u n c t i o n with other v a r i a b l e s thought to be ins t r u m e n t a l i n the development of c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s . I t should be noted that these q u e s t i o n s serve as l o g i c a l extensions of the e m p i r i c a l f i n d i n g s r e p o r t e d i n both the developmental and e d u c a t i o n a l psychology l i t e r a t u r e . T h e o r e t i c a l Framework On the b a s i s of H a r t e r ' s (1981, 1982) i n i t i a l work i n t h i s area and the r e l a t e d r e s e a r c h reviewed (e.g., Horn, 1985), a framework f o r examining the c o n t r i b u t i o n s made by s o c i a l i z e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s , c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of these e x p e c t a t i o n s and performance f a c t o r s to the p r e d i c t i o n of c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e i v e d competence acr o s s achievement domains i s a v a i l a b l e . According to t h i s framework, the e x p e c t a t i o n s s i g n i f i c a n t o t h ers convey, c h i l d r e n ' s i n t e r p r e t a t i o n s of these e x p e c t a t i o n s and performance f a c t o r s a l l p l a y some par t i n the g e s t a t i o n and development of c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f -p e r c e p t i o n s of competence. Thus, i t i s assumed that these i n f o r m a t i o n sources are used by c h i l d r e n as c r i t e r i a f o r 18 e v a l u a t i n g t h e i r own competence. While t h i s assumption cannot be t e s t e d d i r e c t l y , the d i r e c t examination of the r e l a t i v e c o n t r i b u t i o n s made by the i d e n t i f i e d v a r i a b l e s a c r o s s achievement domains n e v e r t h e l e s s a s s i s t s i n a s s e s s i n g the v a l i d i t y of t h i s c o n j e c t u r e . Purposes of The Study In keeping with the r e c o g n i t i o n of the mu l t i d i m e n s i o n a l nature of p e r c e i v e d competence, the purposes of t h i s i n v e s t i g a t i o n were to t e s t , through f l o a t i n g and stepwise r e g r e s s i o n a n a l y s i s , the s i g n i f i c a n c e of the v a r i a b l e s i d e n t i f i e d i n p r e d i c t i n g c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e i v e d competence acro s s achievement domains. A second purpose was to determine to what extent s o c i a l i z e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s c o n t r i b u t e to c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e i v e d competence when examined i n combination with c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of othe r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s and performance. A t h i r d purpose was to compare and c o n t r a s t the c o n t r i b u t i o n s made by these v a r i a b l e s to the p r e d i c t i o n of p e r c e i v e d competence a c r o s s achievement domains. To achieve t h i s end, a uniform p e r c e i v e d competence model (see F i g u r e 1) was developed and t e s t e d a c r o s s four achievement domains. B u i l d i n g p r i m a r i l y on the work of E c c l e s (1983) and Harter (1981, 1982), t h i s model assessed the c o n t r i b u t i o n s made by parents' and teach e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s , c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of these e x p e c t a t i o n s and past academic performance to the p r e d i c t i o n of c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e i v e d competence a c r o s s academic, s o c i a l , b e h a v i o r a l conduct and a t h l e t i c domains, 19 r e s p e c t i v e l y . The purposes of dev e l o p i n g and t e s t i n g t h i s model were t w o f o l d : (1) to expl o r e the potency and s a l i e n c e of c o n t e x t u a l and c o g n i t i v e v a r i a b l e s i n i n f l u e n c i n g c h i l d r e n ' s d o m a i n - s p e c i f i c s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s ; and (2) to assess the s t a t i s t i c a l f i t of a uniform p e r c e i v e d competence model acr o s s four achievement domains. Research Questions: E x p l o r a t o r y Component Based on recent e m p i r i c a l f i n d i n g s reviewed, the f o l l o w i n g r e s e a r c h q u e s t i o n s were addressed: (1) Do the c o n t r i b u t i o n s made by parents and te a c h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s to the p r e d i c t i o n of c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e i v e d competence vary as f u n c t i o n of the achievement domain assessed?; (2) Do parents' ajnd teachers' e x p e c t a t i o n s c o n t r i b u t e s i g n i f i c a n t l y to the p r e d i c t i o n of s e l f - p e r c e i v e d competence over and above the c o n t r i b u t i o n s made by academic performance and s o c i o m e t r i c s t a t u s ? ; (3) Do the c o n t r i b u t i o n s made by academic performance, s o c i o m e t r i c s t a t u s and c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of parents' and t e a c h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s to the p r e d i c t i o n of c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e i v e d competence vary as a f u n c t i o n of the domain assessed ?; (4) Which v a r i a b l e or combination of v a r i a b l e s best p r e d i c t c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e i v e d competence a c r o s s achievement domains? 2 0 Hypotheses: Empirical And Theoretical Component Stepwise Hierarchical Regression Analysis Based on the o r i g i n a l work conducted by Harter (1981, 1983, 1985) and Eccles (1983), the following hypotheses were tested: (1) It i s predicted that the s t a t i s t i c a l f i t of the model w i l l vary as a function of the domain being assessed. (2) It is predicted that both s o c i a l i z e r s ' expectations and children's perceptions of these expectations w i l l contribute s i g n i f i c a n t l y to the prediction of perceived competence across achievement domains over and above the variance accounted for by performance factors. In sum, accurate self-appraisals and positive s e l f -esteem are essential for e f f e c t i v e functioning and reducing possible marginalization in the family and school. Thus, the key in understanding how children acquire self-knowledge i s one that involves understanding how s e l f "knowledge gets off the ground, so to speak" (Butterworth, 1982, p.29). In the present study, an indirect examination of the d i a l e c t i c between children's self-knowledge and their s o c i a l i z a t i o n influences taps the degree to which acculturation predicts children's self-views. This i s a necessary step i f we are to more accurately define how children construct a r e l a t i o n between themselves "and s o c i a l objects [e.g., parents, teachers, performance] of knowledge" (Butterworth, 1982, p.3). Apple and King (1978) summarize th i s concern for children by stating that: 21 the n e g o t i a t i o n s of [ s e l f ] meaning i s a c r i t i c a l phase i n the s o c i a l i z a t i o n of the c h i l d . The meanings of o b j e c t s and events are not i n t r i n s i c to them, but are formed through s o c i a l i n t e r a c t i o n , (p.90) T h e r e f o r e , to understand the s o c i a l c o n s t r u c t i o n of s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s i t i s necessary to study them i n r e l a t i o n to t h e i r development i n p a r t i c u l a r c o n t e x t s . As Apple and King (1978) s t a t e : Each concept, r o l e , and o b j e c t i s a s o c i a l c r e a t i o n bound to the s i t u a t i o n i n which i t was produced. The a b s t r a c t i o n of these meanings and the g e n e r a l i z a t i o n s and i n s i g h t s drawn from them may apply to other c o n t e x t s , but the r e s e a r c h e r ' s i n i t i a l d e s c r i p t i o n s , understandings and i n t e r p r e t a t i o n s r e q u i r e that s o c i a l phenomenon be encountered where they are produced, (p. 90) In l i g h t of t h i s evidence, i t i s hoped through t h i s i n v e s t i g a t i o n that a more comprehensive framework i s o f f e r e d r e g a r d i n g how c h i l d r e n ' s self-knowledge i s a c q u i r e d and how i t , i n t u r n , f u n c t i o n s to guide and organize c h i l d r e n ' s p s y c h o s o c i a l development. F i g u r e 1 General P e r c e i v e d Competence Model: P r e d i c t i n g Domain- S p e c i f i c P e r c e i v e d Competence PREDICTOR CRITERION PREDETERMINED ORDER OF ENTRY: LEVEL ONE PERFORMANCE SOCIAL ACADEMIC LEVEL TWO SOCIALIZERS' EXPECTATIONS PARENTS TEACHERS LEVEL THREE CHILDREN'S SELF PERCEPTIONS OF COMPETENCE ACADEMIC SOCIAL BEHAVIORAL—1 ATHLETIC CHILDREN'S PERCEPTIONS OF SOCIALIZERS EXPECTATIONS I TEACHERS 23 CHAPTER TWO METHOD This chapter provides a description of the o r i g i n a l research program the present study extends from and i t s corresponding subject sample. It also describes in d e t a i l the independent and dependent variables u t i l i z e d and the methods and procedures for data c o l l e c t i o n . A brief description of the subsequent data analysis i s also included. Overall Description of the Research Program This study was part of a larger research program at the University of Western Ontario (The Development of Competence in Children) conducted between 1986 and 1987 at three elementary schools in London, Ontario, Canada. Subjects. The subjects for thi s study consisted of 140 fourth and f i f t h grade students, their parents and teachers, who were recruited from three schools in London, Ontario. The children were selected from six classrooms in two rur a l schools and one suburban school serving primarily lower to middle class populations. Consent forms were given to every c h i l d in a l l classrooms and were returned by 78% of the children. The 80 g i r l s and 60 boys who made up the t o t a l sample ranged from 9 to 12 years old with a mean age of 10.2 years. The cohort of fourth and f i f t h grade children came from a limited range of family backgrounds, and data on the parents' socioeconomic status show the majority of these students to be from lower to lower-middle class family 24 dwellings; 84 % of the subjects f e l l between the income range of $ 20, 000 - 40, 000, 8 % f e l l s l i g h t l y above th i s range and 8 % f e l l s l i g h t l y below t h i s range. Considerable d i s p a r i t i e s were apparent in parents' educational l e v e l , ranging from parents who did not complete high-school to a small proportion of parents who had obtained graduate degrees. Consequently, descriptive s t a t i s t i c s of parents' educational lev e l s are not provided. Measures of the Independent Variable 1. Parent and Teacher Expectancies for Children's Future Performance: Twelve items from the questionnaire e n t i t l e d "Self-Perception P r o f i l e for Children" (Harter, 1985; for a l i s t of these items see Appendix A) were used to assess parents' and teachers' expectancies for their children's and/or students' future competence in academic (see Appendix A for items numbered 1, 5, and 9 corresponding to s o c i a l i z e r s ' academic expectations), s o c i a l (see Appendix A for items numbered 1, 6, and 10 corresponding to s o c i a l i z e r s ' s o c i a l expectations), behavioral (see Appendix A for items numbered 4, 8, and 12 corresponding to s o c i a l i z e r s ' expectations for children's behavioral conduct) and a t h l e t i c domains (see Appendix A for items 3, 7, and 11 for items corresponding to s o c i a l i z e r s ' a t h l e t i c expectations). The items were revised and the instructions were altered to emphasize parents' and teachers' expectations for their children's and/ or students' future school achievement, s o c i a l competence, behavioral conduct 25 and a t h l e t i c performance. To obtain converging assessments of parental expectancies, both parents were requested to complete these questionnaires. 2. Assessments of Children's Perceptions of Parent and Teacher Expectations: Children's perceptions of parent and teacher expectancies were measured using 12 items of a revised version of the Self-Perception P r o f i l e for Children (Harter, 1985) assessing children's perceptions of their parents' and teachers' expectations for their future performance in ( i . e . , next year) academic (see Appendix B items numbered 1, 5, and 9), s o c i a l (see Appendix B items numbered 2, 6, and 10), behavioral (see Appendix B for items numbered 4, 8, and 12) and a t h l e t i c (see Appendix B for items numbered 3, 7, and 11) situations (see Appendix B for a l i s t of these items). Performance Variables Multiple performance measures were assessed to determine children's s o c i a l and academic competence. These performance measures included: 3. Sociometric Status: Social competence was assessed using sociometric procedures described by McConnel and Odem (1986). The use of sociometric procedures in determining measures of s o c i a l competence have been documented by McConnel and Odem (1986) and Asher and Hymel (1981). Methodological and empirical j u s t i f i c a t i o n for employing sociometric status as a performance measure i s based on evidence suggesting that popularity ratings are highly 26 correlated with s o c i a l competence assessed using observational methods (for an extensive review on the relationship between sociometric status and s o c i a l competence, see McConnel and Odem (1986) and Asher and Hymel (1981). The peer nomination procedure was used in the present study as a measure of sociometric status. Children were asked to nominate three same sex classmates whom they enjoy being with most at school and then to rate each same sex classmate, using a 5 - point scale, in terms of how much they enjoy being with each person at school: a (1) response indicates "I don't l i k e to" and a (5) response indicates "I l i k e to a l o t " . The number of positive nominations received by each c h i l d ( i . e , l i k i n g scores) was standardized within sex and classroom, as was the number of "1's" received by each c h i l d on the rating scale ( d i s l i k i n g scores). Social preference scores, which served as the f i n a l s o c i a l competence scores were derived by subtracting standardized d i s l i k i n g scores from standardized l i k i n g scores, and restandardizing the composite scores. McConnel and Odem (1986) have shown that the test-retest r e l i a b i l i t y of s o c i a l preference scores derived in this manner i s .80. Since the v a l i d i t y and r e l i a b i l i t y of peer assessment procedures has been reviewed elsewhere (see McConnel & Odem, 1986), i t is not necessary to report extensively on the psychometric properties here. 4. Academic Competence: Past grades were used as a 27 measure of academic competence. They were obtained from c h i l d r e n ' s p r e v i o u s Christmas r e p o r t cards and the students' school r e c o r d s . Grade p o i n t average was measured on a n i n e -p o i n t L i k e r t type s c a l e anchored at the extremes with a grade of "A" being equal to 9 and a "D" grade being equal to 1. An o v e r a l l measure of past performance was c r e a t e d by averaging the student's grade p o i n t s a c r o s s math, s c i e n c e , s o c i a l s t u d i e s , and language a r t s (from r e s u l t s of a p r e l i m i n a r y a n a l y s i s i t was found that these scores were h i g h l y c o r r e l a t e d , r_ > .60). The mean of the four scores was then used as an estimate of academic competence. Analyses were conducted on the 87 c h i l d r e n whose parents returned q u e s t i o n n a i r e s . Measures of the Dependent V a r i a b l e 5. Assessment of P e r c e i v e d Competence: Twenty-four items from the S e l f - P e r c e p t i o n P r o f i l e f o r C h i l d r e n (Harter, 1985) were used to assess c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of t h e i r a c t u a l academic, s o c i a l , b e h a v i o r a l and a t h l e t i c competence (see Appendix C f o r a complete d e s c r i p t i o n of the S e l f P e r c e p t i o n P r o f i l e f o r C h i l d r e n ) . T h i s s c a l e was designed to tap s i x domains r e l a t e d to a c h i l d ' s p e r c e i v e d competence. For the purposes of t h i s study, only those items r e f e r r i n g to c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e i v e d academic, s o c i a l , b e h a v i o r a l , and a t h l e t i c competence were used. The academic domain r e f e r s to c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of t h e i r s c h o l a s t i c a b i l i t y . The s i x items w i t h i n t h i s subscale r e f e r to doing w e l l on schoolwork, f i g u r i n g out 28 answers, remembering material, working quickly, feeling smart, and fe e l i n g good about schoolwork (see Appendix C for items numbered 1,7, 13, 19, 25, and 31 corresponding to self-perceived academic competence). The s o c i a l acceptance subscale taps the degree to which children f e e l accepted or rejected by their peers ( i . e . , popularity). These six items refer to the a b i l i t y to make friends, having a l o t of friends, doing things with a l o t of kids, perceiving that most kids l i k e them, wishing they had more friends, and perceiving whether or not they f e e l popular (see Appendix C for items numbered 2, 8, 14, 20, 26, and 32 corresponding to children's self-perceived s o c i a l competence). The behavioral conduct scale taps the degree to which children f e e l confident regarding the ways they behave. These items tap the degree to which children f e e l they behave well, do the right things, do things they know they shouldn't do, act the way they are supposed to, and act in ways to avoid getting in trouble (see Appendix C for items numbered 5, 11, 17, 23, 29, and 35 corresponding to children's self-perceived behavioral conduct). The a t h l e t i c subscale assesses the degree to which children f e e l competent about their a t h l e t i c a b i l i t i e s . These six items refer to kids wanting to play outdoors, doing well at sports, wishing they could be better at sports, doing well at any new sports a c t i v i t y , being better than other kids their age at sports, watching instead of 29 playing sports, and doing well at outdoor games (see Appendix C for items numbered 3, 9, 15, 21, 27 & 33 corresponding to children's self-perceived a t h l e t i c competence). Psychometric Properties Of The Self-Perception P r o f i l e For Children Harter (1985) has shown, based on normative data col l e c t e d for t h i r d through eighth grade children in Colorado, that the average internal consistency r e l i a b i l i t y i s .82, .80, .74 , and .76 for the academic, s o c i a l , behavioral conduct and a t h l e t i c subscales respectively. Test-retest r e l i a b i l i t y data c o l l e c t e d in an e a r l i e r sample (see Harter, 1982) of t h i r d through eighth grade pupils administered the o r i g i n a l unrevised version of the Perceived Competence Scale for Children i s available for two of the four subscales u t i l i z e d in the present study. From a sample of 208 Colorado children retested after 3 months, and 810 students from a New York sample retested after nine months, test-retest r e l i a b i l i t i e s were .78 and .75 for the academic and s o c i a l subscales respectively. R e l i a b i l i t y c o e f f i c i e n t s for the remaining scales u t i l i z e d , in addition to the r e l i a b i l i t y c o e f f i c i e n t s of the subscales of the SPPC used for the present sample, are reported in Chapter 3. Format Structure of Questionnaires A "structured alternative format" was designed by Harter (1982) and was u t i l i z e d in the questionnaires for the present study. Each of the items presents two descriptions 30 of children - one of capable children and one r e l a t i v e l y incapable c h i l d r e n . Each description has two possible response choices: " r e a l l y true for me" and "sort of true for me". The respondent's task i s to choose the best answer for each question (an example i s presented in Appendix C). This structured alternative format i s intended to decrease the amount of s o c i a l l y desirable responses of subjects (Harter, 1982). Scoring Each item was scored from 1 to 4, where a.score of 1 indicated, for example, low parent and teacher expectations for their children, low perceived competence, or low perceptions of others' expectations. A score of 4 indicated, for example, high teacher and parent expectations, high self-perceived competence, or a high perception of others' expectations. Scores on items within a domain were summed and then averaged to produce summary scores on the following variables: teachers' and parents' expectations for children's future success in academic, s o c i a l , behavioral and a t h l e t i c contexts, children's perceptions of teachers' and parents' expectations for them in the academic, s o c i a l , behavioral, and a t h l e t i c domains, and children's self-perceived academic, s o c i a l , behavioral and a t h l e t i c competence. Procedure Children's Measures. The f u l l battery of questionnaires, including the sociometric assessment, was 31 a d m i n i s t e r e d to c h i l d r e n i n one 45-minute s e s s i o n . The q u e s t i o n n a i r e s were administered i n groups ranging from 15-26 c h i l d r e n . For each q u e s t i o n n a i r e a d m i n i s t e r e d , the i n s t r u c t i o n s and i n d i v i d u a l items were read aloud to c h i l d r e n and they were given adequate time to respond ( f o r d e t a i l s of i n s t r u c t i o n s see Appendix D). Report c a r d grades fo r a l l p a r t i c i p a t i n g c h i l d r e n were c o l l e c t e d from the c h i l d r e n ' s f i l e s with p a r e n t a l p e r m i s s i o n . Teacher and Parent Measures. Teachers f i l l e d out t h e i r q u e s t i o n n a i r e s at the same time that the c h i l d r e n ' s measures were ad m i n i s t e r e d . Parent q u e s t i o n n a i r e s were mailed out a few days a f t e r the d i s t r i b u t i o n of the measures a d m i n i s t e r e d to c h i l d r e n and t e a c h e r s . A separate q u e s t i o n n a i r e was provided f o r each parent, and they were requested to f i l l them out s e p a r a t e l y . Data Analyses The data analyses proceeded i n four phases. D e s c r i p t i v e and psychometric analyses comprised phase one. D e s c r i p t i v e analyses were performed on the academic, s o c i a l , a t h l e t i c and b e h a v i o r a l conduct subscales f o r each q u e s t i o n n a i r e u t i l i z e d . To provide r e l i a b i l i t y estimates fo r the q u e s t i o n n a i r e s u t i l i z e d , Hoyt's estimate of i n t e r n a l c o n s i s t e n c y was used as the index of r e l i a b i l i t y . In phase two, four c o r r e l a t i o n a l m a t r i c e s ( i . e . , one fo r the academic, s o c i a l , b e h a v i o r a l and a t h l e t i c domains r e s p e c t i v e l y ) were produced to examine the r e l a t i o n s h i p s between the p r e d i c t o r v a r i a b l e s and the c r i t e r i o n v a r i a b l e s , as w e l l the i n t e r r e l a t i o n s h i p s between the p r e d i c t o r v a r i a b l e s . In phase t h r e e , two s e t s of four e x p l o r a t o r y r e g r e s s i o n models were t e s t e d i n order to c l a r i f y the extent to which v a r i a b i l i t y i n the p r e d i c t o r v a r i a b l e s c o u l d be accounted f o r by v a r i a b i l i t y i n c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e i v e d competence acr o s s academic, s o c i a l , b e h a v i o r a l conduct and a t h l e t i c domains. Phase f o u r , that of f o r c e d stepwise h i e r a r c h i c a l r e g r e s s i o n a n a l y s e s , i n t e g r a t e d s t a t i s t i c a l i n f o r m a t i o n from p r e v i o u s a n a l y s e s ( i . e . , phase 1 & 2 ) and past r e s e a r c h to t e s t the p r e d i c t i v e v a l i d i t y of the uniform p e r c e i v e d competence model developed. F o l l o w i n g t h i s development, a f i n a l set of four f o r c e d stepwise h i e r a r c h i c a l r e g r e s s i o n analyses were t e s t e d across, academic, s o c i a l , b e h a v i o r a l conduct, and a t h l e t i c domains. A more d e t a i l e d d e s c r i p t i o n and r e c a p i t u l a t i o n of these analyses are p r o v i d e d i n Chapter 33 CHAPTER THREE RESULTS The r e s u l t s addressed the p r e d i c t i o n of s e l f - p e r c e i v e d competence i n f o u r t h and f i f t h grade c h i l d r e n a c r o s s academic, s o c i a l , a t h l e t i c and b e h a v i o r a l competence domains, using parents' and teachers' e x p e c t a t i o n s , c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of parents' and teachers' e x p e c t a t i o n s , academic performance and s o c i o m e t r i c s t a t u s as p r e d i c t o r v a r i a b l e s . The primary aim of t h i s a n a l y s i s was to e x p l i c a t e the r o l e these v a r i a b l e s p l a y i n i n f l u e n c i n g c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s of competence, p a r t i c u l a r l y the extent to which s o c i a l i z e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s p r e d i c t c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s of competence a c r o s s achievement domains. A secondary aim was to t e s t the i n v e s t i g a t o r ' s uniform p e r c e i v e d competence model acr o s s achievement domains. Restatement of General Research Questions The subsequent analyses addressed the f o l l o w i n g general r e s e a r c h q u e s t i o n s : (1) Do the c o n t r i b u t i o n s made by parents and teachers' e x p e c t a t i o n s to the p r e d i c t i o n of c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e i v e d competence vary as f u n c t i o n of the achievement domain assessed?; (2) Do parents' and teachers' e x p e c t a t i o n s c o n t r i b u t e s i g n i f i c a n t l y to the p r e d i c t i o n of s e l f - p e r c e i v e d competence over and above the c o n t r i b u t i o n s made by academic performance and s o c i o m e t r i c s t a t u s ? ; 34 (3) Do the c o n t r i b u t i o n s made by academic performance, s o c i o m e t r i c s t a t u s and c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of parents' and t e a c h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s to the p r e d i c t i o n of c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e i v e d competence vary as a f u n c t i o n of the domain assessed?; (4) Which v a r i a b l e or combination of v a r i a b l e s best p r e d i c t c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e i v e d competence a c r o s s achievement domains? To address these q u e s t i o n s and to provide necessary d e s c r i p t i v e and psychometric i n f o r m a t i o n , the data analyses proceeded i n four phases: (1) d e s c r i p t i v e and psychometric a n a l y s e s ; (2) c o r r e l a t i o n a l a n a l y s e s ; (3) e x p l o r a t o r y r e g r e s s i o n a n a l y s e s ; and (4) f o r c e d stepwise h i e r a r c h i c a l r e g r e s s i o n a n a l y s e s . Part 1: D e s c r i p t i v e and Psychometric Analyses For the present study, only the academic, s o c i a l , a t h l e t i c and b e h a v i o r a l conduct subscales from each q u e s t i o n n a i r e were u t i l i z e d . Aggregate scores f o r each subscale were d e r i v e d by o b t a i n i n g s u b j e c t s ' mean scores a c r o s s the r e l e v a n t items. Mean scores across a l l subscales and t h e i r standard d e v i a t i o n s are presented i n Tables 1,2, 3 and 4. The means and standard d e v i a t i o n s f o r academic performance and s o c i o m e t r i c s t a t u s can be seen i n Table 5. Gender and Grade D i f f e r e n c e s i n P e r c e i v e d Competence. The subscale means and standard d e v i a t i o n s f o r the dependent v a r i a b l e s , presented by grade and gender, can be seen i n Tables 1,2, 3 and 4. The r e s u l t s r e v e a l e d that the s u b j e c t s ' means on a l l four s u b s cales were between 2.7 and Table 1 Means and Standard D e v i a t i o n s of the Independent and Dependent Measures f o r the Academic Domain V a r i a b l e Mean S.D. 1 Cppacad sex M 60 3.2 .61 1 F 80 3.2 .645 grade • 4 71 3.3 .593 5 69 3.1 .663 2 Cptacad sex M 60 3.1 .636 F 80 3.1 .647 grade 4 71 3.2 .633 5 69 3.1 .648 3 Tex 6 3.1 .806 4 Mex 70 3.3 .600 5 Fex 70 3.3 .558 6 Spacad sex M 60 3.1 .700 F 80 2.9 .667 grade 4 71 3.0 .635 5 69 2.9 .735 Note Value range f o r a l l t a b l e d v a r i a b l e s i s 1-4 1 Cppacad = c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of parents' academic e x p e c t a t i o n s 2 Cptacad = c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of te a c h e r s ' academic e x p e c t a t i o n s 3 Tex = te a c h e r s ' academic e x p e c t a t i o n s 4 Mex = mothers' academic e x p e c t a t i o n s 5 Fex = f a t h e r s ' academic e x p e c t a t i o n s 6 Spacad= c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e i v e d academic competence. Table 2 Means and Standard D e v i a t i o n s of the Independent and Dependent Measures f o r the S o c i a l Domain V a r i a b l e N_ Mean S.D. 1 Cppsoc sex M 60 3.4 .590 F 80 3.2 .694 grade 4 71 3.3 .577 5 69 3.3 .730 2 Cptsoc sex M 60 3.2 .669 F 80 3.2 .647 grade 4 71 3.2 .633 5 69 3.1 .648 3 Tex 6 3.0 .809 4 Mex 70 3.3 .527 5 Fex 70 3.3 .532 6 S p s o c i a l sex M 69 3.0 .743 F 80 2.9 .832 grade 4 71 2.9 .709 5 69 3.0 .879 Note Value range f o r a l l t a b l e d v a r i a b l e s i s 1-4 1 Cppsoc = c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of parents' s o c i a l e x p e c t a t i o n s 2 Cptsoc = c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of teachers' s o c i a l e x p e c t a t i o n s 3 Tex = t e a c h e r s ' s o c i a l e x p e c t a t i o n s 4 Mex = mothers' s o c i a l e x p e c t a t i o n s 5 Fex = f a t h e r s ' s o c i a l e x p e c t a t i o n s 6 S p s o c i a l = c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e i v e d s o c i a l competence 38 Table 3 Means and Standard D e v i a t i o n s of the Independent and Dependent Measures f o r the B e h a v i o r a l Conduct Domain V a r i a b l e N_ Mean S.D. 1 Cppbehav sex M 60 3.2 .638 F 80 3.5 .564 grade 4 71 3.4 .595 5 69 3.3 .630 2 Cptbehav sex M 60 3.1 .659 F 80 3.4 .613 grade 4 71 3.3 .633 5 69 3.2 .654 3 Tex 6 3.3 .831 4 Mex 70 3.4 .557 5 Fex 70 3.4 .647 6 Spbehav sex M 60 2.8 .603 F 80 3.0 .647 grade 4 71 2.9 .655 5 69 2.9 .611 Note Value range f o r a l l t a b l e d v a r i a b l e s i s 1-4 1 Cppbehav = c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of parents' b e h a v i o r a l e x p e c t a t i o n s 2 Cptbehav = c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of te a c h e r s ' b e h a v i o r a l e x p e c t a t i o n s 3 Tex = t e a c h e r s ' b e h a v i o r a l e x p e c t a t i o n s 4 Mex = mothers' b e h a v i o r a l e x p e c t a t i o n s 5 Fex = f a t h e r s ' b e h a v i o r a l e x p e c t a t i o n s 6 Spbehav = c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s of b e h a v i o r a l competence. 39 Table 4 Means and Standard D e v i a t i o n s of the Independent and Dependent Measures f o r the A t h l e t i c Domain V a r i a b l e N_ Mean S.D. 1 Cppathl sex M 60 3.3 .633 F 80 3.0 .668 grade 4 71 3.2 .596 5 69 3.1 .743 2 C p t a t h l sex M 60 3.2 .641 F 80 2.9 .738 grade 4 71 3.1 .585 5 69 2.9 .810 4 Tex 6 2.9 .710 5 Mex 70 2.8 .574 6 Fex 70 3.0 .606 7 S p a t h l sex M 60 3.1 .624 F 80 2.7 .741 grade 4 71 2.8 .692 5 69 2.9 .766 Note Value range f o r a l l t a b l e d v a r i a b l e s i s 1-4 1 Cppathl = c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of parents' a t h l e t i c e x p e c t a t i o n s 2 C p t a t h l = c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of t e a c h e r s ' a t h l e t i c e x p e c t a t i o n s 3 Tex = te a c h e r s ' a t h l e t i c e x p e c t a t i o n s 4 Mex = mothers' a t h l e t i c e x p e c t a t i o n s 5 Fex = f a t h e r ' s a t h l e t i c e x p e c t a t i o n s 6 S p a t h l = c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s of a t h l e t i c competence. 4 0 Table 5 Means and Standard D e v i a t i o n s f o r the Performance V a r i a b l e s : Academic Performance and So c i o m e t r i c Status V a r i a b l e N_ Mean S.D. 1 Academic Performance sex M 59 6.8 1 .826 F 80 7.1 1 .897 grade 4 71 7.6 1 .200 5 .69 6.4 2. 100 Soc i o m e t r i c Status sex M 59 .001 .963 F 80 .052 .938 grade 4 71 .061 .922 5 68 .007 .975 Note Value range f o r Academic Performance i s 1-9 Value range f o r Soc i o m e t r i c Status i s - .001 - + .099. 41 Gender d i f f e r e n c e s . M u l t i v a r i a t e s t a t i s t i c s documenting the presence of gender d i f f e r e n c e s a c r o s s c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e i v e d academic, s o c i a l , b e h a v i o r a l and a t h l e t i c competence are presented i n Table 6. C o n s i s t e n t with p r e v i o u s f i n d i n g s (Harter, 1982), females r a t e themselves lower than t h e i r male c o u n t e r p a r t s on three of the four s u b s c a l e s : academic, s o c i a l and a t h l e t i c . As can be seen in Table 5, s e v e r a l of the d e s c r i p t i v e f i n d i n g s are noteworthy: a) boys see themselves as more ac a d e m i c a l l y competent than g i r l s (F = (1,136) =4.01, p < .05), d e s p i t e boys a c t u a l lower a c t u a l academic competence (boys: x_ = 6.8, g i r l s : x_ = 7.1). Gender d i f f e r e n c e s a l s o favour males i n the s o c i a l domain (boys: x_= 3.05; g i r l s : x_ = 2.93). While t h i s d i f f e r e n c e i s not s i g n i f i c a n t , of i n t e r e s t i s that g i r l s were r a t e d as more s o c i a l l y competent by t h e i r peers than boys (boys: x_ = .001, g i r l s : x_= .052). Boys a l s o p e r c e i v e d themselves as s i g n i f i c a n t l y more competent i n the a t h l e t i c domain (F = (1,136) =15.56, p < .0001) than g i r l s . G i r l s , however, p e r c e i v e d themselves to be more b e h a v i o r a l l y competent than t h e i r male c o u n t e r p a r t s . 42 Table 6 M u l t i v a r i a t e A n a l y s i s of Variance Test For Gender D i f f e r e n c e s f o r S e l f - P e r c e i v e d Academic, S o c i a l , B e h a v i o r a l and A t h l e t i c Competence V a r i a t e S t a t i s t i c F DF P 1 Spacad SS 1.86 4.01 1 , 136 .05 2 S p s o c i a l SS .57 .90 1 , 1 36 .34 3 Spbehav SS .94 2.41 1 , 1 36 .12 4 Sp a t h l SS 7.38 15.56 1 ,1 36 .0001 Note 1 Spacad = s e l f - p e r c e i v e d academic competence 2 S p s o c i a l = s e l f - p e r c e i v e d s o c i a l competence 3 Spbehav = s e l f - p e r c e i v e d b e h a v i o r a l conduct 4 Sp a t h l = s e l f - p e r c e i v e d a t h l e t i c competence. 43 Grade d i f f e r e n c e s . No s i g n i f i c a n t grade d i f f e r e n c e s emerged f o r s e l f - p e r c e i v e d competence across the four achievement domains. Psychometric P r o p e r t i e s f o r the Independent V a r i a b l e s . Subscale r e l i a b i l i t y a n a l y s e s were c a l c u l a t e d f o r the p r e d i c t o r v a r i a b l e s employed i n t h i s study. In the absence of a dichotomous measure, the average i n t e r - i t e m c o r r e l a t i o n s were computed f o r each academic, s o c i a l , a t h l e t i c , and b e h a v i o r a l conduct s u b s c a l e . Hoyt's estimate of r e l i a b i l i t y was used an index of i n t e r n a l c o n s i s t e n c y . Table 7 o u t l i n e s the s c a l e p r o p e r t i e s f o r the independent measures u t i l i z e d i n the present study. The subscale measures are c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of teachers' e x p e c t a t i o n s , c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of parents' e x p e c t a t i o n s , teachers' e x p e c t a t i o n s , mothers' e x p e c t a t i o n s and f a t h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s . As r e v e a l e d by the r e l i a b i l i t y c o e f f i c i e n t s , i n t e r n a l c o n s i s t e n c i e s f o r a l l independent measures were s a t i s f a c t o r y (m_= .79). Psychometric P r o p e r t i e s f o r the Dependent V a r i a b l e : The S e l f - P e r c e p t i o n P r o f i l e f o r C h i l d r e n . As can be seen i n Table 7, the r e l i a b i l i t y c o e f f i c i e n t s of the four subscales taken from the S e l f - P e r c e p t i o n P r o f i l e f o r C h i l d r e n (Harter, 1985) are q u i t e s a t i s f a c t o r y . The v a l u e s f o r the academic, s o c i a l , b e h a v i o r a l conduct, and a t h l e t i c domains are r e s p e c t i v e l y , .78, .83, .81, and .76. Corresponding values in H a r t e r ' s (1985) American sample were .80, .80, .84, .75., f o r the academic, s o c i a l , a t h l e t i c , and b e h a v i o r a l conduct 44 s u b s c a l e s , r e s p e c t i v e l y . 45 Table 7 I n t e r - i t e m R e l i a b i l i t y C o e f f i c i e n t s f o r the Independent and Dependent Measures Doma i n Academic S o c i a l A t h l e t i c B e h a v i o r a l Conduct 1 Cpp .75 .80 .77 .75 2 Cpt .73 .80 .73 .73 3 Tex .93 .95 .98 .89 4 Mex .79 .79 .66 .84 5 Fex .76 .81 .76 .82 6 Spc .73 .83 .81 .76 Note 1 2 3 4 5 6 Cpp Cpt Tex Mex Fex Spc c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of tea c h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s mothers' e x p e c t a t i o n s f a t h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s s e l f - p e r c e i v e d competence parents' e x p e c t a t i o n s t e a c h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s 46 Part 2: Main Analyses In conducting the main a n a l y s e s , r e s u l t s bearing on the c o r r e l a t i o n a l a n a l y ses were addressed before a t t e n d i n g to the s u b s t a n t i v e r e s e a r c h q u e s t i o n s and hypotheses. T h i s enabled a p r e l i m i n a r y i n s p e c t i o n of the r e l a t i o n s between the p r e d i c t o r v a r i a b l e s , i n a d d i t i o n to the r e l a t i o n s between the p r e d i c t o r and c r i t e r i o n v a r i a b l e s . T h i s step a l s o p r o v i d e d a foundation f o r a s s e s s i n g the s u i t a b i l i t y of the data f o r subsequent a n a l y s e s . P r o b a b i l i t y L e v e l s Before proceeding with the main analyses and i n keeping with the s t a t i s t i c a l design of the present study, i t was decided that committing a Type II e r r o r would have more s e r i o u s consequences than committing a Type I e r r o r . Since s e l e c t i n g a very small p l e v e l would decrease the chances of a Type II e r r o r , a p r o b a b i l i t y l e v e l of .05 was p r e s e l e c t e d as the t e s t of s i g n i f i c a n c e f o r the c o r r e l a t i o n c o e f f i c i e n t s and F v a l u e s . However, whether or not the c o r r e l a t i o n c o e f f i c i e n t s and F values achieved s i g n i f i c a n c e at the p <.05 l e v e l or the p <. 001 l e v e l s i s presented i n a l l r e l e v a n t T a b l e s . C o r r e l a t i o n a l Analyses C o r r e l a t i o n a l analyses were conducted to assess the r e l a t i o n s between the p r e d i c t o r v a r i a b l e s i d e n t i f i e d and the four c r i t e r i o n measures, i n a d d i t i o n to the i n t e r r e l a t i o n s h i p s among the p r e d i c t o r v a r i a b l e s . The c o r r e l a t i o n m a t r i c e s between c h i l d , teacher, and p a r e n t a l 4 7 v a r i a b l e s are presented i n Tables 8, 9, 10, and 11 f o r the academic, s o c i a l , b e h a v i o r a l conduct and a t h l e t i c s u b s c a l e s . Academic Domain. A c o n s i s t e n t p a t t e r n of mainly s i g n i f i c a n t r e l a t i o n s h i p s were found between the independent v a r i a b l e s i d e n t i f i e d and c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e i v e d academic competence (see Table 8 ) . I n s p e c t i o n of the c o r r e l a t i o n s r e v e a l e d t h a t : (a) c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of teachers' academic e x p e c t a t i o n s (r = .81, p <.05) and c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of parents' academic e x p e c t a t i o n s (r = .65, p <.05) were most s t r o n g l y r e l a t e d to c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f -p e r c e p t i o n s of academic competence; (b) mothers' (r = .38, p < .05) and f a t h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s (r = .20, p < .05) were moderately r e l a t e d to c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e i v e d academic competence; (c) c h i l d r e n ' s s o c i o m e t r i c s t a t u s was not s i g n i f i c a n t l y r e l a t e d to c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e i v e d academic competence; (d) academic performance was s i g n i f i c a n t l y r e l a t e d to c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s of academic competence (r = .51, p < .05). R e l a t i o n s h i p s Among P r e d i c t o r V a r i a b l e s : Academic Domain. C o r r e l a t i o n a l analyses r e v e a l e d a strong p o s i t i v e r e l a t i o n between c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of parents' e x p e c t a t i o n s and c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of teachers' e x p e c t a t i o n s . A strong p o s i t i v e c o r r e l a t i o n was a l s o found between academic performance and a c t u a l teacher e x p e c t a t i o n s . However, with the e x c e p t i o n of these two f i n d i n g s , a p a t t e r n of g e n e r a l l y s i g n i f i c a n t but moderate c o r r e l a t i o n s were observed between the p r e d i c t o r v a r i a b l e s 48 (see Table 8). The p a t t e r n of c o r r e l a t i o n s suggested a s u b s t a n t i a l degree of independence among the p r e d i c t o r v a r i a b l e s . S e l f - P e r c e i v e d S o c i a l Competence. The i n t e r c o r r e l a t i o n s i n d i c a t e d g e n e r a l l y low to moderate r e l a t i o n s between the independent v a r i a b l e s and s e l f -p e r c e i v e d s o c i a l competence (see Table 9 ) . In the s o c i a l domain, a) c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of ot h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s ( t e a c h e r s ' and parents' e x p e c t a t i o n s ) were s t r o n g l y r e l a t e d to c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s of competence, with c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of teachers' s o c i a l e x p e c t a t i o n s bearing the st r o n g e s t r e l a t i o n s h i p to c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f -p e r c e i v e d s o c i a l competence (r = .69, p < .05); (b) mothers' e x p e c t a t i o n s were s i g n i f i c a n t l y but only moderately r e l a t e d to c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e i v e d s o c i a l competence (r = .27, p < .05) ; (c) f a t h e r s ' s o c i a l e x p e c t a t i o n s were s i g n i f i c a n t l y but only moderately r e l a t e d to c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e i v e d s o c i a l competence (r = .38, p < .05); (d) teachers' e x p e c t a t i o n s were p o s i t i v e l y r e l a t e d to c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f -p e r c e i v e d competence (r = .41, p < .05); and (e) c h i l d r e n ' s s o c i o m e t r i c s t a t u s was p o s i t i v e l y r e l a t e d to c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e i v e d s o c i a l competence (r = .40, p < .05). R e l a t i o n s h i p s Among P r e d i c t o r V a r i a b l e s : S o c i a l Domain. Examination of the c o r r e l a t i o n a l matrix f o r the s o c i a l domain i n d i c a t e d g e n e r a l l y low to moderate r e l a t i o n s between the p r e d i c t o r v a r i a b l e s . C o n s i s t e n t with the academic domain, the magnitude of the c o r r e l a t i o n c o e f f i c i e n t s 49 r e f l e c t a s a t i s f a c t o r y degree of independence among the p r e d i c t o r v a r i a b l e s . S e l f - P e r c e i v e d B e h a v i o r a l Competence. The r e s u l t s of the c o r r e l a t i o n a l analyses f o r the b e h a v i o r a l conduct domain are presented i n Table 10. These r e s u l t s are comparable to those found i n the pre v i o u s achievement domains examined. In the b e h a v i o r a l conduct domain, the f o l l o w i n g r e s u l t s were noted: a) c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of parents' e x p e c t a t i o n s were s i g n i f i c a n t l y r e l a t e d to c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s of b e h a v i o r a l conduct (r = .55, p < .05); b) c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of teachers' b e h a v i o r a l e x p e c t a t i o n s were s i g n i f i c a n t l y r e l a t e d to c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s of s o c i a l competence (r = .56, p < .05); c) teachers' b e h a v i o r a l e x p e c t a t i o n s were s i g n i f i c a n t l y c o r r e l a t e d with c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e i v e d b e h a v i o r a l competence (r = .24, p < .05); (d) f a t h e r s ' b e h a v i o r a l e x p e c t a t i o n s were s i g n i f i c a n t l y r e l a t e d to c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e i v e d b e h a v i o r a l competence (r = .30, p < .05); (e) mothers' b e h a v i o r a l e x p e c t a t i o n s were s i g n i f i c a n t l y but only moderately r e l a t e d to c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e i v e d b e h a v i o r a l competence (r = .30, p < .05); ( f ) c h i l d r e n ' s s o c i o m e t r i c s t a t u s d i d not c o r r e l a t e s i g n i f i c a n t l y with c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f -p e r c e p t i o n s of b e h a v i o r a l competence; and (g) academic performance was s i g n i f i c a n t l y r e l a t e d to c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f -p e r c e i v e d b e h a v i o r a l competence (r =30, p < .05). R e l a t i o n s h i p s Among P r e d i c t o r V a r i a b l e s : B e h a v i o r a l Conduct Domain.. C o n s i s t e n t with p r e v i o u s domains examined, 50 a strong p o s i t i v e c o r r e l a t i o n was found between c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of teachers' b e h a v i o r a l e x p e c t a t i o n s and c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of parents' b e h a v i o r a l e x p e c t a t i o n s . The remaining i n t e r c o r r e l a t i o n s were s i g n i f i c a n t but only moderate i n magnitude, again suggesting a c c e p t a b l e degrees of independence between the p r e d i c t o r v a r i a b l e s . S e l f - P e r c e i v e d A t h l e t i c Competence. The matrix of c o r r e l a t i o n s between the independent and c r i t e r i o n v a r i a b l e s , and the r e l a t i o n s among the p r e d i c t o r v a r i a b l e s are presented i n Table 11 f o r the a t h l e t i c domain. An examination of the c o r r e l a t i o n s r e v e a l e d t h a t : (a) as demonstrated i n the academic, s o c i a l and b e h a v i o r a l conduct domains, c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of parents' e x p e c t a t i o n s were s i g n i f i c a n t l y r e l a t e d to c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s of a t h l e t i c competence (r =.68, p < .05); (b) c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of teachers' e x p e c t a t i o n s were s i g n i f i c a n t l y r e l a t e d to s e l f - p e r c e i v e d a t h l e t i c competence (r = .71, p < .05); (c) mothers' a t h l e t i c e x p e c t a t i o n s were moderately r e l a t e d to c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e i v e d a t h l e t i c competence (r = .35, p < .05); (d) f a t h e r s ' a c t u a l a t h l e t i c e x p e c t a t i o n s were r e l a t e d to c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e i v e d a t h l e t i c competence (r = .28, p < .05); (e) t e a c h e r s ' a t h l e t i c e x p e c t a t i o n s were r e l a t e d to c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e i v e d a t h l e t i c competence (r = .39, p < .05); ( f ) academic performance was not s i g n i f i c a n t l y r e l a t e d to c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e i v e d a t h l e t i c competence; (g) c h i l d r e n ' s 51 s o c i o m e t r i c s t a t u s was s i g n i f i c a n t l y r e l a t e d to c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s of a t h l e t i c competence (r = .21, p < .05) R e l a t i o n s h i p s Between the P r e d i c t o r V a r i a b l e s : A t h l e t i c Domain. The i n t e r c o r r e l a t i o n s between the p r e d i c t o r v a r i a b l e s are presented i n Table 11. C l e a r l y , the p a t t e r n of r e l a t i o n s between the p r e d i c t o r v a r i a b l e s are congruent with the c o r r e l a t i o n a l a n a l yses of p r e v i o u s domains. 52 Table 8 C o r r e l a t i o n M a t r i x - Academic Domain 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 Spacad 1 2 Sms .16 1 3 Cppacad .65** .18 1 4 Texacad .55** .23* .34* 1 5 Mexacad .38** .01 .45** .41** 1 6 Fexacad .20 .10 .36** .34* .39** 1 7 Cptacad .81** .15 .72** .44** .45** .32* 1 8 Acadperf .51** .10 .37** .70** .44** .39** .45** 1 Note 1 Spacad = s e l f - p e r c e i v e d academic competence 2 Sms = s o c i o m e t r i c s t a t u s 3 Cppacad = c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of parents' academic e x p e c t a t i o n s 4 Texacad = te a c h e r s ' academic e x p e c t a t i o n s 5 Mexacad = mothers' academic e x p e c t a t i o n s 6 Fexacad = f a t h e r s ' academic e x p e c t a t i o n s 7 Cptacad = c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of teachers' academic e x p e c t a t i o n s 8 Acadperf = academic performance N_= 87 *p_<.05 **g_ <. 001 . 53 Table 9 C o r r e l a t i o n Matrix - S o c i a l Domain 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 S p s o c i a l 1 2 Cppsoc .67** 1 3 Sms .40** .36** 1 4 Texsoc .41** .37** . 38** 1 5 Mexsoc .27* .24* .14 .17 1 6 Fexsoc .38** .42** .26* .30* .49** 1 7 Cptsoc .69** .61** .30* .43** .23* .30* 1 8 Acadperf .17 .20 .09 .33* --.04 .05 .11 1 Note 1 S p s o c i a l = s e l f - p e r c e i v e d s o c i a l competence 2 Cppsoc = c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of parents' e x p e c t a t i o n s 3 Sms = s o c i o m e t r i c s t a t u s 4 Texsoc = teachers' s o c i a l e x p e c t a t i o n s 5 Mexsoc = mothers' s o c i a l e x p e c t a t i o n s 6 Fexsoc = f a t h e r s ' s o c i a l e x p e c t a t i o n s 7 Cptsoc = c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of teachers' s o c i a l e x p e c t a t i o n s 8 Acadperf = academic performance N_= 87 *p_<.05 **p_ <. 001 . 54 Table 10 C o r r e l a t i o n Matrix - B e h a v i o r a l Conduct 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 Spbehav 1 2 Cppbehav .55** 1 3 Sms .09 .30* 1 4 Texbehav .24* .21* .30* 1 5 Mexbehav .30* .31* .22 .47** 1 6 Fexbehav .30* .34* .29* .47** .52** 7 Cptbehav .56** .70** .20* .38** .32* .32* 1 8 Acadperf .30* .22 .10 .36** .11 .19 .41** 1 Note 1 Spbehav = s e l f - p e r c e i v e d b e h a v i o r a l conduct 2 Cppbehav = c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of b e h a v i o r a l conduct 3 Sms = s o c i o m e t r i c s t a t u s 4 Texbehav = te a c h e r s ' b e h a v i o r a l e x p e c t a t i o n s 5 Mexbehav = mothers' b e h a v i o r a l e x p e c t a t i o n s 6 Fexbehav = f a t h e r s ' b e h a v i o r a l e x p e c t a t i o n s 7 Cptbehav = c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of teachers b e h a v i o r a l e x p e c t a t i o n s 8 Acadperf = academic performance N_= 87 *p_< .05 **p_< .001. Table 11 C o r r e l a t i o n M a t r i x - A t h l e t i c Domain 1 . 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 Spa t h l 1 2 Sms .21* 1 3 Cppathl .68** .18 1 4 T e x a t h l .39** .25* .26* 1 5 Mexathl .35** .02 .40** . 1 5 1 6 F e x a t h l .28* .04 .25* .08 .56** 1 7 C p t a t h l .71 ** .12 .75** .32* .39** .21 * 1 8 Acadperf .09 .09 .05 .11 --.28 --.10 .07 8 Note 1 Sp a t h l = s e l f - p e r c e i v e d a t h l e t i c competence 2 Sms = s o c i o m e t r i c s t a t u s 3 C p a t h l = c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of parents' a t h l e t e x p e c t a t i o n s 4 T e x a t h l = te a c h e r s ' a t h l e t i c e x p e c t a t i o n s 5 Mexathl = mothers' a t h l e t i c e x p e c t a t i o n s 6 F e x a t h l = f a t h e r s a t h l e t i c e x p e c t a t i o n s 7 C p t a t h l = c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of teachers' a t h l e t i c e x p e c t a t i o n s 8 Acadperf = academic performance N_= 87 *p_< .05 **p_< .001. 56 M u l t i v a r i a t e A n a l y s i s of V a r i a n c e ; P r e l i m i n a r y Screening f o r Gender and Grade L e v e l E f f e c t s Before proceeding with the r e g r e s s i o n a n a l y s e s , a m u l t i v a r i a t e a n a l y s i s of v a r i a n c e was conducted to screen the data f o r gender and grade l e v e l e f f e c t s . Academic performance, s o c i o m e t r i c s t a t u s , t e a c h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s , parents' e x p e c t a t i o n s , c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of teachers' e x p e c t a t i o n s and c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of parents' e x p e c t a t i o n s were entered as dependent v a r i a b l e s i n one 2 (grade) x 2 (gender) MANOVA f o r the academic, s o c i a l , a t h l e t i c , and b e h a v i o r a l conduct domains, r e s p e c t i v e l y . No s i g n i f i c a n t grade e f f e c t s emerged. With regard to gender, however, m u l t i v a r i a t e a n a l y s i s produced main e f f e c t s f o r sex on teachers' e x p e c t a t i o n s , f a t h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s , mothers' e x p e c t a t i o n s and c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of teachers' and parents' e x p e c t a t i o n s i n b e h a v i o r a l conduct domain (see Table 1 2 ) . No other domain s p e c i f i c gender e f f e c t s were found. Consequently, when conducting the h i e r a r c h i c a l r e g r e s s i o n a n a lyses f o r the b e h a v i o r a l conduct domain i n phase three, sex was i n c l u d e d in the equation as a c o n t r o l var i a b l e . 57 Table 12 M u l t i v a r i a t e A n a l y s i s of Variance Test For the B e h a v i o r a l Conduct Domain: Gender E f f e c t s V a r i a t e S t a t i s t i c F DF P 1 Texbehav SS 1 1 .05 18.91 1 ,83 .0001 2 Fexbehav SS 1 .05 3.84 1 ,83 .05 3 Mexbehav SS 2.73 9.34 1 ,83 .005 4 Cptbehav SS 3.36 7.65 1 ,83 .05 5 Cppbehav SS 4.08 10.46 1 ,83 .05 Note 1 Texbehav = te a c h e r s ' b e h a v i o r a l e x p e c t a t i o n s 2 Fexbehav = f a t h e r s ' b e h a v i o r a l e x p e c t a t i o n s 3 Mexbehav = mothers' b e h a v i o r a l e x p e c t a t i o n s 4 Cptbehav = c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of te a c h e r s ' b e h a v i o r a l e x p e c t a t i o n s 5 Cppbehav = c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of parents' b e h a v i o r a l e x p e c t a t i o n s . 5 8 Phase 3: E x p l o r a t o r y Regression Analyses To address the general r e s e a r c h q u e s t i o n s posed i n t h i s study, the standard r e g r e s s i o n model p r o v i d e d the most i l l u m i n a t i n g method of comparing and c o n t r a s t i n g the r e l a t i v e c o n t r i b u t i o n s made by d i f f e r e n t s o c i a l i z e r s to the p r e d i c t i o n of c h i l d r e n ' s d o m a i n - s p e c i f i c s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s of competence. The use of the standard stepwise r e g r e s s i o n model i s a p p r o p r i a t e f o r the present study s i n c e i n a m u l t i p l e l i n e a r equation, one v a r i a b l e i s entered at a time i n a stepwise f a s h i o n from a sequence of p o s s i b l e p r e d i c t o r s (Dixon & J e n n r i c h , 1988). At each step, the v a r i a b l e with the g r e a t e s t F - t o - e n t e r value i s added to the r e g r e s s i o n equation. The c r i t e r i o n f o r i n c l u s i o n of independent v a r i a b l e s was an F value of 4.0 and a c r i t i c a l .value of p < .01 f o r t e s t i n g the s i g n i f i c a n c e of F. Thus, four stepwise f l o a t i n g r e g r e s s i o n s were performed to c l a r i f y the extent to which v a r i a b i l i t y i n s e l f - p e r c e i v e d competence c o u l d be accounted f o r by v a r i a b i l i t y i n parents' and teachers' e x p e c t a t i o n s , c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of ot h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s , c h i l d r e n ' s s o c i o m e t r i c s t a t u s and c h i l d r e n ' s academic performance a c r o s s achievement domains. Subsequent examination of the r e l a t i v e c o n t r i b u t i o n s made by each independent v a r i a b l e to the p r e d i c t i o n of p e r c e i v e d competence fo l l o w e d with respect to the e m p i r i c a l i s s u e s l i s t e d below: (a) c o n s i s t e n c y - do the v a r i a b l e s i d e n t i f i e d h o l d up as powerful p r e d i c t o r s of p e r c e i v e d competence acro s s the academic, s o c i a l , b e h a v i o r a l and a t h l e t i c 59 s u b s c a l e s ? ; (b) does any one v a r i a b l e c o n s i s t e n t l y account for the l a r g e s t p r o p o r t i o n of v a r i a n c e a c r o s s domains and i f so, why?; (c) what d i f f e r e n c e s emerge w i t h i n and between the four competence domains with regard to the explanatory powers of the independent v a r i a b l e s ? The completion of t h i s second step was intended to pr o v i d e a framework f o r developing a h i e r a r c h i c a l model that c o u l d be t e s t e d a c r o s s a l l four achievement domains. The r e s u l t s of the p r e l i m i n a r y stepwise r e g r e s s i o n analyses are presented i n Tables 13 to 16. P r e d i c t i n g S e l f - P e r c e i v e d Academic Competence. Table 13 presents the r e s u l t s of t h i s a n a l y s i s . For the academic domain, the r e s u l t s c o r r o b o r a t e d the simple c o r r e l a t i o n a l a n a l y s i s , i n d i c a t i n g that 74 % of the v a r i a n c e i n c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s of academic competence c o u l d be p r e d i c t e d from (a) c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of t h e i r t e a c h e r s ' academic e x p e c t a t i o n s f o r the <R2 i n c r e a s e = .66) and (b) teachers' a c t u a l academic e x p e c t a t i o n s f o r c h i l d r e n (R 2 i n c r e a s e = .07) . P r e d i c t i n g S e l f - P e r c e i v e d S o c i a l Competence. In the s o c i a l domain, 55 % of the v a r i a n c e was p r e d i c t e d by (a) c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of te a c h e r s ' s o c i a l e x p e c t a t i o n s f o r them (R 2 i n c r e a s e = .45) and (b) c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of parents' s o c i a l e x p e c t a t i o n s f o r them (R 2 i n c r e a s e = .10). Table 14 summarizes these r e s u l t s . P r e d i c t i n g S e l f - P e r c e i v e d B e h a v i o r a l Competence. In the b e h a v i o r a l conduct domain, 31 % of the v a r i a n c e was 60 accounted f o r by (a) c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of parents' b e h a v i o r a l e x p e c t a t i o n s (R 2 i n c r e a s e = .25) and (b) mothers' a c t u a l b e h a v i o r a l e x p e c t a t i o n s f o r c h i l d r e n (R 2 i n c r e a s e = .06) (see Table 15). P r e d i c t i n g S e l f - P e r c e i v e d A t h l e t i c Competence Table 16 summarizes the r e s u l t s of t h i s a n a l y s i s . For the a t h l e t i c domain, f i n d i n g s r e v e a l e d that 50 % of the v a r i a n c e was accounted f o r by (a) c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of t h e i r t e a c h e r s ' a t h l e t i c e x p e c t a t i o n s f o r them (R 2 i n c r e a s e = .44) and (b) c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of t h e i r parents' a t h l e t i c e x p e c t a t i o n s f o r them (R 2 i n c r e a s e = .06). 61 Table 13 F l o a t i n g Stepwise Regression Equations f o r S e l f - P e r c e i v e d Academic Competence V a r i a b l e R2 R 2change F to enter Step 1 1 Cptacad .66 .66 125.79** Step 2 2 Texacad .73 .07 16.82** Note 1 Cptacad = c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of teachers' academic e x p e c t a t i o n s 2 Texacad = t e a c h e r s ' academic e x p e c t a t i o n s *p_ < .05 **p_< .001. 62 Table 14 F l o a t i n g Stepwise Regression Equations f o r S e l f - P e r c e i v e d S o c i a l Competence V a r i a b l e R2 R 2change F to enter Step 1 1 Cptsoc .45 .45 52.11** Step 2 2 Cppsoc .55 .10 13.83** Note 1 Cptsoc = c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of teachers' s o c i a l e x p e c t a t i o n s 2 Cppsoc = c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of parents' s o c i a l competence *p_< .05 **p_< .001. 63 Table 15 F l o a t i n g Stepwise Regression Equations f o r S e l f - P e r c e i v e d B e h a v i o r a l Conduct V a r i a b l e R 2 R 2change F to enter Step 1 1 Cppbehav . 25 .25 21.74** Step 2 2 Mexbehav .31 .06 5.53* Note 1 Cppbehav = c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of parents' b e h a v i o r a l e x p e c t a t i o n s 2 Mexbehav = mothers' b e h a v i o r a l e x p e c t a t i o n s *p_< .05 **p_< .001. Table 16 Floating Stepwise Regression Equation for Self-Perceived A t h l e t i c Competence Variable R 2 R 2change F to enter Step 1 1 Cptathl .44 .44 50.05** Step 2 . 0 6 2 Cppathl .50 8 . 2 6 Note 1 Cptathl = children's perceptions of teachers' a t h l e t i c expectations 2 Cppathl = children's perceptions of parents' a t h l e t i c expectations *p_< .05 **p_ <. 001 . 65 As can be seen i n Tables 13 to 16, i n each domain a c o n s i d e r a b l e amount of v a r i a n c e was e x p l a i n e d by c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of parents' and t e a c h e r s ' domain s p e c i f i c e x p e c t a t i o n s . Moreover, the amount of e x p l a i n e d v a r i a n c e accounting f o r c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of s o c i a l i z e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s d i d not vary c o n s i d e r a b l y across domains. A c o n s i d e r a t i o n of these f i n d i n g s suggested the presence of a measurement redundancy between: (1) the s c a l e s a s s e s s i n g c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of t e a c h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s and c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of parents' e x p e c t a t i o n s ; and p o s s i b l y (2) the s c a l e s a s s e s s i n g c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f -p e r c e p t i o n s of others' e x p e c t a t i o n s and c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e i v e d competence. T h i s measurement e r r o r was most l i k e l y a consequence of the i d i o s y n c r a t i c use of analogous measurement s c a l e s c o n c u r r e n t l y . Consequently, the second phase of analyses i n v o l v e d deconfounding the e f f e c t s of t h i s v a r i a b l e . In order to accomplish t h i s , a second s e r i e s of f l o a t i n g stepwise r e g r e s s i o n analyses were performed on each of the dependent v a r i a b l e s d i s c a r d i n g the problematic v a r i a b l e - c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of others' e x p e c t a t i o n s . To c o n t r o l f o r measurement a r t i f a c t and as a second step towards determining a h i e r a r c h i c a l model that c o u l d be t e s t e d a c r o s s the four s e l f - c o n c e p t domains, " c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of o t h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s " was removed from the second phase of analyses and a repeated set of f l o a t i n g stepwise r e g r e s s i o n s were performed. The primary purpose of t h i s a n a l y s i s was to c l a r i f y the extent to which v a r i a b i l i t y 66 i n p e r c e i v e d competence c o u l d be accounted f o r by v a r i a b i l i t y i n parents' a c t u a l e x p e c t a t i o n s , t e a c h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s , s o c i o m e t r i c s t a t u s and c h i l d r e n ' s academic performance i n the absence of an o f f e n d i n g or redundant c o n s t r u c t . R e s u l t s of the analyses are presented i n Tables 17 to 20. P r e d i c t i n g S e l f - P e r c e i v e d Academic Competence. With regard to the academic domain, t e a c h e r s ' a c t u a l academic e x p e c t a t i o n s (R 2 i n c r e a s e = .31) and academic performance (R 2 i n c r e a s e = .03) accounted f o r a s i g n i f i c a n t amount of v a r i a n c e i n s e l f - p e r c e i v e d academic competence (R 2 i n c r e a s e = .33). Table 17 summarizes these r e s u l t s of t h i s a n a l y s i s . P r e d i c t i n g S e l f - P e r c e i v e d S o c i a l Competence. For the s o c i a l domain, r e s u l t s i n d i c a t e d that 29 % of the v a r i a n c e c o u l d be accounted f o r by teachers a c t u a l s o c i a l e x p e c t a t i o n s (R 2 i n c r e a s e = .17), f a t h e r s ' s o c i a l e x p e c t a t i o n s (R 2 i n c r e a s e = .07) and c h i l d r e n ' s s o c i o m e t r i c s t a t u s (R 2 i n c r e a s e = .05) (see Table 18). P r e d i c t i n g S e l f - P e r c e i v e d B e h a v i o r a l Conduct. In the b e h a v i o r a l domain, 17 % of the v a r i a n c e was e x p l a i n e d by the mothers' a c t u a l b e h a v i o r a l e x p e c t a t i o n s (R 2 i n c r e a s e = .09) and academic performance (R 2 i n c r e a s e = .08). Table 19 d i s p l a y s the r e s u l t s of t h i s a n a l y s i s . P r e d i c t i n g S e l f - P e r c e i v e d A t h l e t i c Competence. F i n a l l y , i n the a t h l e t i c domain, r e s u l t s demonstrated that 24 % of the v a r i a n c e c o u l d be accounted f o r only by tea c h e r s ' a c t u a l e x p e c t a t i o n s f o r t h e i r students (R 2 67 i n c r e a s e = .15) and mothers' a c t u a l a t h l e t i c e x p e c t a t i o n s f o r t h e i r c h i l d r e n (R 2 i n c r e a s e = .08). Table 20 summarizes these r e s u l t s . The r e s u l t s of the second stage of analyses prompted ' the development of a h i e r a r c h i c a l model that c o u l d be t e s t e d a c r o s s the academic, s o c i a l , b e h a v i o r a l , and a t h l e t i c r e s p e c t i v e l y . Table 17 F l o a t i n g Stepwise Regression A n a l y s i s f o r S e l f - P e r c e i v e d Academic Competence. V a r i a b l e R2 R^change F to enter Step 1 1 Texacad .31 . .31 38. 11** Step 2 2 Acadperf .34 .03 4.16* Note 1 Texacad = t e a c h e r s ' academic e x p e c t a t i o n s 2 Acadperf = academic performance *p_< .05 **p_ < . 001 . Table 18 F l o a t i n g Stepwise Regression A n a l y s i s f o r S e l f - P e r c e i v e d S o c i a l Competence V a r i a b l e R2 R^change F to enter Step 1 1 Texsoc . 1 7 .17 18.04** Step 2 2 Fexsoc .24 .07 7.77* Step 3 3 Sms .29 .05 5.58* Note 1 Texsoc 2 Fexsoc 3 Sms = = t e a c h e r s ' = f a t h e r s ' s o c i o m e t r i c s o c i a l e x p e c t a t i o n s s o c i a l e x p e c t a t i o n s Status *p_< .05 **p_ < . 00 1 . 70 Table 19 F l o a t i n g Stepwise Regression A n a l y s i s of S e l f - P e r c e i v e d B e h a v i o r a l Competence V a r i a b l e R2 R^change F to enter Step 1 1 Mexbehav .09 .09 9 .05** Step 2 2 Acadperf .17 .08 7 .69* Note Mexbehav = mothers' b e h a v i o r a l e x p e c t a t i o n s Acadperf = academic performance *p_< .05 **p_< .001. Table 20 F l o a t i n g Stepwise Regression A n a l y s i s of S e l f - P e r c e i v e d A t h l e t i c Competence Var i a b l e R 2 R^change F to enter Step 1 1 Texathl .15 . 1 5 15.14** Step 2 2 Mexathl .23 .08 9.42 * Note 1 Texathl 2 Mexathl = teachers' = mothers' a t h l e t i c a t h l e t i c expectat ions expectat ions *p_< .05 **p_ < . 00 1 . 72 Phase 4; Part A Hierarchical Regression Analyses; Model Testing The f i n a l phase of the analyses involved the development and assessment of a perceived competence model across academic, s o c i a l , behavioral and a t h l e t i c competence domains. Two c r i t e r i a applied to the development of t h i s model: (1) an empirical and t h e o r e t i c a l relationship must exist between the independent variables and a general s e l f -concept construct; (2) the independent variables in the model are conceptualized as viable constructs that bear a relationship to children's self-perceived competence based on previous research and preliminary analyses. Each independent variable was forced into the regression equation according to a previously developed category scheme. Three categories of variables were defined; (1) performance variables (academic performance and sociometric status); (2) s o c i a l i z i n g agents' expectations (parents and teachers' expectations for their children and/or students across academic, s o c i a l , behavioral conduct, and a t h l e t i c competence domains); and (3) c h i l d cognitive variables (children's perceptions of parents' and teachers' expectations). Within each category variables were allowed to f l o a t into the regression equation according to the strength of the c o r r e l a t i o n c o e f f i c i e n t s . The performance variables (sociometric status and academic competence) were forced into the equation f i r s t in l i g h t of the evidence suggesting that performance factors 73 are r e l a t e d to c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s of competence. Parents' and teachers' a c t u a l e x p e c t a t i o n s were entered second, ahead of c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of o t h e r s e x p e c t a t i o n s , to c o n t r o l f o r measurement a r t i f a c t and to examine t h e i r e xplanatory power over and above the c o n t r i b u t i o n s made by performance v a r i a b l e s . The r e s u l t s from the f l o a t i n g stepwise r e g r e s s i o n analyses a l s o i n d i c a t e d t h at the v a r i a n c e accounted f o r by s o c i a l i z e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s i s otherwise l a r g e l y absorbed i f c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of s o c i a l i z e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s i s given p r i o r i t y in h i e r a r c h i c a l o r d e r . R e s u l t s of the subsequent a n a l y s i s are summarized i n Tables 21 to 24. Each t a b l e r e f l e c t s a r e g r e s s i o n of a d i f f e r e n t s e l f - p e r c e i v e d competence domain on the seven independent v a r i a b l e s . For each step, the R 2 i n c r e a s e , i n a d d i t i o n to the F to enter value i s presented. As can be seen, d i f f e r e n c e s emerged both w i t h i n and among the four s e l f - p e r c e i v e d competence domains r e g a r d i n g the explanatory power of academic performance, s o c i o m e t r i c s t a t u s , s o c i a l i z e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s and c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of o t h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s . The r e s u l t s of these a n a l y s i s are summarized below. P r e d i c t i n g S e l f - P e r c e i v e d Academic Competence. Academic performance, teachers' e x p e c t a t i o n s , parents' e x p e c t a t i o n s and c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of o t h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s accounted f o r a s i g n i f i c a n t share i n the v a r i a n c e i n c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s of academic 74 competence (R 2 increase = .70, p < .05): a) academic performance accounted for 26 % of the explained variance (R 2 increase = .26); b) children's sociometric status did not account for a s i g n i f i c a n t increase in explained variance; c) teachers' actual expectations accounted for an R 2 increase of .07; (d) mothers' actual academic expectations for their children accounted for 2 % of the explained variance (R 2 increase = .02); (e) fathers' academic expectations did not account for a s i g n i f i c a n t R 2 increase; f) children's perceptions of teachers' academic expectations accounted for .35 of the variance explained (R 2 increase = .35); g) children's perceptions of parents' academic expectations did not account for a s i g n i f i c a n t proportion of explained variance (see Table 21). Predicting Self-Perceived Social Competence. Table 22 outlines the results of th i s analysis. In the s o c i a l domain, results indicated that 56 % of the variance could be accounted for by five of the seven predictor variables: a) as expected, children's sociometric status accounted for 16 % of the variance (R 2 increase = .16) in predicting children's self-perceived s o c i a l competence; b) academic performance did not contribute s i g n i f i c a n t l y to children's self-perceived s o c i a l competence; c) fathers' s o c i a l expectations accounted for 7 % of the variance to the prediction of children's s e l f - perceived s o c i a l competence (R 2 increase = .07); d) teachers' s o c i a l expectations accounted for only 4 % of the variance explained (R 2 75 i n c r e a s e =.04); c o n t r a r y to e x p e c t a t i o n s , mothers' s o c i a l e x p e c t a t i o n s d i d not c o n t r i b u t e s i g n i f i c a n t l y to c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e i v e d s o c i a l competence; e) c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of t eachers' s o c i a l e x p e c t a t i o n s c o n t r i b u t e d s i g n i f i c a n t l y to c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e i v e d s o c i a l competence (R 2 i n c r e a s e = .24) as d i d c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of parents' s o c i a l e x p e c t a t i o n s (R 2 i n c r e a s e = .05). P r e d i c t i n g S e l f - P e r c e i v e d B e h a v i o r a l (Conduct) Competence. Since the MANOVA i n d i c a t e d that there were gender d i f f e r e n c e s i n teachers' b e h a v i o r a l e x p e c t a t i o n s , f a t h e r s ' b e h a v i o r a l e x p e c t a t i o n s , mothers' b e h a v i o r a l e x p e c t a t i o n s , c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of parents' and teachers' e x p e c t a t i o n s and gender, gender was entered i n t o the r e g r e s s i o n equation f i r s t as a c o n t r o l v a r i a b l e . The remaining v a r i a b l e s were f o r c e d i n t o the equation i n the f o l l o w i n g o r d e r : performance v a r i a b l e s , s o c i a l i z e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s and c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of o t h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s . The r e s u l t s r e v e a l e d that 40 % of the v a r i a n c e e x p l a i n e d was accounted f o r by four of the seven independent v a r i a b l e s : a) sex accounted f o r a small but s i g n i f i c a n t p r o p o r t i o n of the e x p l a i n e d v a r i a n c e (R 2 i n c r e a s e = .05) ; b) academic performance accounted f o r only 9 % of the v a r i a n c e e x p l a i n e d (R 2 i n c r e a s e = .09); b) c h i l d r e n ' s s o c i o m e t r i c s t a t u s d i d not account f o r a s i g n i f i c a n t p r o p o r t i o n of the v a r i a n c e e x p l a i n e d ; c) f a t h e r s ' b e h a v i o r a l e x p e c t a t i o n s d i d not account f o r a s i g n i f i c a n t p r o p o r t i o n of e x p l a i n e d v a r i a n c e ; d) mothers' 76 e x p e c t a t i o n s accounted f o r an R 2 i n c r e a s e of 8 %; e) teachers' b e h a v i o r a l e x p e c t a t i o n s d i d not account f o r a s i g n i f i c a n t p o r t i o n of the v a r i a n c e ; f) c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of parents' e x p e c t a t i o n s accounted f o r 19 % of the v a r i a n c e accounted f o r (R 2 i n c r e a s e = .19); f) c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of t h e i r t e a c h e r s ' b e h a v i o r a l e x p e c t a t i o n s accounted f o r an R 2 i n c r e a s e of 3 % (see Table 23). P r e d i c t i n g S e l f - P e r c e i v e d A t h l e t i c Competence. In the a t h l e t i c domain, 59 % of the v a r i a n c e was accounted f o r by: a) c h i l d r e n ' s s o c i o m e t r i c s t a t u s accounted f o r 5 % of the e x p l a i n e d v a r i a n c e (R 2 i n c r e a s e = .05); b) as would be expected, academic performance d i d not account f o r a s i g n i f i c a n t p r o p o r t i o n of the v a r i a n c e ; c) taken together, t e a c h e r s ' and mothers' a t h l e t i c e x p e c t a t i o n s accounted f o r 22 % of the v a r i a n c e ( [ t e a c h e r s ] R 2 i n c r e a s e =.07: [mothers] R 2 i n c r e a s e = .14); d) f a t h e r s ' a t h l e t i c e x p e c t a t i o n s d i d not account f o r a s i g n i f i c a n t p r o p o r t i o n of the v a r i a n c e ; e) c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of teachers' a t h l e t i c e x p e c t a t i o n s accounted f o r a s i g n i f i c a n t i n c r e a s e i n R 2 (R 2 i n c r e a s e = .29); and e) c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of parents' a t h l e t i c e x p e c t a t i o n s accounted f o r a 4 % i n c r e a s e i n the e x p l a i n e d v a r i a n c e (see Table 24). Phase Four: Part B In order to explore the s t a t i s t i c a l and e m p i r i c a l soundness of the p e r c e i v e d competence model f u r t h e r , to o b t a i n the "best l i n e a r unbiased e s t i m a t e s " , and to reduce 77 the o v e r - e s t i m a t i o n problem a s s o c i a t e d with m u l t i c o l l i n e a r i t y i n the present study, F values of a l l p r e v i o u s h i e r a r c h i c a l r e g r e s s i o n analyses were r e - c a l c u l a t e d to reduce the e r r o r v a r i a n c e accounted fo r by the o f f e n d i n g v a r i a b l e s . As can be seen in Tables 21 to 24, once the e r r o r v a r i a n c e was c o r r e c t e d a l l F v a l u e s i n c r e a s e d , b r i n g i n g to s t a t i s t i c a l s i g n i f i c a n c e l e v e l v a r i a b l e s that had not p r e v i o u s l y achieved s i g n i f i c a n c e . P r e d i c t i n g S e l f - P e r c e i v e d Competence. As i n d i c a t e d i n Tables 21 to 24, the f o u r t h phase of analyses r e v e a l e d three a d d i t i o n a l s i g n i f i c a n t R 2 c o e f f i c i e n t s when F v a l u e s were r e c a l c u l a t e d f o r the academic, s o c i a l , b e h a v i o r a l conduct and a t h l e t i c s u b s c a l e s , r e s p e c t i v e l y . Only the a d d i t i o n a l e f f e c t s w i l l be d i s c u s s e d below f o r each achievement domain. With regard to the academic domain, the R 2 i n c r e a s e f o r c h i l d r e n ' s s o c i o m e t r i c s t a t u s reached s i g n i f i c a n c e l e v e l (R 2 i n c r e a s e = .013, F i n c r e a s e = 3.90, p_ < .05). For the s o c i a l domain, a r e c a l c u l a t i o n of the F values brought both academic performance (R 2 i n c r e a s e = .02, F i n c r e a s e = 3.90, p_ < .05) and mothers' s o c i a l e x p e c t a t i o n s (R 2 i n c r e a s e = .01, F i n c r e a s e = 3.83, p_ < .05) to s i g n i f i c a n c e l e v e l s i n p r e d i c t i n g c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e i v e d s o c i a l competence. If the r e c a l c u l a t e d F value of a p r e d i c t o r v a r i a b l e i n c r e a s e d to a value equal to or above the d e f a u l t l e v e l of BMDP ( c r i t e r i o n l e v e l of e n t r y , F = 4.0) and reached s t a t i s t i c a l s i g n i f i c a n c e at the p < .05 l e v e l i t was c o n s i d e r e d f o r d i s c u s s i o n . 78 Table 21 Stepwise H i e r a r c h i c a l Regression A n a l y s i s : Academic Domain Step V a r i a b l e R 2 R 2 Change F to Enter R e c a l c u l a t e d F 1 Acadperf .26 .26 31.11** 76.86** 2 Sms .27 .01 1 .57 3.90 3 Texacad .34 .08 8. 12** 18.64** 4 Mexacad .36 .02 2.48* 5.60** 5 Fexacad .37 .01 1 .40 3.14 6 Cptacad .72 .35 102.25** 7 Cppacad .73 .01 2.35 Note 1 Acadperf = Academic performance 2 Sms = S o c i o m e t r i c Status 3 Texacad = Teachers' academic e x p e c t a t i o n s 4 Mexacad = Mothers' academic e x p e c t a t i o n s 5 Fexacad = F a t h e r s ' academic e x p e c t a t i o n 6 Cptacad = C h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of teachers' e x p e c t a t i o n s 7 Cppacad = C h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of parents' e x p e c t a t i o n s *p_< .05 **p_ <. 001 . 79 Table 22 Stepwise H i e r a r c h i c a l Regression A n a l y s i s : S o c i a l Domain Step V a r i a b l e R 2 R 2 Change F to Enter R e c a l c u l a t e d F 1 Sms .16 .16 16.32** 34.70** 2 Acadperf .18 .02 1 .95 3.14 3 Fexsoc .25 .07 8.60** 17.28** 4 Texsoc .30 .02 4.53* 9.00** 5 Mexsoc .31 .01 1 .30 3.83 6 Cptsoc .55 .24 41.64** 7 Cppsoc .60 .05 10.83** Note 1 Sms = S o c i o m e t r i c S t a t u s 2 Acadperf = Academic Performance 3 Fexsoc = F a t h e r s ' S o c i a l E x p e c t a t i o n s 4 Texsoc = Teachers' S o c i a l E x p e c t a t i o n s 5 Mexsoc = Mothers' S o c i a l E x p e c t a t i o n s 6 Cptsoc = C h i l d r e n ' s P e r c e p t i o n s of Teachers' E x p e c t a t i o n s 7 Cppsoc = C h i l d r e n ' s P e r c e p t i o n s of Parents' E x p e c t a t i o n s p_< .05 P_<.001. 80 Table 23 H i e r a r c h i c a l Regression A n a l y s i s : B e h a v i o r a l Domain Step V a r i a b l e R^ R^ Change F to Enter R e c a l c u l a t e d F 1 Sex .05 .05 4.82* 7.78** 2 Acadperf .09 .04 7.67** 12.01** 3 Sms .09 .00 .30 .58 4 Mexbehav .17 .08 7.32** 12.07** 4 Fexbehav .18 .01 1.58 4.18* 5 Texbehav .18 .00 .00 .24 6 Cppbehav .37 .19 24.39** 7 Cptbehav .40 .03 3.83 Note 1 Acadperf = Academic performance 2 Sms = S o c i o m e t r i c Status 3 Texbehav = Teachers' b e h a v i o r a l conduct e x p e c t a t i o n s 4 Mexbehav = Mothers' b e h a v i o r a l conduct e x p e c t a t i o n s 5 Fexbehav = F a t h e r s ' b e h a v i o r a l conduct e x p e c t a t i o n 6 Cptbehav = C h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of t e a c h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s 7 Cppbehav = C h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of parents' e x p e c t a t i o n s p_< .05 p_ <. 001 . 81 Table 24 H i e r a r c h i c a l Regression A n a l y s i s : A t h l e t i c Domain Step V a r i a b l e R 2 R 2 Change F to Enter R e c a l c u l a t e d F 1 Sms .04 .04 4.10* 9.16* 2 Acadperf .05 .01 .46 1 .04 3 Mexathl .19 .14 14.97** 28.88** 4 T e x a t h l .26 .08 7.92** 14.10** 5 F e x a t h l .27 .00 1 .00 1 .77 6 C p t a t h l .56 .29 53.40** 7 Cppathl .60 .04 7.46* Note 1 Sms = S o c i o m e t r i c Status 2 Acadperf = Academic Performance 3 Mexathl = Mothers' A t h l e t i c E x p e c t a t i o n s 4 T e x a t h l = Teachers' A t h l e t i c E x p e c t a t i o n s 5 F e x a t h l = F a t h e r s ' A t h l e t i c E x p e c t a t i o n s 6 C p t a t h l = C h i l d r e n ' s P e r c e p t i o n s of Teachers' E x p e c t a t i o n s 7 Cppathl = C h i l d r e n ' s P e r c e p t i o n s of Parents' E x p e c t a t i o n s p_ < .05 p_ < .001 . 82 CHAPTER FOUR DISCUSSION The active sense of living, which we all enjoy before reflection shatters our instinctive world for us, is self luminous and suggests no paradoxes. When the reflective intellect gets to work, however, it discovers incomprehensibilities in the flowing process. Distinguishing its elements and parts it gives them separate names and what it thus disjoins it cannot easily put together. William James (1912). The Thing and Its Relations, p., 314. The chapter i s organized as follows: (1) an overview of the general findings i s presented; (2) the results are discussed with respect to the d i f f e r e n t i a l contributions made by s o c i a l i z e r s ' expectations to the prediction of children's perceived competence across achievement domains; (2) the role children's self-perceptions of s i g n i f i c a n t others' expectations play in influencing children's perceived competence i s outlined; (3) the role past performance plays in predicting children's domain-specific self-perceptions i s highlighted; (4) the usefulness of testing a uniform model of perceived competence i s discussed; (5) implications for counselling are highlighted; and f i n a l l y (6) limi t a t i o n s and conclusions are discussed with respect to future research. General Overview The purpose of this investigation was to ide n t i f y important s o c i a l i z a t i o n references children may u t i l i z e in constructing aspects of the i r self-image, and, in pa r t i c u l a r , to ide n t i f y factors that have discrete domain-83 s p e c i f i c evaluative power in predicting children's s e l f -perceptions of competence. In an attempt to address these concerns, the ove r a l l design of the study involved a consideration of two research strategies. The f i r s t strategy examined the research questions from an exploratory perspective and was primarily concerned with the assessment of: ( 1 ) the r e l a t i v e contributions made by teachers' and parents' expectations to the prediction of children's perceived competence across achievement domains; and ( 2 ) the re l a t i v e contributions made by performance factors and children's perceptions of teachers' and parents' expectations in predicting children's perceived competence across achievement domains. The second strategy examined the research questions from a the o r e t i c a l perspective. The purpose of t h i s was to enable a comparison of the contributions made by t h e o r e t i c a l l y derived variables in predicting perceived competence across achievement domains. A uniform perceived competence model was developed to accomplish t h i s task. Predicting Domain Specific Self-Perceived Competence Within the parameters of the constructs u t i l i z e d , the developmental stage of the children sampled and the exploratory nature of the study, the results provided a cogent framework for answering the research questions outlined in the present study: 84 (1) The c o n t r i b u t i o n s made by parents' and teachers' e x p e c t a t i o n s to the p r e d i c t i o n of c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e i v e d competence v a r i e d as a f u n c t i o n of the domain assessed. (2) S o c i a l i z e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s and c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of oth e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s s i g n i f i c a n t l y p r e d i c t e d c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e i v e d competence w i t h i n and ac r o s s achievement domains over and above the v a r i a n c e accounted f o r by performance f a c t o r s . (3) A coherent p a t t e r n was found i n the r e l a t i o n between performance v a r i a b l e s and c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s of competence acr o s s achievement domains. T h i s p a t t e r n suggested t h a t while performance f a c t o r s c o n t r i b u t e d i f f e r e n t i a l l y to the p r e d i c t i o n of c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e i v e d competence they are not, as t r a d i t i o n a l l y thought, c r u c i a l p r e d i c t o r s of c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s a c r o s s achievement domains. (4) The v a r i a b l e or combination of v a r i a b l e s that best p r e d i c t e d c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e i v e d competence v a r i e d as a f u n c t i o n of the s e l f - c o n c e p t domain assessed. (5) The amount of v a r i a n c e accounted f o r by the r e g r e s s i o n model v a r i e d as f u n c t i o n of the domain assessed. (6) The s o c i a l r e f e r e n c e s c h i l d r e n use when making s e l f -e v a l u a t i o n s can be c o n c e p t u a l i z e d w i t h i n a domain and context s p e c i f i c framework. (7) I n d i r e c t support was pr o v i d e d f o r H a r t e r ' s (1981, 1982, 1985) p e r c e i v e d competence model which has demonstrated a 85 l i n k between s o c i a l i z e r s ' b e l i e f s r e g a r d i n g c h i l d r e n ' s a b i l i t i e s , c h i l d r e n ' s performance and p e r c e i v e d competence. Parents and Teachers as Expectancy S o c i a l i z e r s P r e d i c t i n g S e l f - P e r c e i v e d Academic Competence. Turning to the r e s e a r c h q u e s t i o n s f o r the academic domain, two i n t e r e s t i n g f i n d i n g s emerged with regard the d i f f e r e n t i a l c o n t r i b u t i o n s made by s o c i a l i z e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s . F i r s t , t e a c h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s c o n t r i b u t e d more v a r i a n c e to c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s of competence compared to mothers' and f a t h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s . Second, while t e a c h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s s i g n i f i c a n t l y p r e d i c t e d c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e i v e d competence, the combination of academic performance and c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of o t h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s c o n t r i b u t e d s i g n i f i c a n t l y more v a r i a n c e to c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e i v e d academic competence than t e a c h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s . Teachers as Expectancy S o c i a l i z e r s . While the amount of v a r i a n c e accounted f o r by t e a c h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s was only moderate, the f i n d i n g s p r o v i d e p a r t i a l support f o r the assumption that c h i l d r e n p e r c e i v e t e a c h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s as s a l i e n t when making s e l f - e v a l u a t i o n s of t h e i r academic competence. T h i s argument i s strengthened when the r e s u l t s of recent e m p i r i c a l and t h e o r e t i c a l f o r m u l a t i o n s concerning s e l f - c o n c e p t development are examined. For example, Parsons, K a c z a l a , and Meece (1982) found that t e a c h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s were r e l a t e d to c h i l d r e n ' s past performance and c h i l d r e n ' s c o n f i d e n c e i n t h e i r math a b i l i t i e s ; however, the 86 expectancy e f f e c t s themselves were minimal. On t h i s b a s i s , Parsons, K a c z a l a , and Meece (1982) concluded that t h e i r f i n d i n g s "probably r e f l e c t the congruence of t e a c h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s with a students' past performance r a t h e r than the e f f e c t s of teachers' e x p e c t a t i o n s on student a t t i t u d e s " (Parsons et a l . 1982, p.,333). The c o n c l u s i o n s drawn by Parsons et a l . (1982) p o i n t to a developmental phenomenon known as the "teacher as v e r i d i c a l observer" hypothesis (Crano & M e l l o n , 1978; Parsons et a l . 1982) - the n o t i o n that t e a c h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s commensurate u n e q u i v o c a l l y with past performance. However, the p l a u s i b i l i t y of the "teacher as v e r i d i c a l observer" hypothesis has been d i s p e l l e d i n the present study s i n c e i f t e a c h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s were merely r e f l e c t i v e of the c h i l d ' s academic performance, academic performance should more s i g n i f i c a n t l y p r e d i c t p e r c e i v e d competence than the combination of teachers' a c t u a l e x p e c t a t i o n s and c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of t e a c h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s . D e s p i t e the p r o l i f e r a t i o n of s t u d i e s s u p p o r t i n g the "teacher as v e r i d i c a l observer h y p o t h e s i s " (see Crano & Mellon, 1978; C o n n e l l & I l a r d i , 1987; E c c l e s , 1983), a c o n s i d e r a t i o n of the c o n t r i b u t i o n s made by t e a c h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s seems warranted. F i r s t , teachers e x e r c i s e a c o n s i d e r a b l e degree of a u t h o r i t y over students and play an e v a l u a t i v e r o l e i n c h i l d r e n ' s i n t e l l e c t u a l development (Rosenholtz & Simpson, 1984). Consequently c h i l d r e n are r e q u i r e d , through the process of s c h o o l i n g , to p l a c e 87 emphasis on teachers' expectations when making s e l f -evaluations of academic competence. Second, in an attempt to avoid internal c o n f l i c t and maximize cognitive processing e f f i c i e n c y , children may formulate self-views that serve to legitimize the expectations of those s i g n i f i c a n t others perceived as capable of assessing their a b i l i t i e s accurately. Previous s o c i o l o g i c a l research i n d i r e c t l y supports t h i s view. For example, Apple and King (1978) have suggested that young children often a t t r i b u t e f u l l authority to teachers' professional status when making s e l f -assessments The large body of evidence now accumulated regarding the s o c i a l i z i n g impact of teachers' expectations and d i f f e r e n t i a l treatment on children's self-views supports these conclusions (see Braun, 1976; Brophy, 1977; Brophy & Good, 1974; Cooper, 1979; Parsons et a l . 1982; Weinstein et a l . 1982). Parents' Expectations. That teachers' expectations had more predictive v a l i d i t y than parents' expectations does contradict other empirical findings. For example, Eccles (1983) and Stevenson and Newman (1986) found stronger relations between parental attitudes and children's s e l f -perceptions of math a b i l i t y when compared with the same teacher-expectancy/student-self-perception relationship. The question that remains is "how does one account for such empirical inconsistency across studies?" One explanation i s that research on the "expectancy e f f e c t " has not been confined to any one th e o r e t i c a l 88 movement and numerous measurement t o o l s designed to assess s o c i a l i z e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s have been developed. Consequently, concurrent s t u d i e s have f a i l e d to use convergent measures in a s s e s s i n g expectancy c o n s t r u c t s across s o c i a l i z i n g agents. In the Parsons et a l . (1982) study, f o r example, s u b j e c t s were requested to f i l l out a s i x - i t e m q u e s t i o n n a i r e a s s e s s i n g "how w e l l [they thought] t h e i r student would do i n an advanced math course" and "how good t h e i r student i s at math" (p. 325). In the present study, an adapted v e r s i o n of the S e l f - P e r c e p t i o n P r o f i l e was used to assess s o c i a l i z e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s . Indeed, when de v e l o p m e n t a l i s t s propose numerous c o n s t r u c t d e f i n i t i o n s and then proceed autonomously in developing and/or u t i l i z i n g measurement t o o l s i n the assessment of that c o n s t r u c t , incongruent r e s u l t s can be p l a c e d w i t h i n the context of methodological i n c o n s i s t e n c y . Analogous problems are a s s o c i a t e d with the measurement of the s e l f - c o n c e p t . As Leahy and S h i r k (1985) have s t a t e d , although there i s a need f o r an e c l e c t i c r e s o l u t i o n of t h i s d i v e r s i t y , the c o m p a t i b i l i t y of the d i v e r s e treatments of the [ s e l f ] i s r a t h e r q u e s t i o n a b l e . ( p . 123) A second and r e l a t e d c o n c l u s i o n i s that i n the s t u d i e s reviewed, d i v e r g e n t academic s e l f - c o n c e p t c o n s t r u c t s were assessed. For example, i n the E c c l e s (1983) study, the assessment of c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - c o n c e p t of math a b i l i t y was of paramount concern. In c o n t r a s t , the present r e s e a r c h assessed an i n d i s c r i m i n a t e measure of c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e i v e d academic competence (Harter, 1982). In comparing the data 89 a c r o s s s t u d i e s , two p o s s i b l e c o n c l u s i o n s emerge: (1) f a c e t s of academic s e l f - c o n c e p t may r e f l e c t e x p e c t a t i o n s s p e c i f i c to s o c i a l i z e r s p l a y i n g a c e n t r a l r o l e i n sub-domain of academic competence being assessed; (2) the s t r e n g t h of the p r e d i c t i v e r e l a t i o n s h i p s between s o c i a l i z e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s and s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s may vary as a f u n c t i o n of academic s e l f - c o n c e p t c o n s t r u c t employed 1 . T h i r d , the s u b j e c t s ' age range i n the present study was incongruous with samples i n comparative s t u d i e s . For example, f o u r t h and f i f t h graders' s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s of academic a b i l i t y were assessed i n the present study; teacher e x p e c t a t i o n s were s i g n i f i c a n t i n p r e d i c t i n g p e r c e i v e d academic competence. In the Parsons et a l . (1982) study, c h i l d r e n i n grades 5 through 9 were assessed; parents' e x p e c t a t i o n s were more s a l i e n t i n i n f l u e n c i n g s e l f -p e r c e p t i o n s of math a b i l i t y . In comparing these r e s u l t s , i t seems p l a u s i b l e that teachers' e x p e c t a t i o n s are more i n f l u e n t i a l i n the academic domain d u r i n g e a r l y elementary sc h o o l years whereas parents may be more s a l i e n t f o r c h i l d r e n d u r i n g e a r l y adolescence. P r e d i c t i n g C h i l d r e n ' s S e l f - P e r c e i v e d S o c i a l Competence. Turning to the r e s e a r c h q u e s t i o n s i n the s o c i a l domain, the v a r i a b l e s t h at s i g n i f i c a n t l y p r e d i c t e d c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f -p e r c e i v e d s o c i a l competence over and above the c o n t r i b u t i o n s made by s o c i o m e t r i c s t a t u s were f a t h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s , t e a c h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s , and c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of o t h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s . 90 Parents Expectations. With regard to the domain-s p e c i f i c evaluative power of parents' expectations, fathers' expectations were more s i g n i f i c a n t in predicting children's self-perceived s o c i a l competence than mothers' expectations. Given the lack of emphasis placed on the s o c i a l i z i n g role of males in society, the role that fathers' expectations play in influencing children's self-perceptions of s o c i a l competence i s of p a r t i c u l a r interest. Males hold s i g n i f i c a n t l y more s o c i a l status in society than females. Consequently, children may perceive their s o c i a l competence as convergent with the s o c i a l expectations their fathers hold for them ( G i l l i g a n & Wiggins, 1987). This conclusion is based on the assumption that self-judgements are interactive with situations and stem from the i n f i l t r a t i o n of expectancy information from s i g n i f i c a n t others in a position of s o c i a l power (Rosenholtz & Simpson, 1984). This should be p a r t i c u l a r l y prevalent in the s o c i a l domain where expectations for s o c i a l l y acceptable behavior are based on the predominant aspects of the p a r t i c u l a r subculture from which children extract their experience. Teachers' Expectations. Several factors may account for the r e l a t i v e contributions made by teachers' expectations in predicting children's self-perceived s o c i a l competence. F i r s t , because important developmental factors such as peer relations and s o c i a l comparison processes emerge la t e r in childhood (Stipek, 1984), young children may view teachers as important expectancy s o c i a l i z e r s across 91 c o n t e x t s . For example, P i n t r i c h and Blumenfeld (1985) have suggested that teacher feedback d u r i n g elementary s c h o o l years i s a very important source of expectancy i n f o r m a t i o n f o r c h i l d r e n a c r o s s a range of s i t u a t i o n s . Arguably then, teacher feedback during the elementary school years embodies a consortium of u n e q u i v o c a l l y p o s i t i v e and negative expectancy statements r e g a r d i n g c h i l d r e n ' s success on v a r i e t y of t a s k s , not j u s t academic t a s k s . The f i n d i n g s of the present study i n d i c a t e t h a t , although the v a r i a n c e accounted f o r i s minimal, teachers' e x p e c t a t i o n s may i n f l u e n c e c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s i n areas other than the academic domain. More res e a r c h , however, i s necessary i n u n r a v e l l i n g the complexity of a s s o c i a t i o n s between school context v a r i a b l e s such as teachers' e x p e c t a t i o n s and c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s of s o c i a l competence. P r e d i c t i n g C h i l d r e n ' s S e l f - P e r c e i v e d B e h a v i o r a l Conduct. Turning to the r e s e a r c h q u e s t i o n s i n the b e h a v i o r a l conduct domain, the data i n d i c a t e that mothers' e x p e c t a t i o n s s i g n i f i c a n t l y p r e d i c t e d c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f -p e r c e i v e d b e h a v i o r a l competence over and above the c o n t r i b u t i o n s made by academic performance. In c o n t r a s t , f a t h e r s ' and teachers' e x p e c t a t i o n s d i d not s i g n i f i c a n t l y c o n t r i b u t e to c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e i v e d b e h a v i o r a l competence. Noteworthy, however, i s that i n s p e c t i o n of the c o r r e l a t i o n analyses suggested only minimal d i f f e r e n c e s i n the r e l a t i o n s between mothers' and f a t h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s and c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f p e r c e i v e d b e h a v i o r a l conduct. 92 N e v e r t h e l e s s , these f i n d i n g s suggest that at l e a s t i n the elementary school years that parents' e x p e c t a t i o n s make important c o n t r i b u t i o n s to the development of c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s of b e h a v i o r a l conduct. Although s t u d i e s have not adequately e x p l o r e d t h i s r e l a t i o n , a number of p o s s i b i l i t i e s can be proposed r e g a r d i n g the ways i n which parents' e x p e c t a t i o n s i n f l u e n c e c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e i v e d b e h a v i o r a l competence. F i r s t , s i n c e parents are t y p i c a l l y the primary care g i v e r s and most o f t e n d e f i n e the boundaries of a c c e p t a b l e behavior f o r t h e i r c h i l d r e n across b e h a v i o r a l c o n t e x t s , c h i l d r e n may p e r c e i v e parents' e x p e c t a t i o n s as important when making s e l f - e v a l u a t i o n s of b e h a v i o r a l competence. Second, p r e v i o u s r e s e a r c h has suggested that e x p e c t a t i o n s f o r success i n t h i s domain are s t r o n g l y emphasized by parents, thereby i n c r e a s i n g the pressure f o r c h i l d r e n to adopt s e l f - v i e w s that are not s i g n i f i c a n t l y d i s c r e p a n t from p a r e n t a l e x p e c t a t i o n s . F i n a l l y , i t i s a l s o p o s s i b l e that parents' e x p e c t a t i o n s , conveyed through rewards and punishments, f u n c t i o n to i n d o c t r i n a t e c h i l d r e n i n t o a b e l i e f system r e g a r d i n g t h e i r b e h a v i o r a l competence. For example, a c h i l d that i s punished r e g u l a r l y may maintain a low s e l f -p e r c e i v e d competence whereas as a c h i l d rewarded r e g u l a r l y may hol d themselves i n hig h regard. That t e a c h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s d i d not c o n t r i b u t e s i g n i f i c a n t l y to p e r c e i v e d b e h a v i o r a l conduct f u r t h e r supports these c o n c l u s i o n s . 93 P r e d i c t i n g C h i l d r e n ' s S e l f - P e r c e i v e d A t h l e t i c Competence. Turning to the r e s e a r c h q u e s t i o n s f o r the a t h l e t i c domain, mothers' e x p e c t a t i o n s , t e a c h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s and c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of t e a c h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s were the most s i g n i f i c a n t p r e d i c t o r s of c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e i v e d a t h l e t i c competence over and above the c o n t r i b u t i o n s made by s o c i o m e t r i c s t a t u s . Parents' E x p e c t a t i o n s . In the absence of a t h e o r e t i c a l l y d e r i v e d e x p l a n a t i o n regarding how c h i l d r e n a c q u i r e knowledge of t h e i r a t h l e t i c a b i l i t i e s , the i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of these f i n d i n g s i s incomplete. However, they do c a s t a p r e l i m i n a r y l i g h t on the v a r y i n g r o l e s s o c i a l i z e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s p l a y i n i n f l u e n c i n g c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s of a t h l e t i c competence. Previ o u s r e s e a r c h has i n d i c a t e d t h a t parents spend a l o t of time engaging i n sport r e l a t e d a c t i v i t i e s with c h i l d r e n d u r i n g elementary school years (Watkins & Montgomery, 1989). Indeed, i f parents spend time engaging i n and conveying e x p e c t a t i o n s to c h i l d r e n r e g a r d i n g t h e i r a t h l e t i c competence c h i l d r e n may be more l i k e l y to i n t e r n a l i z e parents' e x p e c t a t i o n s . In support of t h i s c o n c l u s i o n , Horn (1985) has p r o v i d e d evidence suggesting that e v a l u a t i v e feedback from a s i g n i f i c a n t other s t r o n g l y i n f l u e n c e s c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f -p e r c e p t i o n s of a t h l e t i c competence. Teachers' E x p e c t a t i o n s . Horn's (1985) c o n c l u s i o n may a l s o apply to teachers i n the a t h l e t i c c o n t e x t . In the present study, t e a c h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s s i g n i f i c a n t l y 9 4 contributed to children's self-perceived a t h l e t i c competence. Of interest i s that in the present sample teachers instructed every subject of study, including physical education. Thus, a disproportionate amount of time spent with students combined with the conveyance of expectancy information regarding students a t h l e t i c a b i l i t i e s may also lead children to int e r n a l i z e teachers' expectations. That sociometric status (peer popularity) was predictive of self-perceptions of a t h l e t i c competence suggests, however, that other s o c i a l i z i n g agents may be important in the a t h l e t i c domain such as peers and/or coaches. Despite t h i s p o s s i b i l i t y , the results corroborate the possible "teacher expectancy" findings in the academic doma i n. In concluding t h i s section, i t i s important to note some additional points. F i r s t , notwithstanding the moderate amount of variance accounted for by s o c i a l i z e r s ' expectations, the regression analyses suggested that mothers' and teachers' expectations contribute s i g n i f i c a n t l y to the prediction of children's self-perceptions of competence across achievement domains; fathers' expectations appear to contribute small amounts of unique variance to perceived competence over that which they share with mothers' and teachers' expectations. One exception i s the si g n i f i c a n t contributions made by fathers' expectations in predicting children's self-perceived s o c i a l competence. 95 Second, these f i n d i n g s i n d i c a t e that s o c i a l i z e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s d i f f e r e n t i a l l y c o n t r i b u t e to c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f -p e r c e p t i o n s of competence a c r o s s achievement domains. However, the amount of v a r i a n c e accounted f o r by both parents' and t e a c h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s a c r o s s domains i s only moderate. One reason f o r t h i s may be that middle school age c h i l d r e n r e l y l e s s on s o c i a l feedback (e.g., s o c i a l i z e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s ) and more on o b j e c t i v e feedback r e c e i v e d from a d u l t s and/or peers when making s e l f - e v a l u a t i o n s of competence a c r o s s c o n t e x t s . Stipek and Mac Iver (1989), i n t h e i r review of the l i t e r a t u r e , summarized f i n d i n g s suggesting t h a t young c h i l d r e n ' s a b i l i t y judgements (k i n d e r g a r t e n through to grade two) were more r e a d i l y i n f l u e n c e d by s o c i a l feedback ( i . e . , expectancy information) than by o b j e c t i v e feedback such as grades and v e r b a l r e p o r t s of competence; the converse i s true f o r middle school age c h i l d r e n and a d o l e s c e n t s . T h i s f i n d i n g i s supported by Kohlberg (1969) who suggests that a d u l t e v a l u a t i o n i s important f o r young c h i l d r e n u n t i l they reach the "concrete o p e r a t i o n a l stage because [ u n t i l then] they a t t r i b u t e f u l l e v a l u a t i v e and moral a u t h o r i t y to a d u l t s " (Stipek & Mac I v e r , 1989, p. 527). Kohlberg (1969) r e f e r s to t h i s developmental phenomenon as the "good boy" or "good g i r l " premise of moral a c t i o n (Stipek & Mac I v e r , 1989, p. 527). According to Kohlberg (1969), young c h i l d r e n are preoccupied with i n t e r n a l i z i n g the a t t i t u d e s and b e l i e f s of a d u l t s i n an e f f o r t to p l e a s e and gain acceptance from them. Given the 96 developmental stage of c h i l d r e n i n the present sample (middle s c h o o l ) , more o b j e c t i v e feedback sources may have been emphasized. In a d d i t i o n to the s a l i e n c e c h i l d r e n a t t r i b u t e to s i g n i f i c a n t o t hers and o b j e c t i v e feedback, r e s e a r c h suggests that c h i l d r e n a l s o have d i f f i c u l t y d e c o n s t r u c t i n g the meaning of two or more feedback sources simultaneously (Stipek & Mac I v e r , 1989). Consequently, c h i l d r e n may formulate s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s using only the most s a l i e n t s o c i a l r e f e r e n c e s while simultaneously d i s r e g a r d i n g other feedback i n f o r m a t i o n . T h i s l i m i t i n c h i l d r e n ' s c o g n i t i v e c a p a c i t y i s commonly r e f e r r e d to as " c e n t r a t i o n " (Liben & B i g l e r , 1987). In the present study, developmental d i f f e r e n c e s i n c h i l d r e n ' s a b i l i t y to i n t e r p r e t and d e c o n s t r u c t s o c i a l and o b j e c t i v e feedback may e x p l a i n the low v a r i a n c e accounted f o r by s o c i a l i z e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s i n the p r e d i c t i o n of p e r c e i v e d competence. T h i r d , i n c o n s i d e r i n g the context s p e c i f i c nature of s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s across achievement domains, i t becomes c l e a r that f o r m u l a t i n g s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s i n one domain may be more d i f f i c u l t than in o t h e r s . For example, i t was more d i f f i c u l t to d e t e c t a coherent p a t t e r n of r e s u l t s i n the b e h a v i o r a l conduct domain when compared with the academic domain. One reason f o r t h i s d i f f i c u l t y may be that i n the academic domain c h i l d r e n have access to concrete feedback sources such as grades and/or teachers' e x p e c t a t i o n s . In c o n t r a s t , w i t h i n the b e h a v i o r a l conduct context c h i l d r e n 97 r e c e i v e non-standardized and l e s s c o n c r e t e forms of feedback i n f o r m a t i o n . Fourth, the f i n d i n g s a l s o suggest that t e a c h e r s ' p l a y a more s i g n i f i c a n t r o l e i n c h i l d r e n ' s developing s e l f -p e r c e p t i o n s a c r o s s domains than p r e v i o u s l y thought. For example, the m a j o r i t y of s t u d i e s imply that t e a c h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s only i n f l u e n c e c h i l d r e n ' s a b i l i t y p e r c e p t i o n s i n the academic domain. However, i n the present study teachers' e x p e c t a t i o n s s i g n i f i c a n t l y p r e d i c t e d c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s across academic, s o c i a l and a t h l e t i c domains. T h i s f i n d i n g suggests that teachers do not i n f l u e n c e c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s u n i d i m e n s i o n a l l y . As Rosenholtz and Simpson (1984) s t a t e : " i f classrooms [ t e a c h e r s ] are organized to c r e a t e m u l t i p l e performance dimensions, m u l t i p l e bases [on the p a r t of the teacher] f o r e v a l u a t i n g performances w i l l e x i s t " (p.37). Arguably, t h i s i m p l i e s that teachers are not only seen by c h i l d r e n as academic a u t h o r i t i e s . Rather, teachers are more l i k e l y to be p e r c e i v e d by c h i l d r e n as l e g i t i m a t e r e f e r e n c e sources a c r o s s c o n t e x t s . In pursuing t h i s i s s u e one step f u r t h e r , i t can be argued that c h i l d r e n ' s self-knowledge thus becomes i n t i m a t e l y l i n k e d to i n s t i t u t i o n a l i z e d conceptions of a b i l i t y formulated on the b a s i s of t e a c h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s (Rosenholtz & Simpson, 1984). T h e r e f o r e , "what i n d i v i d u a l s know to be r e a l [about themselves] i s at l e a s t i n p a r t s o c i a l l y c o n s t r u c t e d [on the b a s i s of teachers' 98 e x p e c t a t i o n s ] " (Rosenholtz & Simpson, 1984, p., 33). In support of t h i s c o n c e p t u a l i z a t i o n , Rosenholtz and Simpson (1986) s t a t e t h a t , The c e n t r a l i t y of i n t e l l e c t u a l a b i l i t y to American c u l t u r e and the t r a d i t i o n a l s t r u c t u r e of sc h o o l experiences makes i t extremely l i k e l y that schools [thus t e a c h e r s ] w i l l generate a b i l i t y c onceptions among students that are isomorphic with those of the l a r g e r s o c i e t y , (p. 35) Such isomorphism between the tea c h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s and c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s i s seen by e d u c a t i o n a l i n s t i t u t i o n s as necessary f o r s o c i a l s t a b i l i t y . I t i s i n s t r u c t i v e t h a t the same p o i n t can be made reg a r d i n g c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - v i e w s ; the l e s s d i s p a r i t y between a s i g n i f i c a n t o t h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s and c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - v i e w , the l e s s i n t e r n a l c o n f l i c t and g r e a t e r s t a b i l i t y c h i l d r e n w i l l experience. C l e a r l y , t h i s r e f l e c t s the i m p o s i t i o n s o c i a l i z e r s o f t e n p l a c e on c h i l d r e n to maintain s t a n d a r d i z e d norms of academic, s o c i a l and moral behavior. U n f o r t u n a t e l y , the t r a n s m i s s i o n of c u l t u r a l l y based e x p e c t a t i o n s may discourage some c h i l d r e n from succeeding i n the present system. For example, c h i l d r e n s o c i a l i z e d i n s o c i a l arrangements a n t i t h e t i c a l to mainstream e x p e c t a t i o n s f o r behavior may develop s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s that do not a c c u r a t e l y r e f l e c t t h e i r a b i l i t y . In t h i s way, expectancy feedback may att e n u a t e c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - e s t e e m , t h e i r f u t u r e p s y c h o s o c i a l adjustment and v o c a t i o n a l o p p o r t u n i t i e s . While the data do not d i r e c t l y address these i s s u e s and no c a u s a l r e l a t i o n s can be i n f e r r e d , they h i g h l i g h t the need f o r f u r t h e r r e s e a r c h on the s o c i a l i z i n g i n f l u e n c e of teachers' 99 e x p e c t a t i o n s on c h i l d r e n ' s developing s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s a c r o s s achievement c o n t e x t s . F i n a l l y , i t should be s t r e s s e d t h a t , c o n s i s t e n t with p r e v i o u s r e s e a r c h , mothers' e x p e c t a t i o n s were s i g n i f i c a n t i n p r e d i c t i n g c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s . Moreover, t h i s r e l a t i o n s h i p h e l d up i n three of the four achievement domains examined. Since i n most domains, the c o r r e l a t i o n c o e f f i c i e n t s i n r e l a t i o n to p e r c e i v e d competence between mothers' and f a t h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s were not s u b s t a n t i v e l y d i s p a r a t e , i t cannot be i n f e r r e d that mothers' e x p e c t a t i o n s r a t h e r than f a t h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s p l a y a more s a l i e n t r o l e i n c h i l d r e n ' s developing s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s . I t r e i t e r a t e s , however, the importance of age d i f f e r e n c e s i n determining which s o c i a l i z i n g agents' w i l l be deemed most important by c h i l d r e n when making s e l f - e v a l u a t i o n s . For example, mothers may be the primary s o c i a l i z i n g agents f o r middle age school c h i l d r e n . F a t h e r s may f i g u r e more prominently at a l a t e r developmental stage. T h i s i s c o n s i s t e n t with s o c i a l i z a t i o n r e s e a r c h and t r a d i t i o n a l conceptions of the f a m i l y . C h i l d r e n ' s P e r c e p t i o n s of Others' E x p e c t a t i o n s Probably the most s t r i k i n g f i n d i n g of the study concerns the primary r o l e c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of s i g n i f i c a n t o t h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s p l a y i n p r e d i c t i n g c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s ; " c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of o t h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s " c o n t r i b u t e d the l a r g e s t p r o p o r t i o n of v a r i a n c e to c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e i v e d competence both a c r o s s and w i t h i n achievement domains. These r e s u l t s r e p l i c a t e 100 p r e v i o u s f i n d i n g s of E c c l e s (1983) and others ( P h i l l i p s , 1984, 1987) that suggest a p r e d i c t i v e r e l a t i o n s h i p between c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of o t h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s and c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s of competence. The b a s i c q u e s t i o n that remains then i s " why i s i t that c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of o t h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s maintain more p r e d i c t i v e power than e i t h e r s o c i a l i z e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s and past performance?" One p o s s i b i l i t y i s that c h i l d r e n may a c q u i r e expectancy i n f o r m a t i o n from a s i g n i f i c a n t other that i s p r e v i o u s l y organized, r e g u l a t e d and c o n s i s t e n t . However, through the i n t e r a c t i o n of o t h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s and a c h i l d ' s l e v e l of p s y c h o l o g i c a l adjustment, c h i l d r e n may r e c o n s t r u c t or d i s t o r t the i n f o r m a t i o n o r i g i n a l l y conveyed. For example, c o n s i d e r a c h i l d i s that has been traumatized as a r e s u l t of p a r e n t a l abuse. The abused c h i l d , viewing the s e l f i n negative terms, might m i s i n t e r p r e t s i g n i f i c a n t o t h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s and t h e i r u n d e r l y i n g s i g n i f i c a n c e simply by m a i n t a i n i n g a p s y c h o l o g i c a l p o s i t i o n that does not a c c u r a t e l y r e f l e c t t h e i r a b i l i t y . A r e l a t e d c o n c l u s i o n has been o u t l i n e d by E c c l e s (1983) and others (see Bandura, 1977; Damon & Hart, 1982; P h i l l i p s , 1987; Mead, 1934; Weinstein et a l . 1986). E c c l e s (1983) and Bandura (1977), f o r example, argue that feedback or expectancy i n f o r m a t i o n from a s i g n i f i c a n t other i s most a c c u r a t e l y r e f l e c t e d i n c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of others and thus s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s when: (1) c h i l d r e n a t t e n d to the 101 o r i g i n a l message r e l a y e d by s i g n i f i c a n t others (Damon & Hart, (1982); (2) when these expectancy messages are not s i g n i f i c a n t l y incongruent with the e x p e c t a t i o n s of other s a l i e n t i n f l u e n c e s (Mead, 1934); and (3) when the s i g n i f i c a n t other i s p e r c e i v e d by the c h i l d as important (Bandura, 1977). In l i g h t of t h i s evidence, p e r c e p t i o n s of others may not be e n t i r e l y a c c u r a t e r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s of the environment, and " i n t r a i n d i v i d u a l f a c t o r s may p l a y a r o l e i n what i s p e r c e i v e d " (Weinstein et a l . 1982, p. 679). In the present study, c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of t h e i r t eachers' and parents' e x p e c t a t i o n s were s i g n i f i c a n t l y but only moderately c o r r e l a t e d with t e a c h e r s ' and parents' a c t u a l e x p e c t a t i o n s f u r t h e r s u p p o r t i n g a " c o g n i t i v e d i s t o r t i o n " h y p o t h e s i s . T h i r d , c h i l d r e n may not be capable of d i s t i n g u i s h i n g between a s e l f and s e l f / s i g n i f i c a n t - o t h e r c o n s t r u c t at t h i s developmental stage. That i s , i t i s p o s s i b l e that p e r c e p t i o n s of oth e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s and s e l f - v i e w s are i m p e r c e p t i b l e to c h i l d r e n . Such l i m i t s i n c o g n i t i v e c a p a c i t i e s may impede c h i l d r e n ' s attempts to make conceptual d i s t i n c t i o n s between c o n s t r u c t s . Furthermore, t h i s p o s s i b l e homogeneity of c o g n i t i v e c o n s t r u c t s c a l l s i n t o q u e s t i o n the v a l i d i t y of u t i l i z i n g measures d e f i n e d as c o n c e p t u a l l y d i s t i n c t s t r u c t u r e s when they have not yet been v a l i d a t e d as such. While r e s e a r c h on domains of s o c i a l and c o g n i t i v e judgement have supported the c o n t e n t i o n that young c h i l d r e n form g e n e r a l concepts d i s t i n g u i s h a b l e by domain (Harter, 1982), there are v i r t u a l l y no v a l i d a t i o n s t u d i e s a s s e s s i n g 102 the c o n s t r u c t v a l i d i t y of c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of o t h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s . Another a l t e r n a t i v e e x p l a n a t i o n i s that the v a r i a n c e accounted f o r by c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of o t h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s i s due to measurement a r t i f a c t s such as the i d i o s y n c r a t i c use of measurement s c a l e s . In the present study c h i l d r e n were administered a l l the q u e s t i o n n a i r e s a s s e s s i n g c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of teachers' and parents' e x p e c t a t i o n s c o n c u r r e n t l y . Moreover, the s t r u c t u r e and content of the q u e s t i o n n a i r e s were v i r t u a l l y analogous. Thus, while i t i s p l a u s i b l e that c h i l d r e n do make d i s t i n c t i o n s between p e r c e p t i o n s of t h e i r own a b i l i t y and t h e i r p e r c e p t i o n s of what others expect of them, the methodological inadequacies may have rendered the c o n s t r u c t s redundant. Of i n t e r e s t i s that i n p r e v i o u s work by E c c l e s (1983), st r o n g r e l a t i o n s between c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of parents' e x p e c t a t i o n s and c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s of math a b i l i t y were a l s o found. The c o r r e l a t i o n s ranged from .48 to .55 ac r o s s 3 d i f f e r e n t samples. E c c l e s (1983) a l s o i d e n t i f i e d a domain e n t i t l e d "Perception of parents' p e r c e p t i o n of c h i l d ' s math a b i l i t y " . The c o r r e l a t i o n s between the p e r c e p t i o n of parents' p e r c e p t i o n of a c h i l d ' s math a b i l i t y and c h i l d r e n ' s math s e l f - c o n c e p t ranged from .69 to .74 ac r o s s these samples. S i m i l a r methodological procedures were employed i n the present study. 103 Although the a r t i f a c t i n t e r p r e t a t i o n or c o g n i t i v e maturation argument c o u l d account f o r E c c l e s (1983) data and the r e s u l t s of the present study, what i s p e r p l e x i n g i s that E c c l e s (1983) d i s r e g a r d s the p o s s i b i l i t i e s of r i v a l hypotheses i n e x p l a i n i n g the data. Undoubtedly however, the f i n d i n g s of the present study p o i n t to l i m i t a t i o n s of p r e v i o u s e m p i r i c a l work conducted i n t h i s area and i n d i c a t e a c a l l f o r more r i g o r o u s measurement procedures when a s s e s s i n g young c h i l d r e n ' s c o g n i t i o n s . U n f o r t u n a t e l y , the a v a i l a b l e data cannot speak d i r e c t l y to the i s s u e of the a r t i f a c t i n t e r p r e t a t i o n . The r e s u l t s do, however, speak i n d i r e c t l y to t h i s i s s u e because they h i g h l i g h t the q u e s t i o n of whether an assessment t o o l of t h i s nature should be deemed ag e - a p p r o p r i a t e . Performance F a c t o r s An unequivocal p a t t e r n emerged with respect to the r e l a t i v e c o n t r i b u t i o n s made by performance f a c t o r s to the p r e d i c t i o n of c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s of competence acro s s achievement domains. As expected, academic performance c o n t r i b u t e d a s i g n i f i c a n t amount of v a r i a n c e to the p r e d i c t i o n of c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of academic competence. S i m i l a r r e s u l t s emerged i n the s o c i a l domain; s o c i o m e t r i c s t a t u s s i g n i f i c a n t l y p r e d i c t e d c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f -p e r c e i v e d s o c i a l competence. D i f f e r e n c e s were most marked i n the b e h a v i o r a l conduct and a t h l e t i c domain where the amount of v a r i a n c e accounted f o r by performance f a c t o r s was reduced s i g n i f i c a n t l y . One reason f o r t h i s may be that 104 adequate performance measures were not used as p r e d i c t o r v a r i a b l e s i n e i t h e r of these domains. Academic performance i s t r a d i t i o n a l l y seen as a performance measure i n the academic domain and s o c i o m e t r i c s t a t u s i s t r a d i t i o n a l l y seen as a measure of performance i n the s o c i a l domain. These two v a r i a b l e s , however, are not t r a d i t i o n a l l y viewed as performance measures i n other achievement domains. In c o n c l u s i o n , these r e s u l t s suggest that the r e l a t i v e c o n t r i b u t i o n s made by performance f a c t o r s to the p r e d i c t i o n of p e r c e i v e d competence does vary a c r o s s achievement domains. For example, academic performance has domain-s p e c i f i c e v a l u a t i v e power in the academic domain. Conversely, i n the s o c i a l domain s o c i o m e t r i c s t a t u s emerges as the s i g n i f i c a n t p r e d i c t o r . Both w i t h i n and a c r o s s domains, however, c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of o t h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s c o n t r i b u t e d more v a r i a n c e to p e r c e i v e d competence over that which performance f a c t o r s c o n t r i b u t e d . I m p l i c a t i o n s For T h e o r i e s of C h i l d Development T h i s study has proposed and supported the assumption that s o c i a l i z e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s , c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of these e x p e c t a t i o n s and performance f a c t o r s c o n t r i b u t e d i f f e r e n t i a l l y to the p r e d i c t i o n of c h i l d r e n ' s domain-s p e c i f i c s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s of competence. E x t r a p o l a t i n g from the p e r s p e c t i v e of Harter (1981, 1982, 1985) and E c c l e s (1983), a g e n e r a l model of p e r c e i v e d competence was developed and assessed i n r e l a t i o n to these assumptions. While the development of such a model does not provide 105 support f o r c a u s a l a s s o c i a t i o n s between the v a r i a b l e s assessed, the r e s u l t s p r o v i d e p r e l i m i n a r y support f o r the suggestion t h a t c h i l d r e n ' s self-judgements are i n t e r a c t i v e with c o n t e x t s and t h a t , i n p a r t , e v a l u a t i o n s of one's competence stems from the e x p e c t a t i o n s s o c i a l i z e r s ' communicate to c h i l d r e n , c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of these e x p e c t a t i o n s and performance f a c t o r s . F i n d i n g s that support the p r e d i c t i v e v a l i d i t y of s o c i a l i z a t i o n f a c t o r s a c r o s s domains of the s e l f - c o n c e p t are not i n themselves i n d i c a t i v e of the v a l i d i t y of a t h e o r e t i c a l p o s i t i o n on the nature or sources of s e l f -concept development. However, they e l u c i d a t e four s a l i e n t i s s u e s f o r the developmental t h e o r e t i c i a n attempting to i d e n t i f y the o r i g i n s of s e l f - c o n c e p t development. F i r s t , t h i s r e s e a r c h c a l l s i n t o q u e s t i o n the symbolic i n t e r a c t i o n i s t s ' p o s i t i o n suggesting that a l l self-knowledge i n e v i t a b l y proceeds from the a c t u a l messages conveyed by s i g n i f i c a n t o t h e r s . T h i s p o s i t i o n "presumes a d i r e c t l i n k between s e l f and o t h e r s " (Blum, 1988, p.,315) and i m p l i e s that c h i l d r e n "are r e l a t i v e l y p a s s i v e r e c i p i e n t s of the p r e s t r u c t u r e d r e a l i t y of the e x t e r n a l world" (Liben & B i g l e r , 1987, p.98). However, i t does not take i n t o c o n s i d e r a t i o n the i n d i r e c t means of f o r g i n g or [ r e c r e a t i n g ] a subsequent c o g n i t i v e l i n k between s e l f [ c h i l d ] and other (Blum, 1987). In the present study, evidence suggested that c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of o t h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s , r a t h e r than s o c i a l i z e r s ' a c t u a l e x p e c t a t i o n s , were more important 106 p r e d i c t o r s of c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e i v e d competence. T h i s f i n d i n g i m p l i e s that c h i l d r e n u t i l i z e p e r s o n a l schemes to a s s i m i l a t e i n f o r m a t i o n from the environment i n t o t h e i r own c o g n i t i v e s t r u c t u r e s while simultaneously r e c o n s t r u c t i n g i t acc o r d i n g to t h e i r p e r c e p t i o n s . " Thus, s t i m u l i a c q u i r e t h e i r meaning not only from the e x t e r n a l world of the i n v e s t i g a t o r , but a l s o from the i n t e r n a l world of the s u b j e c t " (Liben & B i g l e r , 1987, p. 98). W i t t g e n s t e i n has shed t h e o r e t i c a l l i g h t on t h i s problem. As h i g h l i g h t e d i n Blum (1987): W i t t g e n s t e i n sees the commonalty between persons s h a r i n g a form of l i f e as a c o n d i t i o n of the p o s s i b i l i t y of knowledge of o t h e r s , and indeed a p r e s u p p o s i t i o n of any processes of i n f e r e n c e s made by one person of s i g n i f i c a n c e with regard to another. At the moment the no t i o n of the c h i l d , g e n e r a t i n g knowledge of others p u r e l y out of h i s own experience [without i n v o l v i n g some form of i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of that knowledge] - the paradigm f o r e m p i r i c i s t epistemology -i s , W i t t g e n s t e i n argues, an incoherent one. (Blum, p.315) In other words, c h i l d r e n ' s a b i l i t y to grasp the meaning of s i g n i f i c a n t o t h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s i s a h i g h l y s p e c i a l i z e d c o g n i t i v e process that has not yet found i t s conceptual grounding i n theory. E l a b o r a t i n g on t h i s , Shrauger and Schoeneman (1979) s t a t e : that the aspect of the l o o k i n g - g l a s s hypothesis that has been most f r e q u e n t l y examined, the e f f e c t of d i r e c t feedback form other people, r e f l e c t s only one of the ways that i n t e r a c t i o n with o t h e r s has an impact on self-judgements. (p. 569) The r e f o r e , at is s u e f o r the t h e o r e t i c i a n i s not whether s o c i a l i z e r s a c t u a l l y communicate e x p e c t a t i o n s to c h i l d r e n but the form of those communications, as w e l l as the nature of t h e i r e f f e c t i v e n e s s . T h i s i m p l i e s that the analyses of 107 s i g n i f i c a n t o t h e r - c h i l d i n t e r a c t i o n s n e c e s s i t a t e s the development of more d e t a i l e d conceptions of the e x p e c t a n c y / s e l f - c o n c e p t r e l a t i o n i n c h i l d r e n . E x p e c t a n c y / s e l f - c o n c e p t r e l a t i o n s can be broadened i n two ways. One i s to account f o r the v a r i o u s ways e x p e c t a t i o n s are conveyed ( i . e . , punishment, p r a i s e , grades, et c ) to c h i l d r e n and to compare the d i f f e r e n t i a l e f f e c t i v e n e s s of these i n f l u e n c e s on c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - v i e w s . The second i s to d e s c r i b e the r e c i p r o c i t y i n a d u l t - c h i l d i n t e r a c t i o n s and c h i l d r e n ' s c o g n i t i v e r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s of these i n t e r a c t i o n s more a c c u r a t e l y . C e r t a i n l y the t r a n s l a t i o n of e x p e c t a t i o n s by c h i l d r e n i n v o l v e s an i n t e r a c t i v e process demanding both i n t e r p r e t a t i o n and understanding of t h e i r s o c i a l meaning. Implementation of these f u n c t i o n s i m p l i e s that the development of self-knowledge i s not a top-down accommodation process that stands apart from the v a r i o u s c o g n i t i v e o p e r a t i o n s c h i l d r e n engage i n . Thus, a departure from s e l f - c o n c e p t r e s e a r c h l a c k i n g e x p l i c i t t h e o r e t i c a l l i n k s between s o c i a l i z e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s and c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f -views would be a worthwhile e m p i r i c a l l e a p . Second, given the purported s i g n i f i c a n c e of c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of others' e x p e c t a t i o n s f o r s e l f - c o n c e p t development, f u t u r e s t u d i e s of the extent and impact of s o c i a l i z e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s on c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s should focus on the c o g n i t i v e processes whereby c h i l d r e n a c q u i r e erroneous or i n a c c u r a t e views of o t h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s . Indeed, i f c h i l d r e n maintain a erroneous view 108 of s i g n i f i c a n t others over the course of t h e i r development, then the establishment of an a c c u r a t e s e l f - v i e w appears u n l i k e l y . T h i r d , more o b s e r v a t i o n a l r e s e a r c h i s needed to examine the methods whereby a d u l t s convey e x p e c t a t i o n s to c h i l d r e n . Although r e s e a r c h conducted i n the area of s o c i a l c o g n i t i o n has p r o v i d e d r e l e v a n t l e a d s , the ongoing use of q u e s t i o n n a i r e s a s s e s s i n g a c t u a l expectancies c o n f i n e the r e s e a r c h e r ' s a b i l i t y to a c c u r a t e l y t r a n s l a t e t h e i r i m p l i c i t meaning. Thus, " r e a l l i f e " circumstances that are not c o n t r i v e d may be more a p p r o p r i a t e research s e t t i n g s f o r examining the r o l e s o c i a l i z e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s p l a y i n p r e d i c t i n g c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - v i e w s . Fourth, the use of d i v e r s e methodological frameworks i n the examination of c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s would a s s i s t in a m e l i o r a t i n g the problems a s s o c i a t e d with a l t e r n a t i v e i n t e r p r e t a t i o n s of the data. For example, while the independent v a r i a b l e s s i g n i f i c a n t l y p r e d i c t c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e i v e d competence, i t may a l s o be the case that the reverse i s t r u e - c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s are p r e d i c t i v e of academic performance and/or c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of o t h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s . Employing l o n g i t u d i n a l s t u d i e s and c r o s s lagged panel analyses are two r e s e a r c h s t r a t e g i e s that may be u s e f u l i n t e a s i n g out problems of t h i s nature. F i n a l l y , although numerous c r i t i c i s m s have been l e v e l e d a g a i n s t the b a s i c methodological framework of the study, the most urgent task i s to develop instruments that p a r a l l e l 109 t h e o r e t i c a l l y and s t a t i s t i c a l l y sound c o n s t r u c t s that c h i l d r e n can d i s t i n g u i s h . These i s s u e s must be d e a l t with before progress i s made i n understanding the nature and o r i g i n s of c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s . I m p l i c a t i o n s f o r C o u n s e l l o r s In a d d i t i o n to p r e s e n t i n g i m p l i c a t i o n s f o r the propagation of theory i n the area of s e l f - c o n c e p t development, s e v e r a l p r a c t i c a l i s s u e s are r e l e v a n t when c o n s i d e r i n g c o u n s e l l i n g s t r a t e g i e s f o r c h i l d r e n s u f f e r i n g from low s e l f - e s t e e m . The f i r s t i s s u e i s that c o u n s e l l o r s need to give heed to problems of " c e n t r a t i o n " i n c h i l d r e n - a c h i l d ' s tendency to a t t e n d to one environmental s t i m u l i to the extent that other e q u a l l y important s o c i a l r e f e r e n c e s (Liben & B i g l e r , 1987, p.,99) are excluded. I f c h i l d r e n focus only on one aspect of t h e i r immediate context i n f o r m u l a t i n g s e l f -p e r c e p t i o n s , they may unknowingly endorse a s e l f - v i e w that bears no r e a l r e l a t i o n to t h e i r a c t u a l a b i l i t y . These r e s t r a i n t s on c h i l d r e n ' s c o g n i t i v e c a p a c i t i e s suggest that c o u n s e l l o r s a s s i s t young c h i l d r e n i n r e p l a c i n g the " r e l i a n c e on s i g n i f i c a n t o t h e r s ' views" with more a p p r o p r i a t e s e l f -r e l i a n c e dimensions such as i n t e r e s t s , c o n t r i b u t i o n s , s k i l l s or s e l f - c o m p a r i s o n s t r a t e g i e s . A d d i t i o n a l l y , c o u n s e l l o r s should encourage c h i l d r e n to c a t e g o r i z e expectancy i n f o r m a t i o n they r e c e i v e i n m u l t i p l e ways. T h i s w i l l a s s i s t young c h i l d r e n i n examining the v a r i o u s ways i n which they 110 are p e r c e i v e d so that unidimensional and erroneous assessments of t h e i r competence i s avoided. Second, c o u n s e l l o r s should be aware that c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - v i e w s d i v e r g e markedly a c r o s s c l a s s and c u l t u r e . Such divergence r e p r e s e n t s the v a r i o u s ways on which c h i l d r e n c o n s t r u c t t h e i r s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s . Understanding the v a r y i n g s o c i a l dimensions of s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s w i l l a s s i s t the c o u n s e l l o r i n b e t t e r understanding the c h i l d ' s d i f f i c u l t i e s and corresponding needs. Moreover, the assessment of c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e i v e d b a r r i e r s to change w i l l be more e a s i l y d e t e c t e d i f the c o u n s e l l o r i s adept to both c u l t u r e and c l a s s i n the development of s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s . T h i r d , c o u n s e l l o r s should examine the degree to which there i s congruence between s o c i a l i z e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s , c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of these e x p e c t a t i o n s and c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s . If t h i s i s s u e i s avoided, c o u n s e l l o r s w i l l impede t h e i r own attempts to detect c o g n i t i v e d i s t o r t i o n mechanisms o p e r a t i n g e i t h e r i n p a r e n t s , t e a c h e r s , or c h i l d r e n . Such ne g l e c t may b r i n g about an i n t e r v e n t i o n method that i s i n e f f e c t i v e i n promoting a change in c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s of competence. Fourth, the f i n d i n g s suggest that c o u n s e l l o r s a t t e n d to the developmental stage of c h i l d r e n when add r e s s i n g problems a s s o c i a t e d with low s e l f - e s t e e m . If c h i l d r e n u t i l i z e d i f f e r e n t s o c i a l r e f e r e n c e s when e v a l u a t i n g t h e i r competence acro s s developmental stages, then c o u n s e l l i n g p r a c t i c e s that "maximize s e l f - c o n f i d e n c e and p o s i t i v e m o t i v a t i o n f o r I l l c h i l d r e n i n one age group may not be a p p r o p r i a t e f o r c h i l d r e n i n another age group" (Stipek & Mac I v e r , 1989, p. 535). F i n a l l y , i n keeping with an i d e o l o g i c a l commitment to improving the s o c i a l s t a t u s of c h i l d r e n , the c o u n s e l l o r should pursue the q u e s t i o n of "which s o c i a l r e f e r e n c e s have s o c i a l meaning to c h i l d r e n a c r o s s c o n t e x t s ? " . The purpose of t h i s i s to b r i n g i n t o r e l i e f any p o s s i b l e i n e q u i t i e s the c h i l d may f e e l with regard to s o c i a l i z e r s i n p a r t i c u l a r c o n t e x t s . That c o u n s e l l o r s may need to redress the imbalance between s i g n i f i c a n t others and t h e i r c h i l d r e n and/or students has not been d e a l t with adequately i n the c o u n s e l l i n g arena. However, a s s i s t i n g i n improving a c h i l d ' s p s y c h o l o g i c a l s t a t u s i m p l i e s a n e c e s s i t y to examine p e r c e i v e d competence w i t h i n a s o c i o l o g i c a l framework that serves to uncover the o f t e n u n r e a l i s t i c e x p e c t a t i o n s imposed on c h i l d r e n by a u t h o r i t y f i g u r e s i n the l a r g e r s o c i e t y . L i m i t a t i o n s of the Study The c o n c l u s i o n s of the present study should be examined with some c a u t i o n . With the general p e r c e i v e d competence model as the primary u n i t of a n a l y s i s , the study i s l i m i t e d i n scope with r e f e r e n c e to the e x p l a n a t i o n of other p o s s i b l e p r e d i c t o r s of d o m a i n - s p e c i f i c s e l f - p e r c e i v e d competence. In a d d i t i o n , because of l i t t l e precedent i n p r e v i o u s r e s e a r c h f o r the c l a s s i f i c a t i o n of d o m a i n - s p e c i f i c i n f l u e n c e s , the study took an approach that was l a r g e l y e x p l o r a t o r y . For example, i t was not p o s s i b l e to e s t a b l i s h a p r e c i s e 112 p e r c e i v e d competence model that r e t a i n e d an adequate s t a t i s t i c a l f i t a c r o s s the academic, s o c i a l , a t h l e t i c and b e h a v i o r a l conduct domains. F i n a l l y , i t should be noted that s e v e r a l r i v a l hypotheses can be posed i n l i g h t of the methodological inadequacies of the present study. General C o n c l u s i o n s The author has attempted to advance an e x p l o r a t o r y model of p e r c e i v e d competence that e l a b o r a t e s on pre v i o u s .empirical work by E c c l e s (1983) and Harter (1981, 1982, 1983, 1985). T e s t i n g a " p e r c e i v e d competence" model has prov i d e d some support f o r the suggestion that s e l f -p e r c e p t i o n s of competence are based, at l e a s t i n p a r t , on s i g n i f i c a n t o t h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s and c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of s i g n i f i c a n t o t h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s . In l i g h t of these f i n d i n g s , the r e s u l t s accent the need f o r : (1) a more ex t e n s i v e i n v e s t i g a t i o n of the s i g n i f i c a n t o t h e r - c h i l d i n t e r a c t i o n process i n c o n j u n c t i o n with a improved understanding of the p s y c h o l o g i c a l processes shaping c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of oth e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s ; and (2) the need f o r b e t t e r methodological adeptness when conducting r e s e a r c h i n s o c i a l c o g n i t i o n . I t i s only then that we w i l l understand, f i r s t , why c h i l d r e n become m a r g i n a l i z e d through a seemingly incomprehensible process of s o c i a l i z a t i o n and second, how such m a r g i n a l i z a t i o n can be am e l i o r a t e d . FOOTNOTES 1 T h i s i s not to suggest that a p o s i t i v e r e l a t i o n s h i p between s o c i a l i z e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s and c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f -p e r c e p t i o n s of academic competence does not e x i s t . In f a c t , the t h e o r e t i c a l arguments pr o v i d e d h i g h l i g h t the s i g n i f i c a n c e of a s s e s s i n g the impact of s o c i a l i z e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s a c r o s s s e l f - c o n c e p t domains. However, l i t t l e a t t e n t i o n has been p a i d to the v a r i a t i o n of i n s t r u m e n t a t i o n w i t h i n a s i n g l e domain such as E n g l i s h s e l f - c o n c e p t and or Math s e l f - c o n c e p t . A d d i t i o n a l l y , the preceding c o r r e l a t i o n between teachers' e x p e c t a t i o n s and c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f -p e r c e p t i o n s of competence was c o n s i d e r e d to be moderate to h i g h thus p r o v i d i n g f u r t h e r evidence of a l i n k between te a c h e r s ' e x p e c t a t i o n s and c h i l d r e n ' s s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s of academic competence. 114 REFERENCES Apple, M., & King, N. (1978). What do schools teach? In G. W i l l i s (Ed.). Q u a l i t a t i v e e v a l u a t i o n : Concepts and cases i n c u r r i c u l u m c r i t i c i s m (pp. 444-465). Berkeley, CA: McCutchan. Asher, S. R., & Hymel, S. (1981). C h i l d r e n ' s s o c i a l competence i n peer r e l a t i o n s : s o c i o m e t r i c and b e h a v i o r a l assessment. In J . D. Wine, & M. D. Smye (Eds.), S o c i a l Competence (pp. 125-155). New York: G u i l f o r d Press Ausubel, D., S c h i f f , H., & G l a s s e r , E. (1952). 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Student p e r c e p t i o n s of teacher i n t e r a c t i o n s with male high and low a c h i e v e r s . J o u r n a l of E d u c a t i o n a l Psychology, 71, 421-431 . 124 APPENDIX A Q u e s t i o n n a i r e A s s e s s i n g Parents' and Teachers' E x p e c t a t i o n s REVISED VERSION Child's name FJUIEUT'S EXPECTATXOHS FOR CHILD'S FUTURE BEHAVIOUR Clnss/grnfio/schcol Hater (Mon or Dad) t'JUiase indicate what you f e o l w i l l bo your c h i l d ' s future conipcten.ee (next year and the yenr after) on each question, i n your opinion. F i r s t decide vhat kind of c h i l d he or ehe w i l l be l i k e , the one described on the l e f t or r i g h t , and then indicate whether thin i n j u s t sort of true or r e a l l y true for your c h i l d . Thus, for ccch ite o , check one of four tei.es. P.«ally True Sort of True Sort of True Really True • 5- • • • • • • Tliis c h i l d w i l l be able OK to do his/her school work. This c h i l d will, f i n d i t OR hard to make friends. This c h i l d w i l l do well at a l l kinds of sports. OR This c h i l d usually w i l l OK be well-behaved. This c h i l d often w i l l OR forget what she/he learns. This c h i l d w i l l have OR cl o t of friends.' This c h i l d w i l l not be cblo to do the school work AKnigned. For t h i s c h i l d i t w i l l be pretty easy. Tills c h i l d v i l l not be very good when i t coaes to sports. Thin c h i l d w i l l often not bo well-bahaved. •Ch.vs c h i l d -.-.•ill be able to :s;r.caber things CStKJ.lv . This c h i l d w i l l not have many friends. L _ l • • • • • • • r~i e. s. .12. , 1 • a This c h i l d w i l l be better than others h i s / her age at sportc. OS This c h i l d w i l l not be able to play as well as others. Tliis c h i l d usually w i l l OR act appropriately. This c h i l d w i l l have On trouble figuring out the answers in school. This c h i l d w i l l be OR popular with others his/her age. This c h i l d w i l l not do OU well at H3J outdoor garaos. This c h i l d often w i l l OR get i n trouble bec.-.ust-of things hc/roe <loor.. • n This c h i l d w i l l be better i f she/he acts d i f f e r e n t l y . This c h i l d w i l l almost always figure out the answers. This c h i l d w i l l not be very popular. Tliis c h i l d w i l l bo good •*. 1 at new goaics r i g h t away. ' • This c h i l d usually w i l l not do things that got hM'./hor i n tiroublr-. n a • • • 126 APPENDIX B Q u e s t i o n n a i r e A s s e s s i n g C h i l d r e n ' s P e r c e p t i o n s of S o c i a l i z e r s ' E x p e c t a t i o n s 127 REVISED VERSION WHAT tU TEACHER THINKS I WILL DE LIKE WEXT YEAR C M W ' B nej : ie Clacs/grade/group Re.illy True n Sort of True Sort of True 2- • 3- • 9 . IV. 12. ! i • a a LJ • • • • • • • • My teacher thinks I OH w i l l be able to do my school work. My teacher thinks I w i l l f i n d i t hard to make friends. My teacher thinks I OH w i l l do well at a l l kinds of sports. Ky teccher thinks 1 OP. usually v i l l be we l l -behaved . Ky teacher thinks I OR w i l l often forgot vliat I learn. My teacher thinks 1 On v i i i have alot of friends. My teacher thinks I OR w i l l be better than others ny age at. spoxrts. Ky teacher thinks I OR usually w i l l act properly. Ky teacher thinks I OP. w i l l have trouble figuring out the answers i n school. Ky teacher thinks I OR w i l l be popular with others ray age. My teacher thinks I OR won't be able to do_ well at new outdoor games. My teacher thinks I OH often w i l l get i n trouble because of things I ca. Ky teacher thinks I won't be able to do the 6chool vork assigned. OR Ky teacher thinks I w i l l be able to make friends pretty e a s i l y . • • My teccher thinks I won't be very good when i t cones to sports. Ky teacher thinks I often won't be well-behaved. My teacher thinks I w i l l be able to reniember things e a s i l y . My teccher thinks I won't have many friends. • • a • Ky teacher thinks I won't play as well as others. My teacher thinks I w i l l be better i f I act d i f f e r e n t l y . My teacher thinks I alnost always w i l l be able to figure out the answers. My teacher thinks I w i l l not be very popular. My teacher thinks I w i l l bn good at new games rig h t away. My teacher thinks usually I won't do things that get me i n trouble, • • • • • Real! True • • • • • • • a • • • 1 2 8 REVISED VERSION WHAT MY PARENTS THINKft I VIILL BE LIKE NEXT YEAR C h i l d ' s name Claos/grade/group Really True 3 a 4- • 6 . 7 . 8 • 1=3 9 • Bort of True • • • • • • • • • r~i Sort of True My parents think I OR w i l l be able to do ny school work. My parents think I w i l l OR find i t hard to Bake friends. My parents think I w i l l On. do well at a l l kinds of sports. My parents think I OR usually w i l l be wsll-behaved. My parents think I w i l l OB often forget what 1 learn. My parents thin!; I w i l l OR have alot of friends. Hy parents think 1 w i l l OR be better than ethers my age at sports. My parents think I usually w i l l act properly. OP. My parents think 1 w i l l OR have trouble figuring out the answers in school. Hy parents think I w i l l OH be popular with othert By age. My parent? thin) 1 won't be able tr do well at nev outOecr games. My parertr thitir. I cftc .ii w i l l get ir; trovi>ie bc:su.-:- cC thinac 1 d o . OR My parents think I won't be able to do the •chool work assigned. My paronts think I w i l l be able to Bake friends pretty easily. a • Ky parents think I i 1 won't be very good when ' ' i t comes to sports. fly parents think I often won't be well-behaved. My parnnts think I w i l l be able to remember things easily. My parents think I i 1 won't have many friends. ' ' • • Hy parents think I won't play as »;tll as others. My parents think I w i l l be better i f I act diff e r e n t l y . My parents think I almost alweye w i l l be able to figure out the answers. My parents think 1 w i l l not be very popular. My parent? think I w i i l be- Good at ne* gajecs right avey. My parents think unui.lly 1 won't do things that cet EC- in trouble. • • • • • • Real J Tra-• D • LZ1 • • • • L=i APPENDIX C The S e l f P e r c e p t i o n P r o f i l e f o r C h i l d r e n What I Am Like Name ' Age Birthday Group M o n t h D a y Boy or Girl (circle which) SAMPLE SENTENCE Really Sort ol Sort ol Really True True True True forme (or me <or m 8 , o r m e (a) | j 1 Some kids would rather Other kids would rather i 1 i 1 play outdoors In their BUT watch T.V. 1 | I I spare time I 1 I ' •, 1 Some kids leel that they Other kids worry about i 1 i 1 are very good at their BUT whether they can do the I | school work school work assigned lo I I I I them. • • • • • • • • • • Some kids find it hard lo make (riends Some kids do very well at all kinds of sports Some kids are happy with the way they look Some kids often do noi Other kids find it's pretty BUT easy to make friends. Other kids don't teel that BUT they are very good when it comes lo sports. Other kids are not happy BUT with the way they look. Other kids usually like like the way they behave BUT the way they behave. Some kids are ollen Other kids are pretty unhappy with themselves BUT pleased with themselves. Some kids leel like they Other kids aren't so sure are iust as smart as BUT and wonder if they are as other kids their age as smart. •I 1 o u i n e K Som kids have alot ol Other kids don't have BUT very many friends. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 131 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. Really Sort ol True True lor me lor me • • • • • • • • • • • • Some kids wish they could be alol better at sports Some kids are happy with their height and weight Some kids usually do the right thing • • •I I some mus oon I nrve way they are leading I I their lite S kid d 't like the • • • • • • • • Some kids are pretty slow in finishing their school work Some kids would like to have alot more Iriends Some kids think they could do well al jusl about any new sports activity they haven't tried belore Some kids wish their body was dillerent Some kids usually act the way they know they are supposed to Some kids are happy with themselves as a person Some kids olten lorget what they learn Some kids are always doing things with alot ot kids Other kids leel they are BUT good enough at sports. Other kids wish their BUT height or weight were dillerent. Other kids often don't BUT do the right thing. Other kids do like the BUT way they are leading their life. Other kids can do their BUT school work quickly. Other kids have as many BUT friends as they want. Other kids are afraid BUT they might not do well at sports they haven't ever tried. Other kids like their BUT body the way il is. Other kids often don't BUT act the way they are supposed to. Other kids are often nor BUT happy with themselves. Other kids can " BUT remember things easily. Sort oj fleally True . True lor mo lor mt • • • • • • • • BUT Other kids usually do things by themselves. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Itonlly Sort ol True True (or me (or me 1 3 2 Sort ol Realty True True lor me (or me 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Some kids (eel that they are better than others BUT their age at sports Some kids wish their physical appearance (how BUT they look) was dil/erenl Some kids usually get in trouble because ol BUT things they do Some kids like the kind ol person they are Some kids do very well al their classwork BUT Some kids wish thai more people their age BUT liked them In games and sports some kids usually watch BUT instead of play Some kids wish something about their BUT lace or hair looked dilterent Some kids do things they know they BUT shouldn't do Other kids don't (eel they can play as well. Other kids like their physical appearance the way il is. Other kids usually don't do things that get them in trouble. Other kids often wish BUT they were someone else. Other kids don't do very well at their classwork. Olher kids feel thai most people their age do like Ihem. Other kids usually play rather than jusl watch. Olher kids like their face and hair the way they are. Other kids hardly ever do things they know they shouldn't do. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. • • • • • • • • • • Some kids are very happy being the way they are Other kids wish they BUT were dillerent. Some kids have trouble Olher kids almost figuring out the answers BUT always can figure out in school the answers. ' Some kids are popular with others their age Other kids are not very . BUT popular. Some kids don't do well al new outdoor games Some kids think that they are good looking • • • • Some kids behave themselves very well Some kids are not very happy with the way Ihey do alol of things Other kids are good at BUT new games right away. Other kids think that BUT they are not very good looking. Other kids often tind it BUT hard to behave themselves. Other kids think the way BUT they do things Is line. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • APPENDIX D Q u e s t i o n n a i r e I n s t r u c t i o n f o r C h i l d r e n INSTRUCTIONS TO THE CHILD: Ue have some sent e n c e s here and, as you can see from the top of your sheet where i t says "What I am l i k e , " we are i n t e r e s t e d i n what each of you i s l i k e , what k i n d o f a person you are l i k e . T h i s i s a surv e y , not a t e s t . There are no r i g h t or wrong answers. S i n c e k i d s are ve r y d i f f e r e n t from one another, each o f you w i l l be p u t t i n g down something d i f f e r e n t . F i r s t l e t me e x p l a i n how these q u e s t i o n s work. There i s a sample q u e s t i o n at the top marked ( a ) . I ' l l r e a d i t o u t l o u d and you f o l l o w along with me. (Examiner reads sample q u e s t i o n . ) T h i s q u e s t i o n t a l k s about two k i n d s o f k i d s , and we want to know which k i d s are most l i k e you. (1) So, what I want you to d e c i d e f i r s t i s whether you are more l i k e the kin d s on the l e f t s i d e who would r a t h e r p l a y o u t d o o r s , or whether you are most l i k e the k i d s on the r i g h t s i d e who would r a t h e r watch T.V. Don't mark a n y t h i n g y e t, but f i r s t d e c i d e which k i n d of k i d i s most l i k e you, and go to t h a t s i d e o f the s e n t e n c e . (2) Now, the second t h i n g I want you to t h i n k about, now t h a t you have d e c i d e d which k i n d o f k i d s are most l i k e you, i s to deci d e whether t h a t i s only s o r t o f t r u e f o r you, or r e a l l y t r u e f o r you. I f i t ' s o n l y s o r t o f t r u e , then put an X i n the box under s o r t o f t r u e ; i f i t ' s r e a l l y t r u e f o r you, then put an X i n t h a t box, under r e a l l y t r u e . (3) For each sentence, you onl y check one box. Sometimes i t w i l l be on one s i d e o f the page, another time i t w i l l be on the oth e r s i d e o f the page, but you can o n l y check one box f o r each s e n t e n c e . You don't check both s i d e s , j u s t the one s i d e most l i k e you. (k) OK, t h a t one was j u s t f o r p r a c t i c e . Now we have some more sentences which I'm going to read out l o u d . For each one, j u s t check one box, the one t h a t goes with what i s tr u e f o r you, what you are most l i k e .
Thesis/Dissertation
eng
Counselling Psychology
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
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Graduate
The domain specific nature of children's self-perceptions of competence : an exploratory paradigm for understanding the social construction of self-knowledge in children
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