Original scientific paper
The Dimensions of Children's Self-Conceptions in Relation to Perceived Social Support from Different Sources
Andreja BRAJŠA-ŽGANEC
Zora RABOTEG-ŠARIĆ
Renata FRANC
Abstract
In the paper different aspects of boys' and girls' selfconceptions
in early adolescence are examined. The main
objective of this research was to determine the relationship
between the perceived social support from different sources
(parents, teachers, friends, classmates) and global
self-worth as well as various self-concept dimensions
(scholastic competence, social acceptance, athletic
competence, physical appearance, behavioural conduct).
The research was conducted on a sample of 340 sixth and
seventh-grade primary school pupils. Stubjects were
administered adapted versions of Harter’s (1985) scales
measuring different self-concept and social support
dimensions. Boys show significantly higher results on global
self-worth, physical appearance and scholastic competence
scales. Girls estimate that they are getting more social
support from their parents and friends than boys. Separate
hierarchical regression analyses were conducted on the
results for the boys and girls samples with self-concept
dimensions and global self-worth as criterion variables and
various sources of perceived social support as predictor
variables. The results indicate that perceived social support
from classmates and/or friends significantly contributes to
higher self-evaluations in all examined self-concept
dimensions. Parental support is a significant predictor of
greater global self-worth ratings, while perceived support
from teacher significantly contributes to the more positive
behavioural conduct ratings. The findings of this research
also point out that the support of adults (parents and
teachers) is more important for the development of girls’
self-evaluations. In the discussion the results obtained are
analysed with regard to different socialization patterns for
boys and girls.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
20227
URI
Publication date:
31.12.2000.
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