General Self-worth Research Articles

Physical self-perceptions, aerobic capacity and physical activity in male and female members of a corporate health and fitness club.

As physical activity and fitness are believed to influence esteem and self-perceptions positively, the purpose of the study was to examine the relationships among participation in physical activity, aerobic capacity, and physical self-perceptions in 40 men and 33 women, members of a British corporate health and fitness club. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated a significant linear relationship for men between scores on Physical Self-worth and composite scores on Participation in Physical Activity. Men's feelings regarding general physical self-worth may be an important determinant of their subsequent levels of physical exercise.

Openness in Adoption and the Level of Child Participation

There is great controversy regarding the impact of openness in adoption, especially the impact of such an arrangement on adopted children. Three indicators of the level of child participation in the openness arrangement were examined: (a) level of openness reported by adoptive parents, (b) level of information adopted children reported having about their birthparents, and (c) whether adoptive parents have withheld any pertinent information gained through communication with the birthmother from the adopted child. 171 children (90 males, 81 females; mean age = 7.99) wee studied to assess how that participation influenced their conceptual understanding of what adoption means, general self-worth, satisfaction with level of openness, and curiosity about birthparents. Overall it does not appear that providing information about a child's birthparents will confuse the child about the meaning of adoption or lower the child's self-esteem, but neither will it move them to levels of understanding that are beyond their cognitive capabilities to reach.

Life adjustment correlates of physical self-concepts.

This research tested relationships between physical self-concepts and contemporary measures of life adjustment. University students (119 females, 126 males) completed the Physical Self-Perception Profile assessing self-concepts of sport competence, physical condition, attractive body, strength, and general physical self-worth. Multiple regression found significant associations (P < 0.05 to P < 0.001) in hypothesized directions between physical self-concepts and positive affect, negative affect, depression, and health complaints in 17 of 20 analyses. Thirteen of these relationships remained significant when controlling for the Bonferroni effect. Hierarchical multiple regression examined the unique contribution of physical self-perceptions in predicting each adjustment variable after accounting for the effects of global self-esteem and two measures of social desirability. Physical self-concepts significantly improved associations with life adjustment (P < 0.05 to P < 0.05) in three of the eight analyses across gender and approached significance in three others. These data demonstrate that self-perceptions of physical competence in college students are essentially related to life adjustment, independent of the effects of social desirability and global self-esteem. These links are mainly with perceptions of sport competence in males and with perceptions of physical condition, attractive body, and general physical self-worth in both males and females.

Positive Bias in Maintenance of Self-Worth among Children with LD

Despite their significant academic deficits, children with learning disabilities (LD) often maintain favorable feelings of general self-worth. This study examined whether a positive bias in the evaluation of academic work is associated with such feelings. The Self-Perception Profile for Children (SPP-C; Harter, 1985b) was administered to a sample of 84 third graders (42 with LD, 42 normally achieving). During individual interviews a subset of these children explained why they felt they were doing well or poorly. Responses to the interview and to the individual items of the SPP-C showed that most children with LD and normally achieving (NA) children perceived themselves as doing well academically, based largely on feedback on their performance in the classroom. Results support Renick and Harter's (1988) argument that children with LD recognize their specific skill deficits (e.g., forgetfulness and trouble figuring out problems), but do not perceive themselves as being any less smart than their NA peers. Overall, findings indicate the importance of perceived teacher feedback in maintaining positive feelings of self-worth among children with LD.

A Study of Children’s Physical Self-Perceptions Using an Adapted Physical Self-Perception Profile Questionnaire

This project was a study of the validity and reliability of adapted versions of Fox and Corbin’s (10) Physical Self-Perception Profile (PSPP) and Perceived Importance Profile (PIP) for use with seventh- and eight-grade students. The Children’s PSPP and PIP (C-PSPP and C-PIP) questionnaires were completed by 505 students. Results supported the reliability and the construct and concurrent validity of the C-PSPP scales. Factorial validity of the C-PIP was not demonstrated. Similar to Fox and Corbin’s (10) results, regression analysis revealed that a large proportion of the variance in general physical selfworth (PSW) was explained by the C-PSPP scales. The hypothesis that PSW mediates between general self-worth (GSW) and the four C-PSPP scales in a hierarchical arrangement was also supported. Failure to psychologically discount the importance of perceived incompetence in specific areas impacted global self-worth. Correlations with physical fitness test scores provided evidence of concurrent validity of the C-PSPP scales.

Social-cognitive processes of severely violent, moderately aggressive, and nonaggressive boys.

This study examined social-cognitive processes of aggressive and nonaggressive boys at preadolescent and early adolescent age levels. The social-cognitive variables included processing of cues, attributions, social problem solving, affect labeling, outcome expectations, and perceived competence and self-worth. Results indicated that a wide range of social-cognitive processes is distorted and deficient for violent and moderately aggressive children, and that different types of social cognition contribute unique variance in discriminating among groups. Severely violent boys at both age levels had difficulties with cue recall, attributions, social problem solving, general self-worth, and a pattern of endorsing unusually positive affects that they may experience in different settings. Moderately aggressive boys shared some of the social-cognitive difficulties demonstrated by severely violent boys, but they also displayed indications that their aggression may be more planfully aimed to achieve expected outcomes. When the moderately aggressive and the violent boys differed from the nonaggressive boys on attributional biases and low perceived self-worth, a continuum existed with violent boys displaying more extreme social-cognitive dysfunctions than the moderately aggressive boys. These findings carry implications for cognitive-behavioral intervention with severely violent and moderately aggressive youths.

The Effects of Sport Participation on Individuals with Mental Retardation

This study compared individuals with mental retardation participating in either a traditional segregated Special Olympic program or the new Unified Special Olympic program, which is integrated. The dependent variables of the study included self-perceptions of physical ability, social skills, and general self-worth. Actual physical abilities were also compared between the two groups. A control group not participating in sport programs was utilized. Self-perceptions were assessed with a modified version of the Perceived Competence Scale for Children (Harter, 1982). Cardiovascular fitness was estimated with the 1-mi run-walk (AAHPERD, 1984). Sport skills were assessed by use of a standard skills test routinely used for team placement by Special Olympics. Unified athletes demonstrated an increase in social self-perception, which remained unchanged in the traditional athletes. There were no significant increases found in self-perceptions of physical and general self-worth for either the traditional or Unified Special Olympic participants. Both the segregated and integrated basketball participants demonstrated significant increases in basketball skills but not in cardiovascular fitness.

Perceived Competence of Juvenile Delinquents and Nondelinquents

The present study compared juvenile delinquents, high achievers, low achievers, and students with behavior problems on an adapted version of Harter's Perceived Competence Scale for Children (Harter, 1982). Four different domains of perceived competence were tested, namely cognitive competence, social competence, physical competence, and general self-worth. The subjects were 30 male delinquents from a maximum security institution and 90 male nondelinquent students from Grades 8, 9, and 10 in a metropolitan high school. Data indicated that the juvenile delinquents attained significantly lower scores than the high achievers and low achievers on the cognitive, social, and general self-worth subscales, but not on the physical subscale. Juvenile delinquents differed significantly from students with behavior problems on the social and general self-worth subscales, but not on the cognitive and physical subscales. The results of the study are discussed in terms of Harter's effectance motivation model.

The Perceived Competence of Intellectually Talented Students

Upper primary gifted boys and girls were compared with nongifted children on self-perceptions of competence in four areas: cognitive, physical, social, and general self-worth. Gifted students perceived themselves as more competent than their nongifted peers in the cognitive and general self-worth areas, but not in the physical and social areas. Of the gifted children, those in a full-time segregated program had relatively lower perceived cognitive and physical competence than those in a part-time extension program. Sex differences were also observed.

The Effects of Social Support and School Placement on the Self—Concept of LD Students

The effects of two types of environmental influences on the self-concept of LD students were examined: social support and school placement. The 51 children and adolescents who participated in the study were receiving LD services in self-contained classes or resource rooms, or had been diagnosed as learning disabled but were not yet receiving services. Social support and self-concept were assessed using two self-report measures developed by Harter (1985). Students with higher levels of perceived social support were found to score higher in general self-worth, athletic competence, scholastic competence, and behavioral conduct than students with fewer social supports. In addition, support from classmates was the most important predictor of high self-concept. School placement was not found to be related to self-concept. The findings of this study suggest that future research needs to examine the social contextual factors that may foster positive self-concepts in LD students.

Uplifts, Hassles, and Adaptational Outcomes in Early Adolescents

The relationship of daily uplifts and hassles to adaptational outcomes has gained increasing attention in recent years. However, investigators have focused considerably more on hassles than uplifts. In an attempt to rectify this trend, the present study examines the relationship of uplifts and hassles to anxiety, depression, distress, self-restraint, perceived sup-port from friends, perceived social competence, and general self-worth in a sample of 23 sixth graders (141 girls). Results indicate that both hassles and uplifts are substantially related to these outcomes in the expected direction, with the exception of a modest positive association between uplift and anxiety for girls. Moreover, in most cases uplifts add significantly to the relationship between hassles and outcomes, thus high-lighting the importance of uplifts. Other findings idicate that uplifts/hassles patterns vary as a function of gender and the particular outcome being considered. Similarities to and differences from adult findings are discussed in regard to gender-role and general development.

Perceived Competence and Self-Worth of LD and Normally Achieving Students

Elementary and middle-school learning disabled (LD) and normally achieving (NA) students' responses to the Perceived Competence Scale for Children were compared. This scale measures general self-worth as well as perceptions of cognitive, social and physical competence. In accord with previous research, LD students were found to hold lower opinions of their cognitive abilities than did NA students. Furthermore, compared to their peers, LD students held less favorable perceptions of their physical abilities. LD and NA students' ratings for general self-esteem did not differ, nor did the groups vary in perception of social competence. These results indicate that LD children maintain generally positive self-evaluations, despite their recognition of limitations in some areas. Based on comparisons between teacher and student ratings, subgroups of LD students who held unrealistically positive or negative perceptions of themselves were identified. The characteristics of these subgroups were examined.

The Association between Peer Experiences and Identity Formation in Early Adolescence

Sixth grade boys and girls (N = 315) were asked to complete the Perceived Competence Scale for Children and a sociometric questionnaire in an investigation of the multidimensional nature of self-concept and the association between identity formation and social relations among early adolescents. Perceptions of general self-worth were found to be related to perception of social, physical, and cognitive competence. The strongest relationship was observed between perceived social competence and general self-worth with the strength of this association being significantly greater among boys than girls. Perceived social competence was more strongly related to perceived physical competence among boys than girls whereas social acceptance and perceived social competence were more strongly related among girls than boys. Overall, however, the degree of association between perceived competence and sociometric measures was rather small. The observed sex differences were consistent with previous theoretical proposals and empirical investigations indicating that the association between intimacy and identity may be mediated by gender and these findings indicate that the arenas for studying identity acquisition may be different for boys and girls.

The Perceived Competence Scale for Children

HARTER, SUSAN. The Perceived Competence Scale for Children. CmILD DEVELOPMENT, 1982, 53, 87-97. A new self-report instrument, the Perceived Competence Scale for Children, is described. Emphasis is placed on the assessment of a child's sense of competence across different domains, instead of viewing perceived competence as a unitary construct. 3 domains of competence, each constituting a separate subscale, were identified: (a) cognitive, (b) social, and (c) physical. A fourth subscale, general self-worth, independent of any particular skill domain, was included. A new question format was devised which provides a broader range of responses and reduces the tendency to give socially desirable responses. The psychometric properties of the scale are presented for third through ninth grades. Emphasis is placed on its factorial validity. Each subscale defines a separate factor, indicating that children make clear differentiations among these domains. The factor structure is extremely stable across this grade range. The scale is viewed as an alternative to those existing self-concept measures of questionable validity and reliability.