1999 Volume 47 Issue 1 Pages 49-58
In the present study, discrepancy among three perceptions of social characteristics of elementary school children was investigated in relation to characteristics of the child-mother relationship. Subjects were 223 3rd-graders, 243 6th-graders and their mothers. On the basis of personality theory and the result from a preliminary study, a social characteristics inventory measuring Extroversion, Agreeableness and Conscientiousness was developed. Using this inventory, self-perception, mother's perception perceived by children, and mother's actual perception were measured, and 2 discrepancy scores were calculated. One was a discrepancy score between self perception and mother's perception perceived by children (intra-self discrepancy score) and the other was a discrepancy score between mother's perception perceived by children and mother's actual perception (child-mother discrepancy score). Children's perception of social support from their mothers was negatively correlated with intra-self discrepancy score, and frequency of child-mother conversations on the social characteristics of children was also negatively correlated with child-mother discrepancy score and intra-self discrepancy score. These results supported the hypothesis about the social process, through which a child's self-perception was constructed, and a significance of social relationships was suggested.
