Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Positively Biased Self-Perceptions: Who Has Them and What are Their Effects?

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Child Psychiatry & Human Development Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This study examined demographic and social competency characteristics of children who hold overly-positive self-perceptions of their social acceptance (positive bias). The effects of holding positive bias on aggressive and depressive symptoms were examined in a sample that excluded children on the extreme negative end of the bias continuum. Measures of peer-rated and self-perceived acceptance were obtained for 366 children in the 3rd through 5th grades. Peer-rated aggressive behavior and self-reported depressive symptoms were also collected. Results demonstrated sex, ethnicity, and social preference were uniquely associated with positive bias. Positive bias was related to aggression beyond the effects of social preference. Positive bias was not related to depressive symptoms. This study clarified who is likely to hold positive bias and replicated findings that suggest positive bias is a risk factor for aggressive outcomes. The idea that positive bias is neither a risk nor protective factor for depressive symptoms is discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Harter S, Pike R (1984) The pictorial scale of perceived competence and social acceptance for young children. Child Dev 55:1969–1982

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Harter S (1999) The construction of self: a developmental perspective. Guilford Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  3. David CF, Kistner JA (2000) Do positive self-perceptions have a “dark side”? Examination of the link between perceptual bias and aggression. J Abnorm Child Psychol 28:327–337

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Orobio de Castro B, Brendgen M, Van Boxtel H, Vitaro F, Schaepers L (2007) “Accept me, or else”: disputed overestimation of social competence predicts increases in proactive aggression. J Abnorm Child Psychol 35:165–178

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Cole DA, Jacquez FM, Maschman TL (2001) Social origins of depressive cognitions: a longitudinal study of self-perceived competence in children. Cogn Ther Res 25:377–395

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Whitton SW, Larson JJ, Hauser ST (2008) Depressive symptoms and bias in perceived social competence among young adults. J Clin Psychol 64:791

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. McQuade JD, Hoza B, Murray-Close D, Waschbusch DA, Owens JS (2011) Changes in self-perceptions in children with ADHD: a longitudinal study of depressive symptoms and attributional style. Behav Ther 42:170–182

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  8. Owens JS, Goldfine ME, Evangelista NM, Hoza B, Kaiser NM (2007) A critical review of self-perceptions and the positive illusory bias in children with ADHD. Clin Child Fam Psychol 10:335–351

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Hoza B, Palham WE, Dobb J, Owens JS, Pillow DR (2002) Do boys with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder have positive illusory self-concepts? J Abnorm Psychol 111:268–278

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Berdan LE, Keane SP, Calkins SD (2008) Temperament and externalizing behavior: social preference and perceived acceptance as protective factors. Dev Psychol 44:957

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  11. Sandstrom M, Herlan R (2007) Threatened egotism or confirmed inadequacy? How children’s perceptions of social status influence aggressive behavior toward peers. J Soc Clin Psychol 26:240–267

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Hughes JN, Cavell TA, Grossman PB (1997) A positive view of self: risk or protection for aggressive children? Dev Psychopathol 9:75–94

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Kistner J, Balthazor M, Risi S, David C (2001) Adolescents’ perceptions of peer acceptance: is dysphoria associated with greater realism? J Soc Clin Psychol 20:66–81

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. McGrath EP, Repetti RL (2002) A longitudinal study of children’s depressive symptoms, self-perceptions, and cognitive distortions about the self. J Abnorm Psychol 111:77

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Kistner JA, David-Ferdon CF, Repper KK, Joiner TE Jr (2006) Bias and accuracy of children’s perceptions of peer acceptance: prospective associations with depressive symptoms. J Abnorm Child Psychol 34:336–348

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Baumeister R, Smart L, Boden J (1996) Relation of threatened egotism to violence and aggression: the dark side of high self-esteem. Psychol Rev 103:5–33

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Diamantopoulou S, Rydell A, Henricsson L (2008) Can both low and high self-esteem be related to aggression in children? Soc Dev 17:682–698

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Van Boxtel HW, Orobio de Castro B, Goossens FA (2004) High self-perceived social competence in rejected children is related to frequent fighting. Eur J Dev Psychol 1:205–214

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Hymel S, Bowker A, Woody E (1993) Aggressive versus withdrawn unpopular children: variations in peer and self-perceptions in multiple domains. Child Dev 64:879–896

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Ackermann R, DeRubeis RJ (1991) Is depressive realism real? Clin Psychol Rev 11:565–584

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Lewinsohn PM, Mischel W, Chaplin W, Barton R (1980) Social competence and depression: the role of illusory self-perceptions. J Abnorm Psychol 89:203–212

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Taylor S, Brown J (1988) Illusion and well-being: a social psychological perspective on mental health. Psychol Bull 103:193–210

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Hoffman KB, Cole DA, Martin JM, Tram J, Seroczynski AD (2000) Are the discrepancies between self- and others’ appraisals of competence predictive or reflective of depressive symptoms in children and adolescents: a longitudinal study, part II. J Abnorm Psychol 109:651–662

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Cole DA, Martin JM, Peeke LG, Seroczynski AD, Hoffman K (1998) Are cognitive errors of underestimation predictive or reflective of depressive symptoms in children: a longitudinal study. J Abnorm Psychol 107:481–496

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Hoza B, Murray-Close D, Arnold LE, Hinshaw SP, Hechtman L, The MTA Cooperative Group (2010) Time-dependent changes in positively biased self-perceptions of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a developmental psychopathology perspective. Dev Psychopathol 22:375–390

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  26. Rudolph KD, Clark AG (2001) Conceptions of relationships in children with depressive and aggressive symptoms: social-cognitive distortion or reality? J Abnorm Child Psychol 29:41–56

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Zakriski AL, Coie JD (1996) A comparison of aggressive-rejected and nonaggressive-rejected children’s interpretations of self-directed and other-directed rejection. Child Dev 67:1048–1070

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Biafora FA, Taylor DL, Warheit GJ, Zimmerman RS, Vega WA (1993) Cultural mistrust and racial awareness among ethnically diverse black adolescent boys. J Black Psychol 19:266–281

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Hughes D (2003) Correlates of african american and latino parents’ messages to children about ethnicity and race: a comparative study of racial socialization. Am J Community Psychol 31:15–33

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Phinney J, Chavira V (1995) Parental ethnic socialization and adolescent coping with problems related to ethnicity. J Res Adolesc 5:31–53

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Demo DH, Hughes M (1990) Socialization and racial identity among Black Americans. Soc Psychol Q 53:364–374

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Constantine MG, Blackmon SM (2002) Black adolescents’ racial socialization experiences: their relations to home, school, and peer self-esteem. J Black Stud 32:322–335

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Boivin M, Begin G (1989) Peer status and self-perception among early elementary school children: the case of the rejected children. Child Dev 60:591

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. Pope AW, Bierman KL, Mumma GH (1991) Aggression, hyperactivity, and inattention–immaturity: behavior dimensions associated with peer rejection in elementary school boys. Dev Psychol 27:663–671

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Coie JD, Lochman JE, Terry R, Hyman C (1992) Predicting early adolescent disorder from childhood aggression and peer rejection. J Consult Clin Psychol 60:783–792

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. Hymel S, Rubin K, Rowden L, Lemare L (1990) Children’s peer relationships: longitudinal prediction of internalizing and externalizing problems from middle to late childhood. Child Dev 61:2004–2021

    Google Scholar 

  37. Zimmer-Gembeck M, Hunter T, Pronk R (2007) A model of behaviors, peer relations and depression: perceived social acceptance as a mediator and the divergence of perceptions. J Soc Clin Psychol 26:273–302

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Stephens HF, Kistner JA, Lynch RJ (2014) The calculation of discrepancy scores in the context of biased self-perceptions of social acceptance. J Psychopathol Behav. doi:10.1007/s10862-014-9466-6

  39. Wigfield A (1994) Expectancy-value theory of achievement motivation: a developmental perspective. Educ Psychol Rev 6:49–78

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. Hartup W (1983) Peer relations. In: Hetherington EM, Mussen PH (eds) Handbook of child psychology: socialization, personality, and social development. Wiley, New York

    Google Scholar 

  41. Asher SR, Singleton LC, Tinsley BR, Hymel S (1979) A reliable sociometric measure for preschool children. Dev Psychol 15:443–444

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. Oden S, Asher SR (1977) Coaching children in social skills for friendship making. Child Dev 48:495–506

    Article  Google Scholar 

  43. DeRosier ME (1997) The mediating role of perceptions of social failure and social success in the link between peer rejection and adjustment. Paper presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Washington

  44. Swanson EN, Owens EB, Hinshaw SP (2012) Is the positive illusory bias illusory? Examining discrepant self-perceptions of competence in girls with ADHD. J Abnorm Child Psychol 40:987–998

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  45. Coie JD, Dodge KA, Coppotelli H (1982) Dimensions and types of social status: a cross-age perspective. Dev Psychol 18:557–570

    Article  Google Scholar 

  46. Crick NR, Bigbee MA, Howes C (1996) Gender differences in children’s normative beliefs about aggression: how do I hurt thee? Let me count the ways. Child Dev 67:1003–1014

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  47. Crick NR, Grotpeter JK (1995) Relational aggression, gender, and social-psychological adjustment. Child Dev 66:710–722

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  48. Kovacs M (1992) The children’s depression inventory manual. Multi Health Systems, Toronto

    Google Scholar 

  49. Carlson GA, Cantwell DP (1979) A survey of depressive symptoms in a child and adolescent psychiatric population. J Amer Acad Child Psychiatry 18:587–599

    Article  Google Scholar 

  50. Crick NR (1996) The role of overt aggression, relational aggression, and prosocial behavior in the prediction of children’s future social adjustment. Child Dev 67:2317–2327

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  51. Linnea K, Hoza B, Tomb M, Kaiser N (2012) Does a positive bias relate to social behavior in children with ADHD? Behav Ther 43:862–875

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  52. Archer J (2004) Sex differences in aggression in real-world settings: a meta-analytic review. Rev Gen Psychol 8:291

    Article  Google Scholar 

  53. Cillessen A, Bellmore A (1999) Accuracy of social self-perceptions and peer competence in middle childhood. Merrill Palmer Q 45:650–676

    Google Scholar 

  54. Block JH (1983) Differential premises arising from differential socialization of the sexes: some conjectures. Child Dev 54:1335–1354

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  55. Cross SE, Madson L (1997) Models of the self: self-construals and gender. Psychol Bull 122:5

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  56. Harter S (1990) Causes, correlates, and the functional role of global self-worth: a life-span perspective. In: Sternberg RJ, Kolligian J (eds) Competence considered. Yale University Press, New Haven

    Google Scholar 

  57. Graham JA, Cohen R, Zbikowski SM, Secrist ME (1998) A longitudinal investigation of race and sex as factors in children’s classroom friendship choices. Child Study J 28:245

    Google Scholar 

  58. Dunkel SB, Kistner JA, David-Ferdon C (2010) Unraveling the source of African American children’s positively biased perceptions of peer acceptance. Soc Dev 19:556–576

    Article  Google Scholar 

  59. Laird RD, Weems CF (2011) The equivalence of regression models using difference scores and models using separate scores for each informant: implications for the study of informant discrepancies. Psychol Assess 23:388

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Florida State University, 1107 W. Call Street, Box 207900, Tallahassee, FL, 32306-4301, USA

    Haley F. Stephens, Rebecca J. Lynch & Janet A. Kistner

Authors
  1. Haley F. Stephens
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Rebecca J. Lynch
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Janet A. Kistner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Haley F. Stephens.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Stephens, H.F., Lynch, R.J. & Kistner, J.A. Positively Biased Self-Perceptions: Who Has Them and What are Their Effects?. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 47, 305–316 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-015-0567-6

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-015-0567-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation