A study on the development of self-presentation in children

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the developmental process of self-presentation in children on the basis of its relation to the development of cognition of evaluation (which the target person of the self-presentation (TP) held toward the presenter) and to the development of social approval need. Ss were second, third, and fifth grade elementary school children. In order to investigate the above problem, the following four studies were conducted. In study I, we investigated the development of cognition concerning the way in which the TP evaluated the presenters with different kinds of self-presentation. In study II, from the standpoint of age and sex, the dominance of ability aspects and personality aspects in social approval need were investigated. In study III and IV, we investigated the developmental process of self-presentation on one's actual ability. In study III, TPs were classmates who most frequently made contact with the Ss, and in study IV, TPs were university students who did not know the Ss at all. According to the results from study I-IV, we inferred the following developmental process concerning self-presentation in children. © 1982, The Japanese Association of Educational Psychology. All rights reserved.