CHILDREN’S PERCEIVED COMPETENCE SOCIAL COMPARISON MECHANISMS AND SOCIAL COMPARISON MECHANISMS 2 Department of Psychology, University of Quebec at Montreal 1 Laboratory of Sciences of Education, University Pierre Mendès-France, Grenoble (LSE-EA 602) Natacha Boissicat1, Thérèse Bouffard2, Pascal Pansu1 & Fanny Cottin2 INTRODUCTION The self-construction processes have been largely studied in the last decades. Within the general social cognitive theory, social comparison processes are considered very important in the construction of self-perceptions. In this line, a large literature showed that social comparison processes have an effect on perceived self-competences. For example, Buunk, Collins, Taylor, Van Yperen, & Dakof (1990) demonstrated in the health field that upward comparison as well as downward comparison, could lead to opposite affective consequences. Buunk and Ybema (1997) showed that affective reactions are depending on whether individuals contrast or identify themselves to their comparison target. Briefly, we can note that (1) upward contrast could lead to frustration (i.e. seeing the target doing better) whereas upward identification could lead to hope and (2) downward contrast could lead to feel more satisfaction whereas downward identification could lead to feel more worry. The aim of these study was two-fold: to examine the psychometrics properties of a new scale of four mechanisms of social comparison for children the links between those mechanisms and children’s self-perceptions. STUDY 1 : SCALE VALIDATION RESULTS For each QP and FP, a principal component analysis with oblique rotation (oblimin) was conducted on the 12 social comparison items. It revealed a four-factor structure consistent with Van der Zee and al. (2000). A confirmatory analysis also conducted on both populations showed that the instrument has satisfactory properties. Tables 1 and 2 summarize results of the factorial and the confirmatory analyses. PARTICIPANTS Quebecer Population (QP) : 333 French-speaking pupils (162 girls) at grade five and 333 pupils (174) at grade six. French Population (FP) : 147 French-speaking pupils (81 girls) at grade four and 233 pupils (120) at grade five. DOWNWARD IDENTIFICATION “When some pupils see others who are receiving a worse grade, they are afraid that they too will receive such a low grade the next time ” DOWNWARD CONTRAST “When some pupils see others who are receiving a worse grade, they are glad receiving such a good grade” UPWARD IDENTIFICATION “When some pupils see others who are receiving a higher grade, they hope they will also receive such a good grade the next time ” UPWARD CONTRAST “When some pupils see others who are receiving higher grade, they are annoyed they don’t receive such a good grade” Quebecer Population French Population Alpha % of variance UPWARD IDENTIFICATION DOWNWARD IDENTIFICATION DOWNWARD CONTRAST UPWARD CONTRAST 30,5 16,9 11,6 8 18,6 14,1 7,5 25,8 0,68 0,75 0,77 0,66 0,80 0,71 Table 1 : Factorial Analysis MATERIAL The questionnaire assessing social comparison mechanisms at school (12 items) was adapted in French from the questionnaire of Van der Zee, Buunk, Sanderman, Botke, Van den Bergh, (2000). It was developed to assess four aspects of social comparison, in a health field, among adult. Each subscale consisted of 3 items and pupils were asked to indicate to what point the affirmation was true for them, from 1 (not at all true) to 4 (really true). Quebecer Population French Population RMSEA CFI NFI AIC 0,056 257,7 0,947 0,930 0,040 0,974 0,935 160,7 Table 2 : Fit Values STUDY 2 : MAIN STUDY HYPOTHESIS We expected that (1) more the children would respond to downward identification and upward contrast, the more they would report low academic perceived competence, (2) the more they would respond to upward identification and downward contrast, the more they would report high academic perceived competence. Furthermore, according to literature related to gender, (3) we may expect that gender will modulate the predicted relations. PARTICIPANTS French Population described above : 147 French-speaking pupils (81 girls) at CM1 (Grade 4) and 233 pupils (120 girls) at CM2 (Grade 5). MATERIAL In addition to social comparison mechanisms measures (see study 1), we assessed children’s mental ability with the French version of Mental Ability Test (Otis & Lennon, 1971) and academic perceived competence with the Perceived Competence Scale for Children (Harter, 1982). PROCEDURE The study comprised two phases held one month apart. In the first, children responded to the mental ability test whereas in the second, they filled out the questionnaire about academic perceived competence and social comparison mechanisms. RESULTS A multivariate test conducted on social comparison mechanisms revealed a significant gender effect (F(3,373)=4.72, p<,001). The results are shown in table 3. A regression model was used with upward identification, downward identification, upward contrast and downward contrast as independent variables to predict perceived competence separately for boys and girls. Mental ability was used as a control factor. Upward Identification Downward Identification Upward Contrast Downward Contrast BOYS GIRLS 2,78 1,71 1,74 2,45 2,81 1,90 2,06 2,43 Table 3 : MEANS ACCORDING GENDER PERCEIVED COMPETENCE Downward Identification Upward Identification Mental Ability test Upward Contrast Downward Contrast -0,172 -0,246 0,202 0,246 Girls PERCEIVED COMPETENCE Upward Identification Mental Ability test Downward Identification Upward Contrast 0,173 -0,287 0,212 Boys R2=0,264 R2=0,153 Downward Contrast DISCUSSION The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between children’s report of processes of social comparison and academic perceived competence. Globally, results support our hypotheses although they show some gender differences. Only downward identification negatively relates to perceived competence within boys and girls. The higher boys’ upward identification, the higher their perceived competence; this relations was absent among girls. In their case, the contrast processes seem mainly involved in perceived competence: girls who contrast themselves from downward peers and who do not contrast from upward peers report positive feeling of competence. Findings of this study highlight the different ways through social comparison mechanisms operate in children’s construction of their perceived competence according to their gender. One way wonder whether and how these observations are rooted in the gender role assigned to boys and girls in occidental societies. Bibliography Buunk, B.P., Collins, R.L., Taylor, S.E., Van Yperen, N.W. & Dakof, G.A. (1990). The affective consequences of social comparison : Either direction has its ups and downs. Journal of Personality ans Social Psychology, 59 (06), 1238-1249. Buunk, B.P., Ybema, J.F. (1997). Social Comparisons and occupational stress: the identification contrast model. In Health, Coping and Well-being: Perspectives from Social Comparisons Theory, Buunk B.P., Gibbons, F.X. (Eds). Erlbaum: Hillsdale, NJ. Harter, S. (1982). The perceived competence scale for children. Child development, 53, 87-97. Otis A.S. & Lennon R.T. (1971). Épreuve d’habilité mentale Otis-Lenon, niveau élémentaire II, forme J. Ottawa : Institut de recherches psychologiques. Van der Zee, K.I., Buunk, B.P., Sanderman, R., Botke, G. & Ban den Bergh. (2000). Social comparison and coping in cancer treatment. Personality and individual differences, 28, 17-34.