Psychological Pragmatics in Preadolescents: Sociomoral Understanding, Self-Worth, and School Behavior

This study examined individual differences in the relations among preadolescents' sociomoral understanding and self-understanding, teacher and peer ratings of school behavior. Two hundred and thirty-nine preadolescents (M = 11.9 years; 127 girls and 112 boys) completed tasks concerning perceptions of competence, vocabulary, and peer-rated social competence. Students also participated in a story-telling interview that assessed sociomoral understanding and self-understanding. Results indicated links between various self-concept dimensions and (a) teacher ratings of academic competence, peer aggression (both physical and relational), and prosocial behavior; and (b) general vocabulary ability. Both sociomoral understanding and self-understanding were found to be linked to perceived academic competence for boys only. Independent of vocabulary ability, girls scored higher than boys on perceived behavioral conduct, teacher ratings of relational aggression (Grade 6 only), and self-understanding, particularly a sense of self-agency. Content analysis showed that girls were more likely than boys to refer to their parents when discussing their sense of self-agency. Independent of vocabulary ability, boys scored marginally higher than girls on sociomoral understanding. Results are discussed in terms of curricular implications for inter- and intrapersonal understandings.     

Field Independence–Dependence and Self-Esteem in Preadolescents: Does Gender Make a Difference?

This study investigated the relationship between field independence–dependence (FD) and self-esteem in preadolescent girls and boys. Sixty-three Grade 6 students (33 girls, 30 boys) completed the Group Embedded Figures Test [H. Witkin, P. Oltman, E. Raskin, and S. Karp (1971). A Manual for the Embedded Figures Test, consulting Psychologists Press, Palo Alto, CA] and the Self-Esteem Inventory [S. Coopersmith, (1967)]. The Antecedents of Self-Esteem, W. H. Freeman, San Francisco, CA]. Results indicated that, contrary to prediction, girls did not have lower self-esteem than boys. The hypothesis that field independence and self-esteem correlated negatively for girls and positively for boys was confirmed. The implications of these findings for educational practice and future research are discussed.