Self-Perceived Peer Acceptance in Preschoolers of Differing Economic and Cultural Backgrounds

Abstract

Self-evaluation begins in early childhood and becomes more nuanced as children get older. However, little is known about the specific factors that predict self-perception and in particular peer acceptance, early in life. This is especially true for low-income children and children of different ethnicities. This study examined 4-year-old children's feelings of social acceptance relative to teachers' perceptions. It also explored whether temperament, language skills, traditional parenting, and teachers' perceptions of peer acceptance were related to children's self-perceptions. Using 94 preschoolers from different cultural and economic backgrounds as participants, results of a mixed model analysis of variance indicated that the relation between children's self-perceptions and teachers' ratings were not uniform across economic and cultural groups. In addition, results of hierarchical multiple regression analyses demonstrated that traditional parenting was one of the strongest predictors of children's social self-perceptions. Beyond parenting, children with relatively good verbal skills, who were not temperamentally shy, tended to perceive themselves as socially competent.

Longitudinal Pathways From Shyness in Early Childhood to Personality in Adolescence: Do Peers Matter?

“…Similarly, McElhaney et al (2008) found that adolescents (N = 167) who reported feeling poorly accepted at age 13 were rated by their peers as becoming relatively more withdrawn 1 year later. Thus, given that shy youth tend to rate themselves as less socially competent and as less accepted among their peers than nonshy children (DiBiase & Miller, 2015;Laceulle, Jeronimus, van Aken, & Ormel, 2015), there are reasons to expect shy adolescents to experience low peer acceptance which in turn could result in low extraversion, emotional stability, and openness to experience.…”

Chinese American children’s temperamental shyness and responses to peer victimization as moderated by maternal praise.

“…Previous studies have shown that shy Chinese children are at a greater risk for being victimized by their peers (e.g., Liu et al, 2019). As shy preschoolers realize their difficulties in social functioning, they may develop negative self-perceptions of their social skills, including lower self-esteem and self-perceived peer acceptance (e.g., DiBiase & Miller, 2015). Such negative self-perceptions may lead them to withdraw from social situations and thus, limit their opportunities to develop abilities to socially assert themselves with peers (Nelson, Hart, Evans, Coplan, Roper, & Robinson, 2009).…”

An investigation of early college entrants’ social development

“…Self-perceptions of peer acceptance can be measured by asking participants about their peer and social acceptance (e.g., I feel accepted by my peers). Perceived peer acceptance has been studied in many populations, such as elementary school students (Dibiase & Miller, 2015), middle school students (Bellmore & Cillessen, 2003), and adolescents (McElhaney, Antonishak, & Allen, 2008).…”

“…Perceived Peer Acceptance, SES, and Gender. Researchers also have found associations between individuals' perceptions of peer acceptance and demographic factors, such as SES (DiBiase & Miller, 2015) and gender (Smith, et al, 2006;Tamm, Kasearu, & Tulviste, 2014).…”

“…Specifically, SES has a strong relationship with depression and psychological well-being. A group of studies examined the relationship between SES and perceived peer acceptance (Bannink, Pearce, & Hope, 2016;DiBiase & Miller, 2015) and found that when children recognizes they come from a poor family in comparison to their affluent peers, they are more likely to lack confidence in themselves and express dissatisfaction with their life.…”