Metaperception of Self-Concept 1 Running Head: METAPERCEPTION OF SELF-CONCEPT Metaperception of Self-Concept by Same-Sex Adolescent Friends and Nonfriends

Metapercpetion is the process by which people understand what others think of them. Among adults metaperception is more accurate for friends that strangers, and for female friends than male friends. To see if this is also true among adolescents, eighth graders (n = 74) and eleventh graders (n = 86) were paired with same-sex, samegrade friends or nonfriends. They reported their own self-concept, their partners’ selfconcept, and what they thought their partner though of their self-concept. There were no differences between friends and nonfriends. Girls were more accurate than boys regarding behavioral conduct. Eighth-grade girls were more accurate that eighthgrade boys regarding scholastic performance. Possible differences between adolescent and adult metaperception and suggestions for future research are discussed. Explanation of jargon (a word most readers won’t be familiar with) Notice that the abstract is less than 120 words, but still gives the reader a very good idea of what the paper is about. The author tells us who the subjects/ participants are This is the problem under investigation (the purpose of the paper) Description of main findings (or lack of findings) Brief description of the method used The author informs the reader that the implications of the findings will be discussed in the paper. Usually, it is best to give the reader an idea of what the implications are in the abstract. However, if the findings are complicated, as they are in this case, the implications are difficult to explain in a few words. Metaperception of Self-Concept by Same-Sex Adolescent Friends and Nonfriends Peers become a major influence in a person’s life during adolescence (Berndt, 1999; Brown, 1990; Douvan & Adelson, 1966). Friends, especially, become a major influence during this era of the life course (Berndt & Keefe, 1995; Urberg, Degirmencioglu, & Pilgrim, 1997). Researchers are beginning to look at the effects of friendships on children’s and adolescents’ development (Hartup, 1996), but more work still needs to be don examining how the characteristics of an adolescent’s friends and the characteristics of an adolescent’s friendships affect the individual adolescent’s development. Currently, we know very little about how and individual benefits or suffers developmentally as a consequence of his or her friendships (Hartup, 1996). We especially know very little about the role that friends might play in the development of adolescents’ self-concepts. We know that self-concepts become more complex and multifaceted with age (Harter, 1998), but little is known about possible influences on this development. A growing area of research in social psychology examines how well people understand what others think of them, that is, interpersonal perception (Funder, 1995; Kenny, 1994; Laing, Phillipson, & Lee, 1966; Sullins, 1992). In this study the methodology of interpersonal perception was used to examine the role that friends might play in the development of self-concept. The first section of this introduction addresses what is known about the role of significant others in the development of the self-concept. The next section discusses theories of friends’ influence on an individual’s selfconcept development. The third section addresses the role of friends in interpersonal perception A fourth section, which concludes the introduction, addresses how these three distinct areas of research can be integrated to shed light on the role of friends in the development of self-concept. Metaperception of Self-Concept 3 The title is repeated here; There is no heading called “Introduction” Studies are listed in alphabetical order Notice there is only one space after punctuation Indicates that the current information out there is no sufficient to explain the phenomenon. All citations come before punctuation Informs the reader of the organization of the Introduction section since it will cover several topics The Development of Self-Concept The self-concept is multidimensional (Bracken, 1996; Harter, 1998; Marsh & Hattie; 1996); that is, people develop distinct self-concepts in several domains. Decades ago, researchers assumed that the self-concept consisted of one global construct (e.g., Coopersmith, 1967). More current researchers, using more sophisticated methods, have found that the self-concept consists of many domains, and that the number of domains increases with age (Bracken, 1996; Harter, 1985; Marsh & Hattie, 1996). Typically, children and adolescents are given a series of questions about the self that consists of items that represent many possible domains (i.e., physical appearance, behavioral conduct, etc.). A factor analysis is then performed on these items. Factor analyses always show more than once factor, which has led researchers to conclude that there are many domains in the self-concept. Metaperception of Self-Concept 4 The first heading used within the Introduction is assigned the higher level of heading. The author only describes the main findings, relevant methodological issues, and/or major conclusions of other research; it is not necessary to describe every study in detail. A smaller body of work has examined the role of friends in the formation of the “looking glass” self. For example, Oosterwegel and Oppenheimer (1993) asked children and adolescents to list nine self-descriptions. Then the children and adolescents were asked hoy they thought a same-sex friend, and opposite sex friend, and both their paerents would rate them on the same self-descriptions. [...] The researchers were interested in determining whether the children’s adolescents’ self-concpets matched their parents’ and friends’ concepts of them. They found that the difference between the children’s perceptions of both the sameand opposite-sex friends’ concept of the children and the children’s self-concepts was larger than the the difference between the children’s view of the parents’ concept of the children and the children’s self concept. The author describes the methodology of this study to point out how it is flawed. Unfortunately the researchers did not make the comparison between the friends’ actual concept of the student and the parents’ actual concept of the student to determine which of these more accurately matched the student’s self-concept. Because the students did distinguish between their self-concepts, their perceptions of their friends’ concepts of them, and their perceptions of their parents’ concepts of them, it is clear that the students were aware of others’ opinions about themselves. Therefore, they should be able to transform these perceptions into the “looking glass” self. Friends’ Influence on the Self-Concept Little theory has directed research in the area of adolescent friendships (Berndt, 1992; Furman, 1993). Furman humorously suggested that many researchers make a minor reference to Harry Stack Sullivan’s (1953) theory of interpersonal psychiatry and then go about their business without referring to the theory again. Most research within the NeoSullivanian perspective has focused on the hypothesis that children and adolescents with high-quality friendships should increase in their self-esteem (Buhrmester & Furman, 1986; Keefe & Berndt, 1996). There has been no evidence supportive of this hypothesis. In some studies children with higher-quality friendships show higher self-esteem (dubow, & Ullman, 1989; Townsend, McCracken, & Wilton, 1988), but children do not show an increse in self-esteem over time when they have higher-quality friendships (Keefe & Berndt, 1996). In this paper, I propose a different process, which is that friends validate adolescents’ self-concepts instead of their self-esteem. Friends are in this view, more concerned about helping their friends arrive at an accurate self-concept than about boosting their friends’ evaluation of themselves. For example, it is more important for adolescents to help their friends understand who they are than for them to make their friends feel about about who they are. Notice how headings nicely indicate to the reader what the author is going to discuss Metaperception of Self-Concept 5 This paragraph states the major hypothesis for the paper. Metaperception of Self-Concept 6 The Role of Friends in Interpersonal Perception Metaperception as defined for this paper is the process of understanding what someone else thinks about you (Kenny, 1994). Originally, work in metaperception examined how well people understood what other people in general thought about them (Colvin, Vogt & Ickes, 1997; Kenny, 1994). More current research in metaperception is trying to understand how well people understand what particular others in their lives think about them. R. D. Laing and this associate (Laing, Phillipson & Lee, 1966) were some of the first researches to examine metaperception within relationships. They proposed that healthy marital relationships consist not necessarily of two people to each other or who understand each other, but of two people who understand what each thinks of the other. Laing and his colleagues (1966) suggested that individuals who understand what their spouse thinks about them can use this information to change their behavior and/or to make their spouse happier. To test this hypothesis, Funder and his colleagues (Funder & Colvin, 1988; Funder, Kolar & Blackman, 1995) had college students either matched with a friend whom they brought to the laboratory or match with a student from a different class whom they did not know. The students rated their partner on a trait checklist and then rated how they thought their partner would rate them on the same trait checklist (metaperception). When the students’ metaperception ratings were compared with how their partner rated them, Funder and his colleagues found that college-aged friends were more accurate in metaperception of personality traits than were nonfriends (Funder & Colvin, 1988; Funder, et al., 1995). Explains jargon to the reader. With more than two authors, use all the names in the first citation. Afterwards, just use the last name of the first author followed by “et al.” Another issue that has been ignored empirically is the development of the skill metaperception. Kenny (1994) has suggested that metaperception ability should increase as general social cognitive abilities increase. Selman (1980) proposed that social cognition, especially perspective taking, increases with age throughout childhood adolescence. Unfortunately, the developmental process of metaperception has not been addressed. To date, all studies of metaperception have involved only adults. Typically, these participants have been students who were enrolled in psychology classes at a university. No work to date has involved children or adolescents to test the proposed developmental increase in metaperception skill. This study will examine the proposed developmental increase in metaperception accuracy by examining the metaperception skills of early and late adolescents. The Role of Friendship and Metaperception in the Development of the Self-Concept If adolescents are using their friends to learn about themselves, then they should be aware of what their friends think of them. In outer words, they should be high in metaperception because they observe more and more varied behavioral information suggests the importance of the features of friendship. The neo-Sullivanian perspective (Buhrmeser & Furman, 1986) stresses that better friends will be more supportive and interact more frequently. This should also lead to the observation of more and more varied behavioral information. Close friends should also be more motivated to pay attention to this information. Therefore, the first hypothesis of this study is that friends should be more accurate in metaperception of self-concept than mere acquaintances. Explains why the current information out there is not sufficient to explain the phenomenon and how the author will address the problem. States the first hypothesis and its basis. Metaperception of Self-Concept 7 Metaperception of Self-Concept 8 Sullins’ (1992) finding that women were batter at metaperception than men was confounded by sex role of trait and sex of respondent, but Kenny (1994) and Laing, Phillipson and Lee (1966) have suggested that metaperception should be higher for more intimate relationships because of their increased intimacy, sharing, and self-disclosure. Adolescent girls typically have more intimate friendships than adolescent boys (Aboud & Mendelson, 1996; Furman & Buhrmester, 1992). Therefore, the second hypothesis is that girls will be more accurate in metaperception than boys, but only for metaperception of friends. Finally, Kenny (1994) has suggested that the developmental process of metaperception might follow a trajectory similar to general social cognition. The development of metaperception should be specifically linked to the development of perspective taking. Selman (1980) suggests that this process takes place throughout adolescence. Also, the amount of self-disclosure and intimacy among friends increases with age (Buhrmester & Prager, 1995; Savin-Williams & Berndt, 1990). This suggests that adolescents are having more discussions with friends about more personal topics, and they should have greater opportunity to discuss their self-concept and to discuss their friend’s self-concept. They should also also be more committed to their friend and the relationship, and therefore want to be more helpful within this process of self-concept development. Therefore, the final hypothesis is that older adolescents should be better at metaperception than younger adolescents due to the increase in social cognitive abilities. Because friendships become more intimate with age (Berndt, 1982; Newcomb & Bagwell, 1995), and because social cognitive abilities have been theorized to increase with age (Selman, 1980). the difference between friends and acquaintances should increase with age. States the second hypothesis and its basis. States the final hypothesis and its basis. Metaperception of Self-Concept 9 This is especially a concept for family and friends. Friends have been found to be more similar than nonfriends in many ways (Guralnick & Groom. 1988; Maccoby, 1990). In addition, friends have been found to perceive that they are more similar to each other than they really are (Aboud & Mendelson, 1996; Tesser, Campbell, & Smith, 1984). Therefore, because friends perceive that they are similar and because friends actually are more similar their metaperception scores might be inflated because of similarity. Analyses will be performed to see if metaperception scores are inflated by friends’ tendency to perceive that they are similar to one another. Also, to examine the possible roles of perceived and actual similarity, conservative analyses will performed to see the extend of metaperception when perceived and actual similarity are controlled. This is one way to segue into the Method Section. Describes some methodological issues and the analyses that will be performed to test them. Metaperception of Self-Concept 10