What children say about classroom performance: sex and grade differences in perceived competence

• Published in: Child development Vol. 58; no. 4; pp. 1066 - 1078
• Main Authors: Frey, K.S, Ruble, D.N
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Malden, MA University of Chicago Press 01.08.1987; Blackwell; University of Chicago Press for the Society for Research in Child Development, etc
• Subjects: academic achievement; Achievement; age differences; Analysis of variance; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Child Development; Child, Preschool; Children; class activities; Classroom observations; Developmental psychology; elementary school children; Elementary schools; evaluation; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; gender differences; Gender Identity; Grade levels; Humans; Identification (Psychology); kindergarten; Kindergarten education; Male; Mental Recall; Observational research; peer evaluation; preschool children; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Reading; Reading skills; school children; Self Concept; self evaluation competency; self-perception; Sex linked differences; United States; Human; Ability; Academic achievement; Social perception; Attitude; Sex; Attribution; School environment; Study level; Causality; Performance; Child; Age
• ISSN: 0009-3920; 1467-8624
• DOI: 10.2307/1130547

Naturalistic observations and interviews with children in kindergarten, first, second, and fourth grades (ages 5½-10 years) were used to examine sex and age differences in evaluations of, and attributions to performance of, self and others. Observers coded the content of peer verbal exchanges during class work times, and the children were subsequently interviewed about their and their peers' classroom performance, as well as expectancies of performance on a novel task. Analyses of classroom observations generally supported previous laboratory findings; positive evaluation declined with grade level, and more negative self-evaluations and attributions were made by girls than by boys. In contrast, the interview measures did not show grade or sex differences in self-assessment; however, the consistency across interview and observation measures was greater at higher grade levels and for boys than for girls. Previous interpretations of age and sex differences in performance assessment are reexamined, and the possible impact of social context on evaluative statements is discussed.