title: Need for approval and children's well-being.
abstract: This research examined the hypothesis that a tendency to base one's self-worth on peer approval is associated with positive and negative aspects of children's well-being. A sample of 153 fourth through eighth graders (9.0 to 14.8 years) reported on need for approval, global self-worth, social-evaluative concerns, anxiety and depression, and exposure to victimization. Teachers reported on social behavior. Results confirmed that need for approval is a two-dimensional construct composed of positive (enhanced self-worth in the face of social approval) and negative (diminished self-worth in the face of social disapproval) approval-based self-appraisals. Need for approval had trade-offs for well-being that depended on the dimension (positive vs. negative), the psychological domain (emotional vs. social adjustment), children's sex and age, and children's social context (high vs. low peer victimization).
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL 61820, USA. krudolph@uiuc.edu
authors.forename: Karen D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Rudolph
authors.forename: Melissa S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Caldwell
authors.forename: Colleen S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Conley
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012938:Social Perception