Children's evaluation of sources of information about traits.
Children's assessment of the value of different sources of information about psychological traits was investigated among 6- to 7-year-olds and 10- to 11-year-olds across 5 studies (N = 330). Older children were more likely than younger children to reject self-report as a source of information about the highly evaluative traits smart and honest, but no such age-related difference was seen for the less evaluative comparison traits outgoing and nervous. A similar pattern of age-related differences was seen when children were asked to identify which of 4 sources of information--self-report, teacher report, peer report, or direct observation--would be most useful for obtaining information about the evaluative and comparison traits. The age-related increase in skepticism about self-report as a source of information for evaluative traits was associated with an increased appreciation of the role that social desirability plays in self-presentational processes.
Heyman
Gail D
GD
Department of Psychology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0109, USA. gheyman@ucsd.edu
Legare
Cristine H
CH
D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D003469:Culture; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008606:Mental Processes; D010552:Personality Assessment; D012718:Set, Psychology; D012931:Social Environment; D012938:Social Perception; D012945:Social Values