This study examined the links among 5th and 6th graders' (279 girls and 310 boys) self-and peer perceptions, social goals, and social behavior. Social goals mediated the effects of self-and peer perceptions on 3 types of behavior: proactive aggression, prosocial behavior, and withdrawal. In addition to their main effects (self-perception predicting variance in agentic goals, peer perception being related to communal goals), self-and peer perception interacted in influencing social goals; for instance, the effects of a positive view of oneself were different in the contexts of a positive versus a negative perception of peers. It is suggested that in order to predict children's social behavior more accurately, researchers should investigate children's dual perceptions of themselves and of their peers-that is, their peer-relational schemas-instead of assessing self-perception and peer perception in isolation from each other.
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