The present study explored the development of self-presentation. Subjects were eighty-five 6-, 8-, and 1 0-year-olds. Subjects were asked to tell children at another school about themselves three times: (1) a baseline self-description; (2) a self-description intended to convince the children to pick them as a partner for a game (goal-directed condition); and (3) a self-description intended to convince children who really wanted to win prizes to pick them as a partner (enhanced goal-directed condition). The self-presentational strategies of self-promotion and ingratiation were measured through increased production of game-related and social positive self-statements in the experimental conditions. The results revealed a developmental increase in selective self-presentation. Consistent with our hypothesis, we found that kindergartners did not engage in selective selfpresentation, whereas second and fourth graders exhibited more self-promotion than ingratiation in the enhanced condition. Attributional knowledge was also shown to have a significant effect on self-promotion.Other people infer our underlying characteristics from our actions and statements. As a result, each of our behaviors communicates informa tion about the self to those around us. When we select our behaviors in order to convey a particular image of the self to an audience, we are

In this study, the authors compared group members' and group outsiders' susceptibility to the influence of their friends' smoking. Ss were nonsmokers in Grade 7 who were observed for 1 year. Consistent with their hypothesis, the authors found that group outsiders (Ss who did not have reciprocal friends) were affected more by the smoking of their best friend and by the overall level of smoking among their friends than group members were. Furthermore, this peer influence was strongest for teens who were very concerned about their friends' reactions to their substance use. In addition, consistency in smoking status was related to the formation, but not the breakdown, of reciprocal friendships. Results indicated that teenagers may view smoking as a vehicle for entering a desired friendship group. The authors suggest ways that prevention programs might address this mechanism for adolescent smoking initiation.

No abstract

The present study utilized a longitudinal design to assess whether self-consistency or self-enhancement motives are predictive of future smoking onset. Participants were 1,222 nonsmoking 5th through 8th graders who were followed into the next academic year. The results showed that teens who were above the median in similarity between their self-image and smoker stereotype on coolness, sociability, and intelligence were almost twice as likely to show smoking onset at the 2nd measurement. This is supportive of a self-consistency motive for adolescent smoking. The results of this study provide an important extension to previous cross-sectional research in this area.

The relation of the possible selves to cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption was the focus for this study. Participants (1,606 students in Grades 6 through 9) listed their possible selves and reported their cigarette and alcohol use. The results revealed that adolescent cigarette smoking and alcohol use were related negatively to (a) the number of positive expected selves and (b) the balance between expected selves and feared selves. However, when both possible-selves variables were entered in the model simultaneously, only the number of positive expected selves consistently was related to negative health behavior. In addition, the number of positive expected selves was related more strongly to the negative health behavior of eighth and ninth graders than to that of sixth and seventh graders. The findings from the present study are contrasted with previous research. In addition, the utility of an intervention involving the possible selves is discussed.