The Perceptions of Parents, Family, Self, and Peers in School-Age Children: Links with Problem-Solving Behaviors and Social Preference

아동의 대인지각과 문제해결 행동 및 사회적 선호도와의 관계

The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlation between children's perceptions of interpersonal relations (parents, family, and peers) and those of self, and to examine how the perceptions are related ot problem-solving and social preference. The subjects of this study were 625 children of 5th and 6th grade in 4 primary schools in Taejon City. Results showed positive correlations among four measures of social perceptions (to parents, to family, to peer, and to self). Therefore we have found generalization among children's representations across four interpersonal domains-that is, parents, family, self, and peer. Children's problem solving-behaviors were most significantly related with parents/family domains among interpersonal relationships. In the case of boys, direct path between the perceptions of parents/family and problem solving-behavior was significant, whereas girls' perception of parent/family was associated with problem solving-behavior both directly and indirectly, through girls' perceptions of self and peer. Social preference was highly correlated with perceptions of peer and of father. This study has found that both boys' and girls' peer representations were established for the role as mediators between parents/family representations and peer ratings of social preference. These findings revealed that the impact of family representations on peer rejection was mediated by children's beliefs about their peers.