Self-statements in aggressive, withdrawn, and popular children

The present study examined the use of inhibiting and facilitating self-statements (i.e., self-statements that make it harder or easier to deliver an effective social response) in groups of withdrawn (n = 33), aggressive (n = 32), and popular (n = 27) children. These self-statements were studied across two types of interpersonal situations (resolving conflict, initiating social interactions) and two levels of interpersonal relationship (friend, stranger). Results indicated that popular children made significantly more facilitating than inhibiting responses than aggressive or withdrawn children, who did not differ from one another. In addition, results indicated a tendency for children in all three status levels to endorse more facilitating than inhibiting self-statements in situations involving friends (vs. strangers) and the initiating of social behavior (vs. conflict situations). Finally, a Relationship ×Situation interaction was found, indicating significantly more facilitating self-statements than inhibiting self-statements for all three groups in situations involving initiating interactions with friends.