The impact of biased self-evaluations of school and social competence on academic and social functioning

The first goal of this study was to determine whether biased self-evaluation of school competence was positively associated with biased self-evaluation of social competence. The second goal was to determine whether biased self-evaluations of school and social competence measured at Time 1 predicted variables related to functioning in these domains three years later. We expected that biased self-evaluation of school competence would be related to biased self-evaluation of social competence and that biased self-evaluation in each domain will be related to the variables in both domains. The sample comprised 406 children (214 girls) whose mean age at Time 1 was 11 years and 6 months (SD = 7.64 months). Results partially confirmed the hypothesis in the school domain, but not in the social domain. In the school domain, a positive bias at Time 1 was associated with better self-regulation three years later, fewer feelings of school alienation and higher school achievement. In the social domain, a negative bias was linked positively with the preference for avoiding social relations and with peers' rejection. Unexpectedly, a negative bias of self-evaluation of social competence was linked to better self-regulation. Furthermore, unlike previous research (Larouche, Galand, & Bouffard, 2008), the positive association between biased self-evaluations of school and social competences was not confirmed. The discussion highlights the importance of broadening the examination of the impact of biased self-evaluation of competence in various domains and the factors associated with their development.