Self-Concept and the Mildly Handicapped: the Role of Social Comparisons

Three hypotheses adduced from social-comparison theory were tested by assessing the self-concepts of several children groups. Subjects included normal children, mildly handicapped children residing in one of three special education settings varying from partial to total instructional segregation, and children with academic difficulties who remained solely in regular classes. In the first contrast, the handicapped samples were found comparable in self-concept to normal children, a finding hypothesized as resulting from the increased homogeneity of ability of students in special education placements. Strong support was given a second prediction positing that lower self-concept should be clearly evident when children (handicapped or not) were forced to reside solely in social-comparison groups of generally greater ability. The final hypothesis, suggesting higher self-concepts for handicapped children partially rather than totally segregated from the larger school population, did not receive support. The results are interpreted in terms of the theoretical importance of social-comparison theory in understanding the influence of educational settings on children's images of their social self.