Social Comparisons of Children with and Without Learning Disabilities When Evaluating Physical Competence

The purpose was to examine the reference groups used by children with and without learning disabilities (LD), ages 10-13 years, when judging perceived physical competence in three contexts (in physical education class, during outdoor school recess, and at home). Participants, 30 students with LD and 30 without LD, completed the athletic competence subscale from the Self-Perception Profile for Learning Disabled Students (SPPLD; Renick & Harter, 1988) and two social comparison questionnaires in each activity context. Differences in the percentage of students citing the various reference groups across context was not statistically significant. Observations of responses indicate participants relied primarily on classmates, self-comparison, and family members to judge their physical competence. These results suggest that, while students with and without LD tend to compare themselves with their general education classmates, their reliance on eight different social comparison groups from which to judge physical competence varies with context.