Comparison Processes in Parents' and Children's Appraisals of Academic Performance

According to the reverse social comparison process, people judge the performances of others on the basis of comparisons with their own performance. The more successful they are, the more harsh their judgment. We examined this process using data involving appraisals of academic performance by fourththrough eighth-grade children and by their parents. The evidence suggests that successful parents tend to make more negative appraisals of their children's performance in middle school. These appraisals then affect children's self-appraisals through a reflected appraisal process. Whereas mothers' appraisals have substantial effects on the children's self-appraisals in elementary school, fathers' appraisals have strong effects in middle school. Children's test scores also have negative effects on the appraisals by middle-school children and by their parents, reflecting temporal comparison.