Perceived sources of esteem in early childhood

This descriptive study is an initial effort toward understanding the sources of esteem perceived by young children. The identity, number, and relative salience of esteem sources were examined via the responses of 282 day care children aged three through five who were asked to identify persons who liked them. A mean of 4.3 esteem sources were mentioned. Peers and siblings were cited as esteem sources by higher percentages of children than were mothers and fathers. While age comparisons were nonsignificant, sex comparisons indicated that females reported significantly more esteem sources and mentioned mother, father, and siblings significantly more often than males. Implications for self theory, for traditional views of young children's social transactions, and for common assumptions regarding peer impact on development in early childhood are discussed.