SUSAN HARTER

SELF-PERCEPTION PROFILE
FOR CHILDREN

DONE BY
SHWETA GANGOPADHYAY
AMMU SANDLER

SUSAN HARTER SELF PERCEPTION

PROFILE

The Self-Perception Profile for Children was invented by

SUSAN HARTER, initially created in 1979 and published in
1985.

After receiving her bachelors degree from Oberlin College,

she received her Ph.D. from Yale University in 1966,
obtaining a joint degree in developmental and child-clinical
psychology.

Susan

Harter

wrote

extensively

about

self-concept

SELF & SELF CONCEPT

DEFINITION OF SELF

SELF CONCEPT: ACCORDING TO

SUSAN HARTER

Her detailed account of the emergence of self concept

begins at the age of two by recognition of the self as a
detailed physical entity.

According to her the children begin to form

autobiographical memories and as evolving
autobiographical portrait of the self in the age of two

Another important influence on the emerging self concept

is the attachment relationship with the caregiver.

SELF PERCEPTION THEORY

Self-perception

theory

was

developed

by

social

psychologist Daryl Bem. The self-perception theory consists

of two basic claims which are :

First the theory claims that people come to know their own
attitudes, beliefs, and other internal states by inferring
them from their own behavior and the circumstances under
which they occur.

Second the theory claims that when internal cues are

weak, the individual is in the same position as an outside

DESCRIPTION OF THE SCALE

The Self-Perception Profile for Children (SPPC)
is a self-report magnitude estimation scale that
measures a school-age child's sense of general
self-worth and self-competence in the domain of
academic skills (Harter 1982, 1985). The Self
Perception Profile for Children, as developed by
Susan Harter, has five subscales to assess
perceived domain-specific competence.

FIVE SPECIFIC DOMAINS OF

COMPETENCE

Social
Global
Physical
Behavioural
Athletic
Competence
SelfScholastic
Competenc
Appearanc
Worth
Condu
Co

AGE ELIGIBILITY
The population and age eligibility for the test are
Children and Adolescent but the age has been revised
over the years which are:
1986-1992

PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES
STANDARDIZATION /
NORMATIVE DATA

RELIABILITY

1. Internal consistency
Standard deviations are
reliabilities.
between 0.50 and 0.85 2. Test-retest reliability
indicating large variability
between subjects

VALIDITY

NORMS

1. Face validity
2. Factorial validity
3. Convergent validity
4. Construct validity

Only raw scores, which are a

simple summation of the six
individual items in each scale,
are provided, as no national
norms are available.

RESEARCH
Research done by Harter and Renick (1989) on Impact of
social comparisons on the developing self-perceptions of
learning disabled students. This self-report instrument taps
children's perceptions of their scholastic and athletic
competence, social acceptance, and feelings of global selfworth. Results indicated that social comparison processes
play an important role in the formation of LD students'
perceived academic competence.

Another Research done by Bouchey, and Heather(2005) on

Reflected Appraisals, Academic Self-Perceptions, and
Math/Science Performance During Early Adolescence. The
sample included 378 middle school students; 65% were
Latino, and 21% were European American. Latino students
reported lower mean levels of perceived competence than
did European American students.

APPLICATION
1. Reliable and valid self report measure for assessing self
esteem.
2. Clinically it can be important to assess childrens personal
strengths and competencies and not just focus on
problems and difficulties.
3. Learning

Disabled

Children's

self-

perception

were

investigated using this scale.

4. Social comparison play an important role in the formation

MATERIALS REQUIRED
Susan Harter Self Perception Questionnaire.

Writing Materials

Scoring Key

Susan Harter Self Perception Manual

PROCEDURE
1. Children are first informed that this is a SURVEY and that
this is NOT A TEST.
2. Children read two statement and choose which one is most
like them and then choose if it isreally true of me or sort
of true of me.
3. It is critical to emphasize that for any given item, they only
check one box on the side that is most like them, THEY DO
NOT CHECK BOTH SIDES.
4. The administrator reads the first fewquestionsallowed to
ensure the students

understand then if they are able to

read and comprehend they continue with the ability to

askquestions.

If

they

will

not

understand

INSTRUCTION
There are two sets of questions one titled WHAT AM I LIKE
and the other HOW IMPORTANT YOURSELF AS A
PERSON. I am interested in knowing what you are like as a
person and what are things you considered to be important
about yourself. There is a sample question marked A on first
sheet. There are two opposite sentences give in
questionnaire. You have to decide whether you are more
like the kids on left side or more like the kind on right side.
Once you have decided which side is true for you, tell me
whether the sentence is SORT OF TRUE or REALLY TRUE
by putting a cross on a box. I want you do the same for all

PRECAUTIONS
1. Children are informed that it is a survey not a test.
2. It is mentioned that there is no right/ wrong answers on
the survey
3. It is critical to emphasize that for any give item, the testee
can check only one box.
4. It is important to monitor the child so that he/she checks
only one box.
5. It is advisable to read all the items to 3rd-4th graders or to

ANALYISIS OF DATA
1. Items are scored 4, 3, 2, and 1 where 4 represent the
most adequate self-judgment and 1 represents least
adequate self-judgment.
2. Items within each subscale are counter balanced such
that three items are worded with most adequate
statement on right.
3. Items scores for those with the most adequate
description on the left are scored 4, 3, 2, 1 whereas items
scores for those items with most adequate description on
right are scored 1, 2, 3, 4.
4. The mean of each subscale is calculated thus the total of
six subscales will give a childs profile.

REFERENCES
Harter, S.(2012) Self-Perception Profile for Children: Manual
and

Questionnaire.

University

of

Denver

Dept.

of

Psychology.

Muris P, Meesters C, et al.(2002) The Self-Perception Profile

for Children: further evidence for its factor structure,
reliability,

and

validity.

Personality

and

Individual

Differences, 17911802.

Renick, J.; Harter, S.(1989) Impact of social comparisons on

the

developing

self-perceptions

of

learning

disabled