Children's Understanding of Showing Off

Abstract

This study concerned children's understanding of a form of self-presentation likely to be familiar to them, namely, showing off. Although no differences between 8- and 11-year-old children were anticipated in the definition of this behavior, it was predicted that 8-year-olds' understanding of the motivation underlying showing off would focus on psychological determinants and that 11-year-olds' understanding would focus on interpersonal determinants because they would recognize that actors often desire to manipulate their presentation of self in order to influence others' attributions to them. Interviews conducted with 46 British children yielded data that were broadly consistent with these predictions. The findings are discussed in relation to children's understanding of emotional display rules, which also involve a self-presentation component.