The pictorial scale for young children (aged 4 to 7 years) contains four subscales labeled: cognitive compe-
tence, physical competence, peer acceptance, and maternal acceptance; however, analyses suggested only two
dimensions based on samples of N5145 and N5104 children /C0competence and acceptance ( Harter &
Pike, 1984 ). The child scale (aged 8 to 13 years) has six subscales labeled: scholastic, social, athletic, physical,
behavioral, and global self-worth. The adolescent scale (aged 14 to 19 years) has nine subscales labeled: scholastic
competence, social competence, athletic competence, physical appearance, job competence, romantic appeal,
behavioral conduct, close friendship, and global self-worth. The college student scale (aged 17 to 23 years) has
13 subscales labeled: creativity, intellectual ability, scholastic competence, job competence, athletic competence,
appearance, romantic relationships, social acceptance, close friends, parent relationships, sense of humor, moral-
ity, and global self-worth. The adult scale (aged 20 to 60 years) has 12 subscales: intelligence, job competence, ath-
letic competence, physical appearance, sociability, close friendship, intimate relationships, morality, sense of
humor, nurturance, household management, adequacy as a provider, and global self-worth. The older adult scale
(aged 60 years and older) has 14 subscales labeled: relationship with friends, family relationships, nurturance,
adequacy as a provider, job competence, cognitive abilities, personal/household management, leisure activities,
health status, physical appearance, morality, life satisfaction, reminiscence, and global self-worth.
Sample
The original samples were primarily drawn from Colorado in the USA and were mostly Caucasian. Sample
sizes for the development of the Self-Perception Profile for Children (e.g., Harter, 2012a ) ranged from N5220
(Grade 5) to N5928 (Grade 6) with a total sample of 2,744 students in Grades 3 to 8. Sample sizes for the devel-
opment of the Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents (e.g., Harter, 2012b ) ranged from N5165 (Grade 8) to
N5361 (Grade 11) with a total sample of 1,099 students in Grades 8 to 11. The Self-Perception Profile for
College Students ( Neemann & Harter, 2012 ) was developed using data from 300 college students. The Self-
Perception Profile for Adults ( Messer & Harter, 2012 ) was developed using data from 356 parents (88% women).
Reliability
Internal Consistency
Harter reported Cronbach alpha coefficients ranging from .71 to .92 across all of the subscales and ages
(Harter, 1985 ; 2012; Neemann & Harter, 2012 ).Rose, Hands, and Larkin (2012) reported alpha coefficients ranging
from .68 to .87 for the adolescent scale, consistent with several other studies conducted in different counties
(seeRose et al., 2012 ). Alpha coefficients ranged from .70 to .89 for the adult scales ( Donnellan et al., 2007 ).
Test/C0Retest
Harter (1984) reported stability coefficients for eight samples for the child scale. These ranged from .70 to .87
for three months and .69 to .80 for nine months. A meta-analysis found a long-term stability coefficient of .43
(average time interval three years) for the global self-worth scale ( Trzesniewski et al., 2003 ).Donnellan et al.
(2007) reported four-year stability correlations ranging from .38 to .77 for the adult scales.
Validity
Convergent/Concurrent
The adult global subscale correlated .74 with the RSE Scale ( Donnellan et al., 2007 ) and the college student
global scale correlated .75 with the RSE (Ferrier et al., 2008). The child subscales from the SPP correlated as
expected with Marsh’s Self-Description Questionnaire (SDQ-I) using data from 508 students ( Marsh &
Gouvernet, 1989 ). The physical scales from both inventories were correlated at .67, the social scale from the
Harter inventory was correlated .74 with the peer scale for the SDQ-I, the cognitive scale from the Harter inven-
tory was correlated .60 with the total academic scales, and the general scales from both were correlated at .57
(Marsh & Gouvernet, 1989 ).
The child scales correlated positively with teacher reports of scholastic competence ( r5.35, .43, and .60 for
students in Grades 2, 3, and 4, respectively; Boivin, Vitaro, & Gagnon, 1992 ), teacher reports of peer acceptance
(r5.19, .28, and .33 for students in Grades 2, 3, and 4, respectively; Boivin et al., 1992 ) and teacher reports of
peer status ( r5.27, .32, and .38 for students in Grades 2, 3, and 4, respectively; Boivin et al., 1992 ). In a sample
of 107 Mexican-American school children, the scholastic scale was correlated with a positive school attitude
(r5.58) and the physical ( r5.41), behavioral ( r5.64), and global scales ( r5.51) ( Hess & Petersen, 1996 ).143 OVERVIEW OF THE MEASURES
II. EMOTIONAL DISPOSITIONS