Self-other agreement measures of acceptance in predicting academic achievement: A longitudinal analysis

Peer acceptance has been linked to academic achievement in adolescents in previous research. Nevertheless, the relation between self-perception of acceptance and academic achievement is not clear. This study proposed a mediational model in which the degree of correspondence of self-other perceptions of acceptance is mediating the relation between self-perception of acceptance and academic achievement. Additionally, due to a lack of consistency regarding the method to assess the degree of correspondence of self-other perceptions of acceptance, four mediators have been tested and compared: status realism, accuracy by the subtraction method, bias by the regression method, and bias by the subtraction method. Data collection was carried out across two time points. The sample consisted of 539 adolescents at Time 1, 701 adolescents at Time 2, and a total of 345 adolescents that participated at both time points. Cross-sectional and longitudinal mediational models revealed different results for each mediator proposed. Only status realism and bias by the subtraction method were significant across time points and longitudinally. Implications regarding the use of the different measures of the degree of correspondence of self-other perception of acceptance are proposed.