Philosophers, psychologists, and authors have long pondered the question of whether others’ expectations or one’s own self-views are more important in determining behavior and personality. Researchers have designated these two processes behavioral confirmation and self-verification, respectively, and the interaction of these processes is often referred to as identity negotiation. Little research has examined the process of identity negotiation during adolescence, a period during which individuals are attempting to forge unique identities. Therefore, the primary purpose of the present studies was to examine the identity negotiation process during adolescence. In Study 1, I examined whether adolescents (11-15 years of age) solicit self-verifying feedback. Adolescents first completed a measure of self-perceptions and then selected whether to receive positive or negative feedback from an unknown peer in areas of perceived strength and weakness. Adolescents desired feedback congruent with their own self-views; those with higher self-esteem tended to request more positive feedback than those with lower self-esteem. Further, adolescents were more likely to seek negative feedback regarding a self-perceived weakness than a self-perceived strength. In Study 2, I examined the joint operation of behavioral confirmation and self-verification in dyadic interactions among unacquainted adolescents. One member of each dyad (the target) completed a measure of self-perception. The second member of each dyad (the perceiver) was provided with false information regarding the attractiveness of their partner. I compared whether targets’ self-views or perceivers’ expectations of them were stronger determinants of behavior. Self-verification strivings were evident in these interactions; targets’ self-views influenced the perceivers’ final evaluations of their partners. Support for behavioral confirmation was lacking in same-sex dyads and dyads composed of male perceivers and female targets. Appearance based expectations influenced target behavior in dyads composed of female perceivers and male targets. The current findings suggest that adolescents’ self-views are important determinants of behavior. Significant implications for adolescent mental health and peer selection are discussed. / text

Students tend to perform at the academic level expected of them. Although most expectation research has centered investigation of decontextualized teacher-student dyads to understand whether students behaviorally confirm their teacher’s expectation, we now know that expectations operate at whole-group or system levels. Since underestimation is more common within historically marginalized learning communities, these student groups can experience comprehensive systems of underestimation at the level of the institution, with lifelong consequences for success and wellbeing. While intervening in such systems is possible (e.g., changing beliefs or practices to ensure over-estimation), it remains difficult because researchers do not yet understand how academic expectations are constructed or what governs the process. This is essential knowledge for generating more equitable expectation systems. Academic expectations constitute a complex and dynamic system. However, methodologies traditionally used to investigate them have collectively assumed otherwise, likely masking the pervasiveness of underestimation in marginalized settings. In this ethnographic case study I examine expectation co-construction in one 11th grade classroom serving marginalized students. Analyzing over seven hours of classroom discourse and fieldnotes across a five week span, participant recall interviews, learning artifacts, and archival data, I investigate three interdependent system facets: teachers’ and students’ expectation-related discourse; sociocultural inputs operating at multiple levels; and the emerging role identities of teachers and three focal students in relation to expectations. I describe and map an integrated network of 27 emerging expectations, and explain the how and why of their situated co-construction by members of the learning community. I argue that individuals’ awareness of their own contributions to the everyday behaviors, beliefs, and discourse that construct and reproduce underestimated expectations is critical to disrupting such systems. This study offers practitioners and researchers an adaptable methodology to build this awareness and inform subsequent interventions. / Educational Psychology