Relative Contributions of Perceived Mattering to Parents and Friends in Predicting Adolescents' Psychological Well-Being

Abstract

Perceived mattering is the psychological tendency to perceive the self as significant to specific other people. The central goal of this study was to examine whether adolescents' perceived mattering across social spheres (parents and friends) is additive or compensatory in predicting adolescents' psychological well-being. Tests of the relative importance of adolescents' perceived mattering to parents and friends for psychological well-being were conducted using data from two convenience samples. Study 1 participants were, on the average, 17.5 yr. old and living in rural northwestern United States ( N = 128, 50% male, n = 64; 50% female, n = 64). Study 2 participants, on the average, were 16.9 yr. old, from a suburban western Canadian region ( N = 532, 51.4% male, n = 273; 48.6% female, n = 259). Hierarchical regression analysed with indicators of self-concept and behavioral misconduct as dependent variables used perceived mattering to parents and perceived mattering to friends and the interaction between these two variables as independent variables. Perceived mattering in both social spheres seemed the optimal condition for adolescents. Perceived mattering to friends “added” to perceived mattering to parents in explaining variance in assessments of psychological well-being in both studies.