ADOLESCENTS COMPETENCE AND THE MUTUALITY OF THEIR SELF-DESCRIPTIONS AND DESCRIPTIONS OF THEM PROVIDED BY OTHERS

The relation between adolescents' personality, various competence indi ces, and the mutuality of their self-descriptions and descriptions of them provided by important interaction partners was studied in two sam ples of adolescents (12- and 14-years-old). Mutuality (a Q-correlation , reflecting self-other agreement between a self-description and a des cription provided by an important other) increased with age and was hi gher for girls. Extraversion and Emotional Stability were not related to mutuality, Agreeableness and Conscientiousness were related to mutu ality at age 12, and Openness was related to mutuality at both ages, M utuality was further related to competence indices at both ages. Mutua lity with the main interaction partner in a setting was the most impor tant for competence in that specific setting. These results illustrate the important role for the development of competence of the communica tion with significant interaction partners and of the adolescent's emb eddedness in a social network.