MEN, WOMEN, AND THE SELF-PRESENTATION OF ACHIEVEMENT

This study examined men's and women's self-presentation of academic ac hievement in an interactional context. First-year college students wer e led to expect an interaction with a peer to discuss academic achieve ment. However the peer was actually a confederate who portrayed his or her achievement in a boastful, moderate, or self-deprecating manner P rior to the anticipated interaction, subjects were induced to describe their own academic achievement and make predictions about their first -semester grade point averages (GPAs) to be shared with the peel: Men' s GPA predictions were highest in the boastful condition (and higher t han their actual GPAs), next highest in the moderate condition, and lo west (and lower than their actual GPAs) in the self-deprecating condit ion. Women's predicted GPAs, unexpectedly, did not vary by condition. Women were less comfortable in predicting their GPAs than men, and the re was a tendency for men to be more comfortable than women while obse rving the boastful peer and women to be more comfortable than men whil e observing the self-deprecating peer Results are discussed with regar d to past research and self-in-relation theory.