The research focuses on the analysis of the self-perception patternsudpresent among Spanish adolescents. The investigation of this topic is carriedudout by means of the development of a methodology adequate to deal with theudshortcomings of existing approaches. The theoretic approach consists in theudconsideration of those adolescents —thirteen and fourteen years oldudstudents— as autonomous social agents who define their own personaludstrategies in a dynamic of interactions with their environment.udThis view of students as autonomous social agents is refined throughudthe concept of a self-perception system which draws on some basic notions ofudsystems thinking and cybernetics. Some self-perception systems showudsimilarities which indicate the presence of distinct self-perception patterns.udThe detection and characterization of those patterns is the main aim of thisudresearch.udThe empirical basis of the research is provided by essays written byud116 students belonging to four state schools in Madrid. Those schools areudlocated in four different socio-economic areas of that city. The common topicudof the essays was "How do you see your life as a youngster, as a middle ageudperson and as an elderly person?". The analysis of the conceptual content ofudthose essays produces the specific concepts used by each individual. Theseuddata are then processed by means of a methodology called socio-semanticudanalysis, which combines Q-analysis and Multidimensional Scaling. Theudoutcome of this methodology is a set of socio-semantic maps in whichudconcepts and individuals appear located according to their socio-semanticuddistances. The interpretation of those maps allows for abstract differentudpatterns of self-perception in the sample: profession centred pattern, a familyudcentred pattern and a dual or conflictive pattern, which is characteristic ofudsome girls.udThe sociological significance of the notion of self-perception patternsudstems from the fact that the considerations of the specific patterns that are atudwork in a given social environment —in this case an educationaludenvironment— may be instrumental in explaining the behaviour of the agentsudacting within those environments.
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