The prevalence of Chinese parents using upward social comparisons to influence their children\'s behavior is well-documented. However, the lack of reliable tools for measuring parental social comparisons, combined with a limited understanding of their association with preschoolers\' mastery motivation, highlights a significant gap in research. To bridge this gap, we undertook a comprehensive investigation. Study 1 involved the development of the Parental Social Comparison Scale. Study 2 and Study 3 explored the association between parental social comparisons and children\'s mastery motivation, considering perspectives from parents (N = 194; Mage = 33.72 years, SD = 4.97) and children (N = 102; Mage = 5.14 years, SD = 3.78). We found that parental social comparisons were positively associated with children\'s mastery motivation according to parents\' perceptions but were negatively associated with mastery motivation through children\'s self-concept from children\'s perspectives.

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between parental autonomy support and children\'s self-concept, and to explore the role of basic psychological needs in Chinese primary schools from the perspective of self-determination theory. A total of 3109 children aged 6-13 years participated in eastern China. The results indicated a significant correlation between parental autonomy support, basic psychological needs, and children\'s self-concept. Basic psychological needs play a partial mediating role between parental autonomy support and children\'s self-concept. Specifically, autonomy support varied by need types whereas parental control steadily played a negative predictive role. Parental autonomy support and control predicted children\'s self-concept differently through three basic psychological needs, with differences across gender and grades. Boys and elder children had stronger relationships to competence needs, while girls were sensitive to autonomy needs; in addition, both of them were sensitive to relatedness needs. The mediating effects model and cross-group analyses revealed the complex predictive role of parental autonomy support on children\'s self-concept in China, providing an effective entry point for cross-cultural research and family education to improve children\'s psychological well-being.