One influence on the adolescent's sense of affective self is the relationship with significant others. A study was conducted to examine the differential influence of relationships with parents and peers on the adolescent's sense of affective self. Twenty-five male and 25 female University of Denver undergraduates provided descriptions of personality traits for self, mother, father, and best friend; perceptions of relationships with parents and peers; and self- and other-esteem ratings. Subjects were given one week to complete those parts of the questionnaire that asked them to describe their own and others' personalities and the relationships between themselves and others. The results revealed that self-esteem was related significantly to projected mother and father esteem, but it was independent of projected best-friend esteem. In contrast, significantly more traits and a higher percentage of positive traits were shared with best friend than with parents. Perceptions of increased distance in the relationship with mother were related to the perception of increased negative and decreased positive traits in the mother, but not the self. Relationships with fathers were perceived to be more distant than relationships with mothers or peers, yet distance was not related to the sense of self or father. These results suggest that mothers, fathers, and peers serve important, but different, affective functions for adolescents. (Author/NB)