The purpose of this present study was to examine several empirical studies in the relation to a set of self-esteem variables (ethnic identity, acculturation, and language) and academic achievement of adolescents and emerging adulthood from mainstream United States and three diverse ethnic groups (South Koreans, African Americans and Latinos). The findings and implications of the study including recommendations for future research in this area are discussed.
Self-Esteem and Academic Achievement
Research shows that academic performance influences a person's self-esteem, but it is still debatable whether self-esteem along with ethnic identity, acculturation and language influence academic achievement (Cavazos-Rehg & DeLucia-Waack, 2009). The National Association for Self-esteem states that self-esteem is a highly desirable quality because it is a central psychological source of positive behavior. That is, positive behavior is a result of high self-esteem (Baumeister, Campbell, Krueger, & Vohs, 2003).
Self-esteem is commonly regarded as the positive or negative attitude a person has towards the concept of the self (Rosenberg, 1979). One of the most common ways to measure the self-esteem is the Rosenberg (1979) Self-esteem Scale (RSES). The RSES is a well-established measure with high reliability and validity, which measures self-esteem on the basis of variables such as ethnic identity, acculturation and language. In general, the higher the degree of ethnic identity, acculturation and language fluency the higher the self-esteem a person will obtain (Cavazos-Rehg & DeLucia-Waack, 2009).
Ethnic identity is defined on the “magnitude to which an individual appreciates and actively engages in his or her own cultural values, traditions, b...
... middle of paper ...
...lla (Ed.),
Hispanic psychology (pp. 57–70). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Rice, M. L., Sell, M. A., & Hadley, P. A. (1991). Social interactions of speech- and language impaired children. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 34, 1299–1307.
Rosenberg, M. (1979). Conceiving the self. New York: Basic Books.
Stupnisky, R. H., Renaud, R. D., Perry, R. P., Ruthig, J. C., Haynes, T. L., & Clifton, R. A.
(2007). Comparing self-esteem and perceived control as predictors of first-year college students' academic achievement. Social Psychology of Education, 10(3), 303-330. doi:10.1007/s11218-007-9020-4 Zeigler-Hill, V., Li, H., Masri, J., Smith, A., Vonk, J., Madson, M. B., & Zhang, Q. (2013). Self- esteem instability and academic outcomes in American and Chinese college students.
Journal of Research in Personality, 47(5), 455-463. doi:10.1016/j.jrp.2013.03.010
Tadić, A., Wagner, S., Hoch, J., Başkaya, Ö., von Cube, R., Skaletz, C., ... & Dahmen, N. (2009).
Harvey, P. D., Moriarty, P. J., Friedman, J. I., White, L., Parrella, M., Mohs, R. C., & Davis, K.
Rizzo, A. S., Difede, J., Rothbaum, B. O., Reger, G., Spitalnick, J., Cukor, J., & McLay, R.
Another risk factors of discrimination includes group-esteem and self-esteem—low self-esteem is seen in the students that are bullied at school, although social psychology indicates that “if one feels a sense of relatedness to their ethnic group they portray a higher self-esteem as well as better mental health—this is seen in African, Asian, and Hispanic Americans.” American Schools and the Latino Student Experience by Patricia Gandara includes a study by Robert Crosnoe on Mexican immigrants and their developmental experiences going through school. Crosnoe presents that even if Mexican immigrants are intelligent and deserve high placement courses, they are placed at an academic disadvantage due to English being there second language—this is
The question of whether self- esteem has significance with real world- consequences is a valid concern. Ulrich Orth and Richard W. Robins provide the answer, with evidence contributed by researched studies, in their article The Development of Self- Esteem that self- esteem, in fact, does influence societal significance. With the determination on self- esteem trajectory from adolescence to old age, self- esteem stability, and the relationship between levels of self-esteem and predictions of success and failure, one can conclude that self- esteem influences life outcomes; moreover, people can participate to involvements focused at positively influencing the development of self- esteem.
Shinno, H., Matsuoka, T., Yamamoto, O., Noma, Y., Hikasa, S., Takebayashi, M., & Horigughi, J. (2007).
· Dashefsky, A. (Eds.). (1976). Ethnic identity in society. Chicago: Rand McNally College Publishing Co. Smith, E.J. (1991). Ethnic identity development: Toward the development of a theory within the context of majority/minority status. Journal of Counseling and Development, 70, 181-187.
Ornstein, R., Rosen, D., Mammel, K., Callahan, S., Forman, S., Jay, M., Fisher, M., Rome, E., &
For this study, researcher classified the cultural identity of the participants as traditional, assimilated, bicultural, or marginalized by how they identified with highly with Indian values, highly with white values, ewally with both, or with none.
“To them, self-esteem is derived from two sources: how a person views her performance in areas in which success is important to her and how a person believes she is perceived by significant others” (Orenstein, 1994, xxii). In other words, if any of these two sources fail to meet her expectation, it would likely damage her self-esteem. As results, low self-esteem can lead to eating disorder, sexual harassment, depression and declining of academic
Lorenz, K. A., Lynn, J., Dy, S. M., Shugarman, L. R., Wilkinson, A., Mularski, R. A., &
older people imagine clear to a greater degree by their social roles. (Kuhn, 1960). The need for self-esteem plays an important role in psychologist Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs, which depicts self-esteem as one of the basic human motivations. Maslow suggested that people need both esteem from other people as well as inner self-respect. Both of these needs must be fulfilled in order for an individual to grow as a person and achieve self-actualization.
How important is good self-esteem in the development of children: extremely important!! Having good self-esteem is a key component in the healthy development of children and adolescents (Nuttall, 1991). A person with high self-esteem feels like they can accomplish anything they set their minds to, whereas a person with low self-esteem feels that they are unimportant and nothing they do will make a difference (Nuttall, 1991). How a person feels about themselves affects how they will act, this is true in adults and adolescents as well as small children (Nuttall, 1991) There are a myriad of influences that can make a difference in the self-esteem of children today: parents, teachers, friends, and society in general all have an effect on a child’s development (Bukatko, 2008). Those closest to children have the largest influence on their self-esteem; this is why it is very important that parents, teachers, friends and other family members are a positive driving force in how a child feels about themselves (Nuttall, 1991).
Ellis, B.J., Bates, J.E., Dodge, K.A., Fergusson, D.M, Horwood, L.J., Pettit, G.S., & Woodard, L.
This study’s focus on self-esteem’s influence on academic success is directly related to the current study because the implication of this study completed by C. Brown et al. is that the relationship between self-esteem and academic success is not significant. The current study will define self-esteem using different measures from the self-esteem assessment created by Rosenberg (1965) which was used by C. Brown et al. However, this study will use the same construct to measure academic success, which is the current GPA of the college student. The constructs measured in the current study will focus only on the correlation between self-esteem and academic success in an effort to see if a relationship exists within the current sample of students. The hypothesis for this study is that there is a positive correlation between the self-esteem of a college student and his or her academic