Article

The Determinants of General Self-Esteem in Adolescents: The Influences of Self-Perceived Competence and Social Supports

Author

김순혜

Information

pp. 1~18 / 2010 Vol.17 No.4

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between self-esteem, self-perceivedcompetence and social supports in regards to adolescents. The basic assumption underpinning of thisresearch exercise is Harter's multifaceted hierarchical model. 2844 middle schoolers and 3349 high schoolersresponded to question items corresponding to the same meaning of those contained in the originalSSPC(Harter, 1982) instrument. Collected data were analysed by means of multiple group analysis in aStructural Equation Model through SPSSWIN 18.0 and AMOS 18. The results of this research were asfollows. First, high schoolers exhibited a higher perception of self-esteem than middle schoolers. Second, themeans of specific domains in perceived competences and social supports differed across both domains andgrade. In terms of general tendencies, the two groups indicated higher levels of perceived academiccompetence than physical appearance. Third, In terms of the relationship between self-esteem and thesub-factors, perceived academic competence was the most powerful predictor of adolescents' self-esteem. Inthe case of middle schoolers, the order of predictive power was academic competence> parents' support>teacher's support> social acceptance> physical appearance, respectively. In the case of high schoolers, theorder of predictive power was academic competence> parents' support> social acceptance> physicalappearance> behavior conduct, respectively. Fourth, only teacher's support showed a statistically meaningfuldifference as being a predictors of self-esteem between the two groups. Taking the results of this researchinto consideration, it is suggested that the intervention related to self-esteem should be different across thevarious ages of adolescence.

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