| Abstract: | This study of 210 fifth-grade students attempted to assess whether children of varying backgrounds differ in their levels of general and area-specific (school, peer. and home) self-esteem. It additionally investigated whether children are capable of maintaining differing levels of self-esteem across the different areas of experience, and whether the capacity to do so varies with their racial, SES, and/or sex characteristics. The findings indicate that there are variations in general and area-specific self-esteem across both racial and socioeconomic lines, although there were no significant differences by sex. There were significant differences in general, school, and peer self-esteem by SES with the upper SES group scoring higher. There was a significant difference in school self-esteem by race with the Whites scoring higher. There were no significant differences in home self-esteem by race and SES. There were variations in the degree to which and order in which the area-specific esteems predictedgeneral self-esteem both by race or SES. The study suggests that low SES exercises a greater “negative” influence on self-esteem than race, that the relationship of general selfesteem to the area-specific esteems, and the relationship of the areaspecific esteems to each other varies across race and SES lines. Finally, the absence of significant differences in general self-esteem by race, or significant differences in home self-esteem by race or SES, suggests that both the black caste-like group and the family exercise considerable positive influence in protecting the child's sense of self-worth, despite the negative messages from outside others. |
