Thesis, PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Illinois State University, 1993. / Title from title page screen, viewed February 16, 2006. Dissertation Committee: Lanny E. Morreau (chair), Jeffrey Hecht, Paula Smith, Miryam Assaf-Keller. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 112-123) and abstract. Also available in print.

M.Ed. / During adolescence confusion in idendity can occur (Louw. 1990:463) as adolescents find themselves in a period of transition. During this phase of life a positive self -concept is extremely important. because it determines where the person will fit into society, choices he will make (louw. 1990:460) and whether he is successful in his relationship with his fellow men (Staples, 1991: I I I). It is therefore extremely important that adolescents accept themselves. Although information about self-concept development is available. the researcher found that some adolescents still suffer from low self-concept which might, if not addressed. become hindrances to optimal development and self-actualisation. The purpose of this study was to determine whether self-esteem in adolescents could be improved. A program based on Constructivistic principles was developed and ten adolescents actively participated therein for ten sessions of two hours each. Nine components of self-concept development was discussed, namely: what is self-concept; how is self-concept formed; the ideal self; proactive attitude; conflict resolution strategies; self-assertiveness and friends. The last session was reserved for the evaluation on the program and self-growth. The development of the respondents were assessed and video's were taken. Workbooks were also analyzed. Measures to ensure trustworthiness was kept in mind and the development of the respondents were discussed with their parents.

M.A. / The political situation in South Africa has changed over the past ten years to that of a democracy. A result of this dramatic change is the assemblage of various cultures within a given context, especially multicultural schools. From this the question arose whether adolescents of different cultures present with different levels of self-concept within multicultural schools. Furthermore, it was to be determined whether cultural identity correlates with self-concept. Literature regarding the self, culture and cultural identity was used to get a better understanding of the study at hand. The theoretical frameworks of Allport and Rogers were studied to determine underlining factors involved in the formation of the self-concept. The various dimensions of the self, including self-esteem and self-labelling, was investigated as well as recent research regarding the self-concept. Research has shown that the self-concept of Black people is directly connected to their cultural norms and reference group (Allen, 2000). Differences between individualistic and collectivist groups have been identified, as well as the effect it has on social roles and the definition of the self. Regarding the issue of self-esteem and cultural identity research has shown a strong positive correlation between the level of self-esteem and cultural identity. Research has also shown that pupils in multicultural schools have a better understanding of cultural diversity and tolerance. The effects of negative stereotyping and labelling on the self within a multicultural environment are however issues to be taken into consideration. Tajfel and Turner’s (1979) Social Identity Theory provided the focus on cultural identity. Research regarding cultural identity within South Africa, contributed to the understanding of in-group and out-group categorization and it has been found that association with a particular group determined definition of the self. From the literature used it thus became apparent that the self- concept and cultural identity is closely linked, although a multicultural environment could have an impact on the self. This formed the basis for conducting the research on the impact of a multicultural context on the self-concept. The instruments used comprised of a cultural identity questionnaire, as well as the Beck and SIP self-concept scales. Participants of three different cultural groups were used namely, Black, White and Coloured individuals. Participants, between the ages of 16-17 were given the questionnaires to complete on cultural identity as to determine their level of association with a particular group. The self-concept scales evaluated their self-concept as either positive or negative. Additionally, the participants’ cultural identity scores were statistically divided to create two groups, one which scored low and another which scored high on cultural identity and these groups were compared on self-concept. Thus, this study attempted to control for cultural identity in terms of its influence on self-concept within a multicultural context. Results have shown that there is a strong positive correlation between self-concept and a cultural identity. Both of the self-concept scales showed this correlation in regards to Cultural Identity. Furthermore, statistically significant difference between the self-concept scores of the different cultural groups namely Black, White and Coloured Participants was found. It can thus be stated that cultural identities have a role to play in the manner in which we perceive ourselves, and more research is needed in this area to fully understand the scope of it. Research in this matter may also have a positive effect on the understanding of integration of different cultures in South Africa, especially within the educational context.

One criticism of previous work in the field of adolescent development has been the paucity of research examining the unique and combined contributions of different developmental contexts on adolescents' functioning. In an attempt to address this issue, the current study examined adolescents' perceptions of autonomy and relatedness within parent, peer, and school contexts in relation to school functioning and psychological adjustment. Adolescents (N = 478) in Grades 8, 9, and 11 completed self-report questionnaires assessing feelings about their relationships with parents and peers, and perceptions of school. Teachers completed ratings of adolescents' strengths and competencies. Academic achievement was assessed using end of year school grades. Results revealed several significant gender and grade differences. Whereas girls reported greater deidealization of their parents and peers, and higher quality of attachment to peers than did boys, boys- reported being less dependent on their peers than did girls. Overall, adolescents in grade nine were more dependent on their peers and reported more trust and communication in their peer relationships than did adolescents in grade eight. Correlational results indicated that school functioning was positively associated with school autonomy, parental attachment, peer attachment and school belonging, and that problems in psychological adjustment were negatively associated with peer autonomy, school autonomy, parental attachment, peer attachment, school belonging, and positively associated with parental autonomy. Results of the multiple regression analyses indicated that autonomy and relatedness variables accounted for significant amounts of variance in GPA, teacher-rated school competencies, internalizing problems, and externalizing problems. Analyses also revealed variables which uniquely predicted areas of functioning across contexts and gender. This cross-sectional study provides new theoretical insights regarding relations of autonomy and relatedness to school functioning and psychological adjustment during adolescence across multiple contexts. The findings contribute to a more thorough understanding of the dimensions of autonomy and relatedness that may have important implications for educators and parents of adolescents for improving educational practice and for promoting school success and positive adjustment. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 99-103).

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 99-103). Also available in print.

Puerto Rican adolescent ego identity development was studied within the frameworks of Erikson's psychosocial theory and Heller's conceptualization of familism. Ego identity was measured by the Revised Version of the Extended Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status-2, an instrument based on Erikson's theoretical formulations. The Heller's Familism Scale was utilized to measure familism. It was hypothesized that there is a relationship between familism and the four identity statuses: achievement, moratorium, foreclosure, and diffusion. It was also hypothesized that familism, gender, age, parent's education and occupation, and number of years living in the United States mainland affect an individual's identity status. There were two sample groups; one living in Puerto Rico (n= 180), and one living in Florida (n= 107). Correlations and multiple regression analyses were utilized to test the hypotheses of this study. The regression analysis showed that the independent variables, age, parental level of education, familism, and, for the immigrant group, number of years living in the United States mainland help explain the variance in some of the statuses scores. Some of the variance in the achievement scores can be explained by the independent variables for immigrant male and female adolescents. The independent variables helped explain the variance in the moratorium scores of the male adolescents living in Puerto Rico, and both male and female immigrant adolescents. The variance in foreclosure scores could only be explained by the independent variables when the subjects were female immigrant adolescents. Finally, the independent variables helped explain the variance in the diffusion scores for the female subjects, regardless of sample group. An analysis of variance revealed a main effect for gender in achievement scores, and diffusion scores. ANOVA also revealed a Significant difference among the subject groups diffusion scores. ANOVA identified a significant interaction between gender and sample group for the foreclosure status. Furthermore, ANOVA revealed a significant difference between male and female foreclosure scores. Also, ANOVA revealed a significant difference between sample groups. Because the independent variables explain only a small percentage of the variance in the four ego identity status scores, caution should be exercised in arriving at conclusions about the relative importance of the independent variables on ego identity. / Ph. D.

published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

本研究旨在探讨与青少年自我概念有关的三方面问题。首先是关于青少年自我概念的来源。在符号互动理论和依恋理论的指导下，已有研究揭示了他人的评价以及个体与他人的关系质量对自我概念的影响。但这些研究通常只关注父母、老师或者同伴之一对被试的评价或者与被试的关系质量对被试自我概念的影响。这使得父母、老师和同伴在自我概念形成过程中的相对重要性，以及他人评价与关系质量之间可能存在的交互作用没有得到充分的研究。因此，本研究调查了父母、老师和朋友对青少年的评价及与青少年的关系对青少年多维度自我概念 （学业、社会、体育、外貌、行为）的影响。具体来说，我比较了父母、老师和朋友在各维度的自我概念形成过程中的相对重要性，并探索了他人评价与关系质量之间可能存在的交互作用。其二，鉴于以往研究显示了多维度自我概念与总体自我价值感之间的紧密联系，以及这种联系可能存在的文化差异，我在一个尚未得到充分研究的群体，即，中国农村青少年，中探索了它们之间的关系。其三，鉴于以往研究对留守儿童自我概念发展的争论，我探索了留守儿童和与父母生活在一起的儿童在自我概念平均水平上及他人对自我概念的影响作用上可能存在的差异。 / 本研究调查了中国四川农村地区的799个7到12年级的中学生（其中包括175个留守儿童）。主要的研究结果如下：（1）在不同的理论视角下，父母、老师和朋友在自我概念的不同维度上所起作用不同。从符号互动理论来看，朋友的评价对各个维度的自我概念几乎都有着最重要的影响。从依恋理论来看，朋友关系质量对社会自我的影响最大，但对学业自我和体育自我没有特别的影响。师生关系质量对学业自我和体育自我的影响最大。他人评价与关系质量之间的交互作用具体有：与老师的关系越好，自己对外貌的评价便与老师的评价越相近；与朋友的关系越好，自己对行为的评价便与朋友的评价越接近。（2）对本研究中的中国农村青少年而言，在外貌和行为方面的自我概念与总体自我价值感之间的关系最紧密。（3）留守儿童与和父母生活在一起的儿童在自我概念的形成方面基本相似。不同之处在于：留守女孩与父母关系更差；留守儿童对自己外貌的评价与老师的评价联系更紧密，而与父母的评价联系更小。 / 本研究对于帮助我们更好的理解青少年自我概念的形成有一定的贡献。首先，它揭示了父母、老师和朋友在自我概念不同维度的形成过程中的相对重要性， 并且揭示了他人评价与关系质量之间可能存在的交互作用。其次，它揭示了在中国农村青少年中多维度自我概念与总体价值感之间的关系。再次，它在一定程度上澄清了前人关于留守儿童自我概念发展的争论。此外，它展示了同时从不同理论视角，研究多种社会情境对儿童发展的影响的优势。最后，它为提升自我价值感的项目和留守儿童相关政策的制定提供了理论依据和建议。 / This study aims to explore three aspects of adolescents’ self-concept development. The first and primary aspect concerns the potential influential factors of self-concept. Previous research built on symbolic interactionism or attachment theory suggests the effect of reflected appraisal and relationship quality on self-concept respectively. However, usually either reflected appraisal or relationship quality alone was examined in single context (e.g., parent), thus, leaving their potential interactive effect and the relative importance of different contexts underexplored. This study, therefore, mainly focused on the concurrent relationship between reflected appraisal, relationship quality and the multi-domain self-concept (i.e., academic, social, athletic, appearance and behavioral) in multiple contexts (i.e., parents, teachers and peers). Specifically, relative importance of different contexts and the interactive effects of reflected appraisal and relationship quality in different domains were investigated. The second aspect considered the relationship between domain-specific self-concept and self-esteem. Previous studies suggested the effect of domain-specific self-concept, but the relative importance of different domains may vary across cultures. Thus, this study explored their relative importance in an underexplored culture, rural China. The third aspect concerned potential effect of left-behind status (left-behind children vs. children living with parents) on self-concept development. Since limited existing works provided inconsistent findings, I, specifically, tested the potential effects on mean-level self-concept and related factors (i.e., reflected appraisal and relationship quality) as well as their relationship. / A cross-sectional survey was conducted in rural areas of Si Chuan, China. Participants are 799 adolescents ranging from grade 7 to 12 (175 left-behind children). Major findings of this study were as follows: (1) The relative importance of parents, friends and teachers differed across domains of self-concept and theoretical perspectives. From the interactionism perspective, parents’, friends’ and teachers’ appraisals all could explain unique variance of self-concept in most domains but friends’ appraisals tended to be most important in all domains. From the attachment perspective, relationship quality with friends was most important in social domain but could not explain unique variance of self-concept in academic and athletic domain, where teachers are most influential. Significant interactive effect of reflected appraisal and relationship quality was found in peers’ context (in behavioral conduct) and teachers’ context (in physical appearance) but not in parents’ context. (2) Physical appearance and behavioral conduct domain were most predictive of self-esteem. (3) Left-behind children were similar to children living with parents except that left-behind girls had lower relationship quality with parents and left-behind children’s self-evaluation of physical appearance was more associated with parents’ appraisals than teachers’ appraisals. / Theoretically, this study contributes to our understanding of adolescents’ self-concept development by demonstrating (1) the relative importance of parents, friends and teachers in different domains of self-concept and the interactive effect of reflected appraisal and relationship quality; (2) relationship between domain-specific self-concept and self-esteem in a underexplored population, rural China; (3) left-behind status variation on self-concept development. It also underscores the merit of multi-context study and taking different theoretical perspectives. Practically, it provides evidence and advice for self-esteem enhancement programs and policies regarding left-behind children. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Hou, Yang. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2012. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 83-101). / Abstracts and appendixes also in Chinese. / Abstract (English) --- p.i / Abstract (Chinese) --- p.iii / Acknowledgement --- p.v / Table of Contents --- p.vi / List of Tables --- p.viii / List of Figures --- p.x / Chapter Chapter 1 --- : introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Self-concept --- p.4 / Chapter 1.1.1 --- Definition and measurement of self-concept --- p.4 / Chapter 1.1.2 --- The value of self-concept in child development --- p.5 / Chapter 1.1.3 --- Self-concept in adolescence --- p.6 / Chapter 1.2 --- Potential influential factors of self-concept --- p.7 / Chapter 1.2.1 --- Symbolic interactionism perspective --- p.8 / Chapter 1.2.2 --- Attachment theory perspective --- p.14 / Chapter 1.2.3 --- Potential interactive effect of reflected appraisal and relationship quality --- p.18 / Chapter 1.3 --- Relationship between domain-specific self-concept and global self-worth --- p.20 / Chapter 1.4 --- Left-behind children --- p.24 / Chapter 1.4.1 --- Self-concept of Left-behind children --- p.25 / Chapter 1.4.2 --- Social relationships of left-behind children --- p.26 / Chapter 1.4.3 --- Reflected appraisals of left-behind children --- p.29 / Chapter 1.5 --- The current study --- p.30 / Chapter Chapter 2 --- : method --- p.33 / Chapter 2.1 --- Participants --- p.33 / Chapter 2.2 --- Procedure --- p.35 / Chapter 2.3 --- Measurements --- p.35 / Chapter Chapter 3 --- : Results --- p.40 / Chapter 3.1 --- Descriptive statistics --- p.40 / Chapter 3.2 --- The relationship between reflected appraisals, relationship qualities and self-appraisals in five specific self-concept domains --- p.43 / Chapter 3.2.1 --- Academic competence domain --- p.44 / Chapter 3.2.2 --- Social competence domain --- p.46 / Chapter 3.2.3 --- Athletic competence domain --- p.48 / Chapter 3.2.4 --- Physical appearance domain --- p.51 / Chapter 3.2.5 --- Behavioural conduct domain --- p.54 / Chapter 3.2 --- Relationship between domain-specific self-concept and global self-concept --- p.55 / Chapter 3.3 --- Potential effect of left-behind status on children’s self-concept development --- p.57 / Chapter Chapter 4 --- : discussion --- p.61 / Chapter 4.1 --- Potential influential factors of self-concept --- p.61 / Chapter 4.1.1 --- Age and sex variation on the effect of others’ appraisals and relationship qualities with others on adolescents’ self-concept --- p.61 / Chapter 4.1.2 --- Relative importance of parents’, peers’ and teachers’ effect --- p.63 / Chapter 4.1.3 --- Interactive effect of reflected appraisal and relationship quality --- p.71 / Chapter 4.2 --- Relationship between domain-specific self-concept and global self-worth --- p.72 / Chapter 4.3 --- Self-concept development of left-behind children --- p.75 / Chapter 4.3.1 --- Mean level difference in self-concept, reflected appraisal and relationship quality --- p.75 / Chapter 4.3.2 --- Influence of parents, friends and teachers on left-behind children’s self-concept --- p.78 / Chapter 4.4 --- Limitation and future direction --- p.79 / Chapter 4.5 --- Conclusion --- p.81 / Chapter References --- p.83 / Chapter Appendix A --- : Self-Perception Profile for Children --- p.102 / Chapter Appendix B --- : Reflected appraisal scales --- p.104 / Chapter Appendix C --- : Relationship quality scales --- p.105