Self-esteem and body esteem in adolescence

Blašković, Maja. (2008). Self-esteem and body esteem in adolescence. Diploma Thesis. Filozofski fakultet u Zagrebu, Department of Psychology. [mentor Keresteš, Gordana].

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Abstract

According to the opinion of the general public and a great number of experts in adolescence , young people are exposed to the great pressure in accomplishing cultural imposed ideal of physical beauty, which may have a negative impact on their satisfaction with their own physical appearance, satisfaction in general and their self-esteem. With this study, we wanted to examine to what extent is self-esteem of boys and girls in early adolescence connected with their awareness and internalization of sociocultural attitudes towards physical appearance, with body esteem and with general satisfaction. We also wanted to examine gender and age differences in self-esteem, body esteem, satisfaction in general, awareness and internalization of sociocultural attitudes towards physical appearance. The research was carried out on the sample of 302 adolescents, male and female students from two elementary schools in Sisak. Instruments that we used in study were: Coopersmiths Self esteem Questionnaire (Lacković-Grgin and Bezinović, 1990.), The Body Esteem Scale (Mendelson, Mendelson and White, 2001.), Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Scale (Heinberg, Thompson and Stromer, 1995.) and General Satisfaction Scale (Bezinović, 1988.). The study results showed no gender and age differences in self-esteem, body esteem, awareness and internalization of sociocultural attitudes towards physical appearance, and in general satisfaction in early adolescence. The results showed that general satisfaction, body esteem and awareness of sociocultural attitudes towards physical appearance are significant predictors of self-esteem.

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