Variation in self-esteem among adolescents in an Asian/Pacific-Islander sample

Variation in global self-esteem among adolescents differentiated in terms o f age, gender, Hawaiian/ part-Hawaiian and non-Hawaiian ethnicity, self-rep orted grades (SRGs) and socioeconomic status (SES) was examined in the pres ent study. Being older, male or non-Hawaiian and higher SRGs or SES were hy pothesized to be associated with higher global self-esteem. Six hundred and ninety-six Hawaiian/Part-Hawaiian and non-Hawaiian high school students pr ovided responses to demographic items, the 10-item Rosenberg Self-Esteem Sc ale [RSES; Rosenberg, M. (1965). Society and the adolescent self-image. Pri nceton, NJ: Princeton University Press], and items assessing SRGs and SES. Adolescent males reported significantly higher self-esteem than adolescent females. Adolescents differing in SRGs and SES also varied significantly fr om one another in self-esteem, with the general pattern indicating higher S RGs and SES to be associated with higher self-esteem. The significant age-b y-SRGs interaction effect suggested the consequence of academic success thr oughout the high school years. Findings regarding the present Asian/Pacific -Islander adolescent sample corresponded with that found for other adolesce nt samples of different ethnic compositions, which provided support for the generalizability of variation in global self-esteem and its noted correlat es across various socio-cultural contexts. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. A ll rights reserved.