Self-Esteem and Social Class in the Philippines

Summary

This paper examines the hypothesis that a significant positive relationship exists between the self-esteem and social class of adolescent Filipinos. Ss were 250 male and female Liberal Arts and Science students at a major Filipino university. The Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory was used to classify the Ss into two groups—the top and bottom 25% of scores being designated as of high and low self-esteem, respectively. Ss in the two groups were then compared with respect to their parents' levels of education and the status of the occupation of their family head. Evidence of a stronger association between self-esteem and social class than is typically found in Western countries was obtained.