Empirical diagnostics of adolescent’s self-esteem: structure, formation factors

Adolescent’s self-esteem is an important indicator that determines his/her ability to adapt in the society. Self-esteem is formed on the awareness and evaluation of one's own qualities, abilities, actions, and by comparing oneself with others and their expectations. Self-esteem determines the level of satisfaction with oneself, motivation to achieve goals and adaptability. Therefore, the formation of healthy self-esteem is an urgent task of education. As information about the self-esteem of adolescents is one of the bases to design educational process it determines the relevance of the diagnosis of adolescents' self-esteem. Information about the current level of self-esteem of students allows to consider the individual characteristics of adolescents, to select appropriate methods and strategies, and to form a favorable educational environment. Properly selected pedagogical methods and techniques can help students realize their achievements, develop self-confidence and increase motivation to learn. The aim of our study is to identify self-esteem factors, to study and compare two aspects of adolescent's actual self-esteem, that is the adolescent's own perception of his/her personal characteristics and the perception of how he/she is seen by other people. To identify the structural elements of self-esteem for further investigation we analysed the self-esteem diagnostic techniques presented in the literature. Data was collected by a formalised questionnaire survey of students of 7-11 grades of secondary schools in Chelyabinsk. The sample included in equal portions the students from a regular school in the factory district and the students from a gymnasium in the city centre. The authors developed the indicators of separate aspects of adolescents' self-esteem. The images of one’s own “I” and mirror “I” were identified using a scale of polar profiles based on the semantic differential scale of Charles Osgood. The authors used cluster analysis to classify the profiles and compared the “mirror” profile and the profile reflecting the adolescents' own perceptions of themselves. The self-perceptions of respondents’ traits were supplemented by an assessment of their communicative success. Potential self-esteem that is the respondents’ perceptions of the success of their “adult” life was also identified. Potential self-esteem correlates with the other aspects of self-esteem. The study revealed the influence of such factors as family income level, type of educational institution, and parents' education level on the formation of adolescents' self-esteem. These factors are external to the individual, therefore, it is necessary to emphasize personal achievements and opportunities of schoolchildren in the pedagogical process to develop self-esteem that contributes to the formation of a successful life strategy.