RESEARCH ARTICLE
Grade and Gender Effects on Self-Concept Development
Marwa Alrajhi1, *, Said Aldhafri1, 2, Hussain Alkharusi1, Ibrahim Alharthy1, Hafidah Albarashdi2, Amal Alhadabi3
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2019Volume: 12
First Page: 66
Last Page: 75
Publisher ID: TOPSYJ-12-66
DOI: 10.2174/1874350101912010066
Article History:
Received Date: 19/11/2018Revision Received Date: 23/01/2019
Acceptance Date: 12/02/2019
Electronic publication date: 19/03/2019
Collection year: 2019
open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Background:
Different biological and environmental factors may play roles in the development of self-concept. Many studies have focused on gender or age differences in self-concept separately.
Objective:
The current study aimed at examining the effects of grade, gender and their interaction on the development of four self-concept dimensions (appearance, school, parent-relations, and peer-relations) among Omani adolescents.
Methods:
The study sample was 651 middle and high school students from two districts in Oman. The students were enrolled in grades 7, 9 and 11. The study utilized the Self-Description Questionnaire (SDQ-1, Marsh, 1988) to assess students' levels in the self-concepts dimensions. The study adopted the descriptive design using Two Way Multivariate Analysis of Variance.
Results:
The study results demonstrated that grade and gender interaction affected appearance self-concept development; however, this interaction had no effects on the other dimensions. Moreover, gender and grade differences were found in some dimensions of self-concept.
Conclusion:
The study suggested that the effects of grade level and gender varied based on the self-concept dimensions. Adolescents' self-concept should be given a careful attention for its important role in providing healthy outcomes.