TITLE:
Evaluating Self-Esteem Levels of Brazilian and Portuguese Adolescents
AUTHORS:
Carla Lettnin, Karina Dohms, Aline Rocha Mendes, Claus Dieter Stobaus, Juan José M. Mosquera, Saul Neves de Jesus
KEYWORDS:
Education, Student, Self-Esteem
JOURNAL NAME:
Psychology,
Vol.6 No.4,
March
3,
2015
ABSTRACT: From a bibliographical study, based on relevant authors in this field, it
is found that a more positive self-image and self-esteem contribute to the
formation of intra and interpersonal healthy and affectionate increasing the
action in the educational environment. This exploratory study aims to determine
the levels of self-esteem of adolescents, comparing data among students in
Portugal and Brazil. Therefore, participants were 189 Portuguese students and
176 Brazilian students, from secondary school/medium public schools in these
countries, responding to Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, adapted for each population.
For data analysis, descriptive statistics were used to compare means and
subjected to SPSS. The results showed lower levels of self-esteem in Portuguese students (M
= 3.22 and D. P. = 0.58) than those in Brazilian students (M = 3.45 and D. P. =
0.41). Although both means are elevated, the comparison between these two
samples is significantly different (t = 3.275, p = 0.001), which enables to say that Brazilian have the best
self-esteem than Portuguese, also that these adolescents indicate positive
levels of self-esteem, demonstrating to be pleased with him/selves. Cultural
factors may influence these results and the environment in which students are
placed can contribute to the construction of self-esteem, from interpersonal
relationships present in their social context, the evaluation of each under
their own experiences as success or failure, as well as the affective
evaluation, which is the foundation for a more positive self-esteem.