Self-Concept and Home Environment among Adolescents

The word 'adolescence' comes from the Latin word 'adolesere' which means 'to grow'. Adolescence has been described by Stanley Hall as 'the storm and stress of human life'. The most important fact about adolescence is that it is a period of transition from childhood to adulthood. In preparing for adulthood an adolescents self concept and home environment plays an important role. The participants comprised of adolescent students belonging to the age range of 15 to 20 years selected randomly from recognized educational institutions in Thrissur district of Kerala state. The tools used in the study were Self-Concept Inventory was developed by Dr. Raj Kumar Saraswat, it provides six separate dimensions of self-concept, viz., Physical, Social, Intellectual, Moral, Educational, and Temperamental self-concept. It also gives a total self-concept score and Home Environment Scale developed by Sarla Jawa (1997). The results revealed there are significant differences among three age groups in self concept but no change in home environment and lack of gender differences in self concept but significant differences in home environment among the adolescents. The present study implicates that with improved home environment the self concept of adolescents can be increased.