Socio-Economic Status as a Predictor of Personally Perceived and Socially Perceived Self-Esteem of Adolescents

The study was conducted in rural and urban area of Hisar district. Four Government Senior Secondary Schools, two trom rural area and two from Hisar city were selected at random. Total sample constituted of240 adolescents in the age group of 14-16 years, 120 trom rural area and 120 trom urban area, representing both the sexes in equal number. Self-prepared interview schedule was used to collect information on personal and socio-economic variables. SelfEsteem Inventory (Prasad & Thakur, 1977) was used to assess self-esteem of adolescents. Correlational and regression analyses were used to analyze the data. Majority of parents had education trom high school to senior secondary level and higher percentage of respondents belonged to low income group, followed by middle and high income groups. Both personally perceived and socially perceived self-esteem of adolescents were positively correlated with parental education and family income. Parental education and family income are strong indicators of socio-economic conditions of a family. Regression analysis revealed that socio-economic status of the family is strong predictor of personally perceived and socially perceived self-esteem of adolescents. Results of the present study have implications for adolescents, parents and teachers.