Scholarly Research Journal for Interdisciplinary Studies, Online ISSN 2278-8808, SJIF 2021 = 7.380, www.srjis.com PEER REVIEWED & REFEREED JOURNAL, MAR-APRIL, 2021, VOL- 8/64
WELL-BEING OF SCHEDULED CASTE STUDENTS IN RELATION TO THE SELF-ESTEEM Sudarshana Rana1, Ph. D. & Nisha Devi2 Professor (Education), Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla-5 Research Scholar, Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla-5
Paper Received On: 21 APRIL 2021 Peer Reviewed On: 28 APRIL 2021 Published On: 1 MAY 2021 Content Originality & Unique: 99% Abstract Each individual is truly unique. Self-esteem, also known as self-respect, is the confidence in one’s worth or abilities. Low self-esteem is the opposite or lack of confidence in one’s own worth. Self-esteem is shaped throughout one’s life, it will increase and decrease throughout life. Self-esteem has both positive and negative affects depending on if an individual has low or high self-esteem. There is more research on the effects of low self-esteem because it usually has to most negative effects on someone’s health. Thus, the investigator intends to study the well-being of scheduled caste students in relation to the selfesteem. For present study, the investigator adopted Survey method and selected 400 undergraduate scheduled caste students as sample. Mean, Standard Deviation and t-test were the statistical techniques used for analysis of data. The study revealed that there is a significant difference on the basis of gender. Further, well-being is influenced by the level of self-esteem. Keywords: Self-esteem, Well-being, Gender Scholarly Research Journal's is licensed Based on a work at www.srjis.com
Introduction Self-esteem is the mainspring that slates every child for success or failure as a human being,” then a crucial job for every parent and every teacher is affirming and building selfesteem in each child. As parents, our responsibility is even greater than that of a teacher’s, who comes in at a very close second, because we are the single most significant influence in our children’s lives. It is so imperative to shape a child’s self-esteem. A child’s self-esteem begins to be shaped in earlier stages of life and continues being formed day by day. Self-esteem comes from learning to accept who we are by seeing the deficiencies and still compelling to like ourselves. Every child’s self-esteem grows with each experience of successful interactions Copyright © 2021, Scholarly Research Journal for Interdisciplinary Studies
Dr. Sudarshana Rana & Nisha Devi 14800 (Pg. 14799-14806)
through positive words. It is important to build a child’s confidence that they can handle their life and handle it well. Our emotional health depends on our self-esteem. Liking ourselves and feeling capable are the foundations on which emotional health rests. Self-esteem is a term used in psychology to define one’s level of self-confidence and respect for themselves. Pride, shame and dignity are some of the emotions self-esteem comprehends. Abraham Maslow, an American psychologist produced the Maslow’s hierarchy of basic need in 1943. It was composed of physiological, safety, love or belonging, esteem and self-actualization needs. Physiological needs were considered as the most basic needs. He believed that psychological health is not possible unless people accepted, loved and respected themselves. Self-esteem is influenced immensely by a person’s experiences. Affirmative experiences bring up one’s self-esteem while negative experiences do the opposite. People with a healthy and positive self-esteem level are self-assured in what they are. They have secure beliefs and faith on their own judgment. They enjoy abundant deeds and don’t feel inferior or superior to people around them. They don’t reside too much on the past and are not irrationally concerned about the future. Having a higher self-esteem increases the capability to be happy and have comfortable relationships. Unhealthy (high or low) self-esteem levels can be both socially and emotionally harmful. If people with exaggerated self-worth are confronted or challenged, they react in a secure and self-protective way. People with low self-esteem find many faults with themselves, whether or not it’s true. They show too much excitement to please and gain other people’s affections and not offend people. They are also resentful and jealous of others with personalities and possessions they wish to have. They have an air of aggression around them and are short-tempered without a reason. They rely on other people’s sentiments and admiration to draw an idea on their worthiness. Oppression can be caused by low self-esteem or causes the development of low self-esteem. Someone who does not have high levels of self-confidence may try and depreciate others to feel better about themselves, being bullied can in turn cause someone to feel bad about themselves, therefore, causing low self-esteem. Ultimately, low self-esteem has been known to negatively affect someone’s health, it can cause anxiety, depression, or lead to drug usage. Self-esteem has been measured for decades, by focusing on the development, selfimagery, and effect on decision making. Self-esteem significantly affects one's development in regulating their emotions to support healthy and positive interpersonal relationships. Reviews of the Related Literature Patel, Kumar Tiwari and Singh (2018) found that Self-esteem and satisfaction with life are significantly correlated in male, female, urban and general category participants. Arshad, Copyright © 2021, Scholarly Research Journal for Interdisciplinary Studies
Dr. Sudarshana Rana & Nisha Devi 14801 (Pg. 14799-14806)
Zaidi and Mahmood (2015) found a significant difference between male and female students on self-esteem and Academic Performance scores, which indicate that female students have high scores on academic Performance as compared to male students and male students have high scores on self-esteem as compared to female students. Parmar (2014) has conducted a study to find out the impact of gender difference in self-esteem between college students and to study the economic status difference in self-esteem among college students. The result of Ttest revealed significant difference in self-esteem between boys and girls college students. Bhattacharjee 2011 The aim of the present study was to assess locus of control and self-esteem of male and female undergraduate students. Findings revealed significant impact of gender and community on locus of control and self-esteem of the study subjects which further showed that male students were more internally oriented and they possessed high self-esteem in comparison to female students. Objective 1. To study the self-esteem of undergraduate scheduled caste students. 2. To compare the self-esteem of undergraduate scheduled caste students in relation to their gender. 3. To study the effect of self-esteem on well-being of undergraduate scheduled caste students. Methodology Survey Method was employed. Tool used 1. Self-Esteem Scale Self-Esteem Scale was developed by Santosh Dhar and Upinder Dhar was used. This scale consists 23 items divided into six areas namely; 1. Positivity 2. Openness 3. Competence 4. Humility 5. Self-worth 6. Learning orientation 2. Well-Being Index Well-Being Index developed by Dr. Vijayalaxmi Chouhan & Dr. Varsha Sharma is a self-report questionnaire consisting of 50 items designed to measure an individual‘s Copyright © 2021, Scholarly Research Journal for Interdisciplinary Studies
Dr. Sudarshana Rana & Nisha Devi 14802 (Pg. 14799-14806)
mental status regarding overall feeling about life. The inventory measures six dimensions
namely;
1. Emotional Well-being 2. Psychological Well-being 3. Social Well-being 4. Spiritual Well-being 5. Self-Awareness 6. Physical Well-being Sample Sample for the study consisted of 400 undergraduate scheduled caste students from four districts of Himachal Pradesh. Statistical technique used To study the self-esteem and effect of self-esteem on well-being among Scheduled Caste students, mean and SDs along with t-value will be calculated Limitation of the study The present study was delimited to undergraduate scheduled caste students of Himachal Pradesh. Further, this study was delimited to one independent variable (self-esteem) and one dependent variable (well-being). ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION 1.1 Self-Esteem of Undergraduate Scheduled Caste Students The responses collected from undergraduate scheduled caste students were analyzed. To study the self-esteem, Mean and standard deviation of total scores of undergraduate scheduled caste students on self-esteem Scale were calculated and presented in Table-1 Table-1 Mean and standard deviation of total scores of undergraduate scheduled caste students on self-esteem Number 400
Mean 87.74
Standard Deviation 10.71
Table-1 revealed that the Mean obtained for the total sample of undergraduate scheduled caste students is 87.74 with standard deviation as 10.71 with respect to the SelfEsteem. The mean and standard deviation obtained for the total sample of undergraduate scheduled caste students is presented in Figure-1
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Dr. Sudarshana Rana & Nisha Devi 14803 (Pg. 14799-14806)
Figure-1 Mean and Standard deviation of total scores of undergraduate scheduled caste students on self-esteem
1.2 Comparison of the Self-Esteem of Scheduled Caste Students in relation to their Gender Mean, standard deviation and t-test was employed to compare the self-esteem of undergraduate scheduled caste students in relation to their gender. The result and test of significance are shown in table-2 Table-2 Comparison of Male and Female undergraduate scheduled caste students in relation to Self-esteem Gender Male Female
Number 200 200
Mean 90.35 87.13
S.D 10.78 10.63
t-value 3.00
Significance Significant at 0.01 level
Table 2 shows that ‘t’ value ‘3.00’ is significant at 0.01 level of significance. It means that mean of male undergraduate scheduled caste students (90.35) is greater than the mean of female undergraduate scheduled caste students (87.13). From this, it may be inferred that the male undergraduate scheduled caste students have good self-esteem than that of female undergraduate scheduled caste students. Figure-2 shows the significant difference in selfesteem of male and female undergraduate scheduled caste students.
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Dr. Sudarshana Rana & Nisha Devi 14804 (Pg. 14799-14806)
Figure-2 Difference in Self-esteem of male and female undergraduate scheduled caste students
1.3 Effect of Self-Esteem on Well-Being of Scheduled Caste Students In order to find out whether the self-esteem of undergraduate scheduled caste students influences their well-being, Mean and Standard deviation of the sample were calculated separately and t-value was computed to see the significant difference between two groups. The result of test of significance are shown in Table-3 Table-3 Effect of self-esteem on well-being of undergraduate scheduled caste Level of Selfesteem High selfesteem Low selfesteem
Number Mean
S.D
t-value
Significance
200
187.09
9.45
8.96
Significant at 0.01 level
200
178.23
10.29
The ‘t’ value was obtained as 8.96, which is much higher than the table value 2.59 which indicates that it is significant at 0.01 level of significance. The mean score is in favor of high self-esteem group. It means undergraduate scheduled caste students having high selfesteem have good well-being than that of undergraduate scheduled caste students having low self-esteem. Figure-3 shows the significant difference in well-being of undergraduate scheduled caste students having high and low self-esteem.
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Figure-3 Difference in Well-Being of Undergraduate Scheduled Caste Students Having High and Low Self-Esteem
Findings of the study 1. Undergraduate scheduled caste students possess average level of self-esteem. 2. Male undergraduate scheduled caste students have good self-esteem than that of female undergraduate scheduled caste students. 3. Undergraduate scheduled caste students having high self-esteem have good well-being than that of undergraduate scheduled caste students having low self-esteem. Suggestions Self- esteem is an important part of life. Without strong self-esteem we are not at our full potential. We need strong self-esteem to have the confidence to do many tasks. The way others perceive us has an effect on our self-esteem as well as how we perceive ourselves. As parents and as teachers, it is our soul duty to boost up the child’s self-esteem. In order to develop good self-esteem, here are some suggestions: 1. We must learn to appreciate each child as an individual. 2. We must listen to and acknowledge child’s thoughts and feelings. 3. We must encourage and reinforce them on their efforts. 4. We must accept children’s unpleasant feelings and teach them to deal with them. 5. Don’t over expect from child. 6. The expectations must be realistic. In order to have good self-esteem, we need others to be encouraging and communicate in a positive way. We also need to build our own self-esteem by realizing we need to be our self, not what others necessarily think we should be. Negativity from others only lowers our selfesteem and makes us less confident. We need confidence in order to communicate well with others. Copyright © 2021, Scholarly Research Journal for Interdisciplinary Studies
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References Arshad, Muhammad, Zaidi, Syed Muhammad Imran Haider and Mahmood, Khalid (2015). SelfEsteem & Academic Performance among University Students. Journal of Education and Practice, 6(1), 156-162 Bhattacharjee, Anjana (2011). Impact of Gender and Community on Locus of Control and Self-Esteem among Undergraduate Students. Indian Journal of Psychology and Mental Health, 5(2), 5-13 Koul, Lokesh (2009). Methodology of educational research. Vikash Publishing House Pvt. Ltd.: New Delhi Malinauskas, Romualdas & Dumciene, Audrone (2016). Psychological wellbeing and self-esteem in students across the transition between secondary school and university: A longitudinal study. Psihologija, 50(3), 1–16 Patel, Ashok Kumar, Tiwari, Shraddesh Kumar and Singh, Suman (2018). Self-esteem and life satisfaction among university students of Eastern Uttar Pradesh of India: A demographical perspective. Indian Journal of Positive Psychology, 9(3), 382-386. ISSN-p- 2229-4937, c-2921368X Sonal, D. Parmar (2014). Gender and Economic Status Effect on Self-Esteem among College Students. The International Journal of Indian Psychology, 2(1) https://www.bartleby.com/essay/Self-Esteem-And-Self-Esteem-FCU3TCM5G6
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