SELF-ESTEEM IN THE PROCESS OF FORMING STATUS OF TEENAGERS IN A GROUP

Abstract

The issue of self-esteem research during the formation of a status of teenagers in a group has been examined in the paper. The term of self-esteem and its peculiarities have been analyzed. The main approaches to interpreting the meaning of self-esteem have been examined. It has been generalized that the self-esteem appears as an ability of a person to evaluate itself, its skills, qualities, possibilities. The role of self-esteem in a behavior self-regulation has been determined, as well as prognostic, corrective or processive, retrospective functions have been discovered. It has been determined that an individual’s self-esteem is developed as a result of interpersonal relations and may be interrelated to the status hold in a group. The position that the individual occupies in the group, its social and psychological adaptation are also determined by the level of self-esteem. An empiric research of self-esteem and status formation of teenagers has been conducted with the further statistic data processing (Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient). A set of psycodiagnostic methods has been selected, including self-esteem level diagnostic test by Budassi, self-esteem diagnostic method by Dembo-Rubinstein, self-esteem level definition test by H. N. Kazantseva, sociometry. Results of research of a personality’s self-esteem level have been generalized, and it was found out that the majority of the studied adolescents demonstrate an adequate self-esteem. A small number of students have an excessively high or low level of self-esteem. Persons demonstrating an adequate level of self-esteem can set realistic achievable goals. They perform the ability to evaluate themselves objectively, compare their knowledge, skills, abilities and opportunities with the current situation when completing certain tasks. Indexes of socieometric research testify that researched students have positive relationships. A favorable social and psychological climate dominates in the group. The correlation between the indicators of the methods was determined due to the statistical data processing, namely correlation analysis. It was defined that self-esteem is positively correlated with the sociometric status of the individual. The higher the level of self-esteem found in teenagers, the more they tend to take leadership positions in a group. Conversely, the lower level of self-esteem has been determined in the studied students, the lower sociometric status they can occupy, namely the positions of isolation and disrespect in a group.