Sex differences on a measure of self-esteem: theoretical implications

The hypotheses of this study of sex differences on a measure of self-esteem are as follows: 1) the scales good, nice, generous, pleasant, dependable, honest, and active will group together to form the outer esteem dimension of the semantic differential; 2) the scales strong, leader, powerful, confident, curious, inventive, sharp, and active will group together to form the inner esteem dimension of the semantic differential; 3) males will score significantly higher than females on the inner esteem dimension of the semantic differential; 4) females will score significantly higher than males on the outer esteem dimension of the semantic differential; 5) there will be a significnat difference between the scoring patterns of males and females on the two dimensions of the semantic differential after controlling for the effects of race and social desirability. The sample of 442 sixth through eighth grade students consisted of two subsamples made heterogeneous on race, geographic location, and type of school. The Frnks-Marolla Self-Esteem Semantic Differential and the Lunneborg and Lunneborg Child's Social Desirability Scale were administered. The findings support each of the hypotheses and indicate that there is a significant difference between the sexes on the Franks-Marolla Semantic Differential Measure of Self-Esteem. It is concluded that additional research in self-esteem might specify the meaning of sex differences in esteem by measuring esteem relative to an individual's structural social positions rather than measuring esteem in the general and environmentally nonspecific contexts as advocated by some.