Secondary school teenagers and early school leavers : differences in self-esteem and other psychological variables
Authors
Meagher, Paul
Issue Date
2012
Degree
BA (Hons) in Psychology
Publisher
Dublin Business School
Rights holder
Rights
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Abstract
This research project aimed to see if there were significant differences between two groups in relation to Self-Esteem and seven other psychological measures. The participants (N = 80) were from Finglas West, Dublin 11. This research was a between groups cross sectional survey. It was a quantitative design using an opportunistic sample based on a homogeneous group. One group were early school leaving teenagers (n = 40) and the second group (n = 40) students of a formal second level school. Results from the current study did not confirm prior findings. Independent samples t-tests found no significant differences relation to Self Esteem. Results indicated that the early school leavers group scored significantly higher in Optimism than the group engaged in formal second level education. Multiple Regression analysis indicated that two predictor variables explained 21.5% of variance. It was found that the Perceived Academic Ability Scale and Subjective Happiness predicted levels of Self Esteem. Author keywords: Early school leavers, selfesteem