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The relationship between primary school students’ self-esteem, prosocial behavior and anger management
Author
Xia, Mengtian
Supervisor
Lim, Kam Ming
Abstract
A primary purpose of the present study is to examine the relationship between primary school students’ self -esteem, prosocial behavior and their anger management. Second, the present study aimed to investigate whether there are any differences of students’ self -esteem, prosocial behavior and their anger management scores between Singaporean and Chinese. While most of the researches regarding self-esteem, prosocial behavior and anger management have been conducted on western population or adult population, little is known about research conducted within the population of Asian school-age children.
First, the research is a correlational study to investigate the relationship between students’ self-esteem, prosocial behavior and anger management. Secondly, the present study adopts a between-group design to compare the differences of Singaporean and Chinese students’ self-esteem, prosocial behavior, and anger management. The present research was conducted both in Singapore and in Mainland China. In total, a convenient sample of 121 primary school students is recruited from both Singapore and China. The participants conclude 48 males and 78 females, age ranging from 8 to 13.
The present study found that self-esteem relates positively with trait anger; prosocial behavior relates positively with trait anger; and self-esteem relates positively with prosocial behavior. In addition, the present research found that Singaporean primary school students’ prosocial behavior scores, as well as their trait anger scores are higher than Chinese primary school students; while there is no different in their self-esteem scores.
Furthermore, we found that female children have high level of self-esteem compared with male children, while those religious primary school students have higher self-esteem, higher trait anger, and tend to be more prosocial than non-religious students.
The findings of present study suggested several implications for parents and professionals working with school-aged children. For example, it suggests that teaching appropriate ways of maintaining or improving children’s self-evaluations are important for students’ well-being. Furthermore, understanding how the factors, such as self-esteem, that predicts individual differences in prosocial behaviors and triggering anger emotions also can help develop intervention programs to reduce school-age children’s negative emotionality and increase their cooperating behavior.
Finally, it is suggested that future research may examine different types of prosocial behavior, other than helping peers, such as helping teachers, parents, or helping strangers. In addition, it may focus on longitudinal research on investigating individual’s self-esteem, prosocial behavior and anger.
First, the research is a correlational study to investigate the relationship between students’ self-esteem, prosocial behavior and anger management. Secondly, the present study adopts a between-group design to compare the differences of Singaporean and Chinese students’ self-esteem, prosocial behavior, and anger management. The present research was conducted both in Singapore and in Mainland China. In total, a convenient sample of 121 primary school students is recruited from both Singapore and China. The participants conclude 48 males and 78 females, age ranging from 8 to 13.
The present study found that self-esteem relates positively with trait anger; prosocial behavior relates positively with trait anger; and self-esteem relates positively with prosocial behavior. In addition, the present research found that Singaporean primary school students’ prosocial behavior scores, as well as their trait anger scores are higher than Chinese primary school students; while there is no different in their self-esteem scores.
Furthermore, we found that female children have high level of self-esteem compared with male children, while those religious primary school students have higher self-esteem, higher trait anger, and tend to be more prosocial than non-religious students.
The findings of present study suggested several implications for parents and professionals working with school-aged children. For example, it suggests that teaching appropriate ways of maintaining or improving children’s self-evaluations are important for students’ well-being. Furthermore, understanding how the factors, such as self-esteem, that predicts individual differences in prosocial behaviors and triggering anger emotions also can help develop intervention programs to reduce school-age children’s negative emotionality and increase their cooperating behavior.
Finally, it is suggested that future research may examine different types of prosocial behavior, other than helping peers, such as helping teachers, parents, or helping strangers. In addition, it may focus on longitudinal research on investigating individual’s self-esteem, prosocial behavior and anger.
Date Issued
2016
Call Number
BF723.S3 Xia
Date Submitted
2016