The author studied 101 black and 412 white fifth-grade students and
found no significant racial differences on any measures of general or
area-specific (i.e., school, peers, home) self-esteem when socioeconomic
status (SES) was controlled but found significant differences by SES on
most measures when race was controlled. There was a positive correlation
between self-concept of ability and SES when race was controlled, but when
SES was controlled black children scored significantly higher than did
white children. Black and lower-SES subjects scored significantly lower
than other subjects on academic achievement and achievement orientation.
This study highlights the need to move from the current concern with the
psychological consequences of desegregation for black children toward
addressing the misfit relationship between all lower-SES children and the
school.
Abstract Teaser