TEENAGERS’ GENDER DIFFERENCES IN SELF-CONCEPT

Abstract

The aim of this research was to deepen in the analysis of gender differences existing between teenagers according to their self-concept levels, adopting a multidimensional model related with this construct. To do so, a 1,235 subject sample (684 boys and 551 girls) with ages raging from eleven to fourteen years old was used. They were all Primary and Secondary (first level) students from seven schools in Granada, Spain –i.e., three of them in the city and three of them in a rural context. The results obtained show meaningful differences between genders in three of the nine dimensions assesed. Whereas boys get higher levels in global and emotional self-concept, their female mates stand out in familiar self-concept. However, no meaningful gender differences were detected in social, total, and general academic self-concept, nor in academic self-concept received from both their parents and their teachers.