Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association J. Korean Home Econ. Assoc. Vol. 51 No. 2, 173-186, April 2013 http://dx.doi.org/10.6115/khea.2013.51.2.173 www.fer.or.kr eissn 2234-2818 pissn 1225-0937 A Study on Adolescents Expectation of Future: Focused on Self-Esteem and Social Support 1 Ohyun Middle School 2 Department of Faculty of Human Ecology & Welfare, Jeju National University Abstract This study aims to investigate how adolescents expectation of their future according to their self-esteem and perceived social support from parents, teachers, and peers. The study surveyed 611 adolescents, who live in Jeju. The data was analyzed by t-test, ANOVA, and step-wise Regression analysis. The main results of the study were as follows. First, the adolescents generally had a positive perception of their future. Second, there were significant differences in their perceptions of expectancy for the future according to school grade, leadership experience in school, experience with voluntary activities, educational background of the father, educational background of the mother, level of living, self-esteem, parent support, teacher support, and peer support. The parents with a higher educational background tended to have a professional career, have high expectation for their children, serve as role models for their children, and have a high level of positive perceptions of the future. Finally, the variables which affect the adolescents expectancy for future were examined hierarchically by a step-wise regression analysis. As a result, in general, level of living, self-esteem, and social support were the most important variables, and self-esteem and parent support have the greatest impact on their perceptions of expectancy for the future. (expectancy for future), (self-esteem), (social support) Corresponding Author : Hye Yeon Kim, Department of Faculty of Human Ecology & Welfare, Jeju National University, Ara-1 dong, Jeju city, Jejudo, 690-756, Korea Tel: +82-64-754-3574, Fax: +82-64-756-3562, E-mail: morning@jejunu.ac.kr 2011. Copyright 2013, The Korean Home Economics Association. All rights reserved. - 173 -
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Table 1. The definition and measurement methods of the variables Variables Dependent variables Expectancy of future (5)* Personal variables Gender Year School grade Experience as school leaders Experience as outside school leaders Volunteer experience Father s occupation Father s education Mother s occupation Mother s education Standard of living Self-esteem related variables Self-esteem (9)* Social support related variables Parents support (10)* Teacher support (10)* Friend support (10)* Note. ( ): Number of sentence *: 1 = strongly disagree 3 = neutral 5 = strongly agree Definition and measurement methods Degree of awareness about their expectancy of future 1 = boy 0 = girl 1 = middle school student 0 = high school student Last semester s grades in the class 1 = yes 0 = no 1 = yes 0 = no 1 = yes 0 = no 1 = professional & managerial job 2 = sales & service job 3 = others Father s education (years) 1 = job 0 = no job Mother s education (years) Subjective perception of economic level Degree of awareness about self-esteem Degree of awareness about parents support Degree of awareness about teacher support Degree of awareness about friend support α - 179 -
Table 2. Self-esteem (N = 611) Variables Mean SD Cronbach s α I think I am a valuable person 3.70 0.95 I think I have a good personality 3.41 0.96 I usually feel like a failure* 3.68 1.02 I don t brag about myself* 3.28 1.03 I have a positive attitude about myself 3.56 0.98 I wish I could have more respected myself* 2.35 0.91 I sometimes feel like worthless person* 3.43 1.11 I sometimes think I m not a good person* 3.16 1.06 I am generally satisfied about myself 3.59 0.93 Total 3.35 0.66 Note. 5point likert scale: 1 = strongly disagree 3 = neutral 5 = strongly agree *: Reverse coding.840 Table 3. Social Support (N = 611) Variables Parents Teacher Friend Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD I can have heart-to-heart talks with them 3.85 1.04 2.86 1.09 4.16 0.89 They understand me 3.94 0.95 3.38 0.90 4.16 0.82 They give me enough advice and counsel 4.04 0.91 3.66 0.95 3.87 1.00 They provide me what I need 4.20 0.869 3.13 0.95 4.04 0.85 They support me with any difficulties that I may have 3.99 0.98 3.36 0.97 4.07 0.84 I can discuss with them if anything happens 3.85 1.03 3.12 1.00 4.07 0.89 They spend enough time with me 3.73 1.07 2.67 0.97 4.17 0.83 They do my work for me if 3.47 1.13 2.38 0.89 3.55 0.98 I have a lot of conversation with them 3.89 1.03 2.76 0.99 4.24 0.82 They generally support me 4.04 0.95 3.16 0.95 3.72 0.94 Total 3.90 0.81 3.04 0.72 4.01 0.69 Cronbach s α.844.810.828 Note. 5point likert scale: 1 = strongly disagree 3 = neutral 5 = strongly agree - 180 -
Table 4. Expectancy of future (N = 611) Variables Mean SD Cronbach s α I am positive about my future 3.82 0.92 I will live my life like I ever wanted 4.14 0.81 I will live a successful life 4.03 0.85 I think I will live happily in the future 4.06 0.81 I often think about my future 4.03 0.97 Total 4.02 0.70 Note. 5point likert scale: 1 = strongly disagree 3 = neutral 5 = strongly agree.865-181 -
Table 5. Differences in the recognition of expectancy of future Gender T Year T School grade Variables Category Freq. Boy Girl Middle school High school Bottom Middle Top 306 302 312 295 164 150 283 Recognition of expectancy of future Mean D 3.99 4.04 0.813 3.98 4.05 1.218 3.84 A 3.99 B 4.15 C F 11.636*** Experience as school leaders Yes No 446 164 4.08 3.83 T 3.978*** Experience as outside school leaders Yes No 52 559 4.20 4.00 T 1.933 Volunteer experience Yes No 428 183 4.06 3.90 T 2.613** Father s occupation Professional & managerial workers Sales & service works Others 119 268 164 4.04 4.06 3.95 F 1.260 Father s education Under high school Post college 242 302 3.95 4.08 T 2.232* Mother s occupation Job 369 4.02 No job 202 4.02 T 0.014 Mother s education T Standard of living Under high school Post college Low Middle High 327 229 105 342 123 3.98 4.11 3.86 4.00 4.22 2.072* F 8.539*** Self-esteem Low Middle High 147 324 132 3.56 4.00 4.57 F 94.765*** Parents support Low Middle High F 35.600*** Teacher support Low Middle High 166 307 129 3.74 3.99 4.31 F 27.132*** Friend support Low Middle High F 23.405*** Note. D: Duncan s multiple range test *p <.05. **p <.01. ***p <.001. 175 271 159 159 264 179 3.38 4.03 4.29 3.77 4.06 4.27 A A B A B C A B C A B C A B C - 182 -
Table 6. Influence of the independent variables on the expectancy for future Variables Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 B β B β B β Personal variables School grade 0.079** 0.149 0.017 0.032 0.004 0.009 Experience as school leaders (no) 0.197** 0.124 0.092 0.058 0.063 0.062 Volunteer experience (no) 0.067 0.044 0.106 0.070 0.080 0.053 Father s education 0.028 0.032 0.043 0.048 0.021 0.024 Mother s education 0.021 0.024 0.006 0.007 0.003 0.004 Standard of living 0.141** 0.130 0.095* 0.087 0.090* 0.084 Self-esteem related variables Self-esteem 0.546*** 0.544 0.462*** 0.464 Social support related variables Parents support 0.114*** 0.135 Teacher support 0.078* 0.084 Friend support 0.094* 0.094 Intercept 4.198*** 2.442*** 1.675*** F 7.811*** 37.879*** 30.035*** Adj-R 2.077.348.381 Note. ( ): Dummy variable *p <.05. **p <.01. ***p <.001. - 183 -
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