The Relationship between Closeness to Significant Others and Self-Esteem in Children.

The relationships that children have with significant others influences the perceptions that they hold of themselves. This study examined the relationship between closeness to significant others and self-esteem. Children (n=142) in grades 4-6 responded to statements concerning self-esteem and were asked to rate how close they felt to mother, father, two closest friends, and to their teacher. Results indicated a significant difference between closeness to mother and closeness to father in favor of the mother. While correlational analyses indicated significant relationships between closeness to significant others and self-esteem, closeness to a particular significant other was critical. Although subjects reported high rates of closeness to both mother and father, closeness to mother was the more significant predictor of children's self-esteem for both boys and girls. Closeness to teachers was found to be related to self-esteem but more so for girls than boys. Overall, the study suggested that the children's self-esteem was related to (in order of importance) closeness to mother, peers, teacher, and father. However, regression results indicated that closeness to mother and teacher were predictive of self-esteem for girls while only closeness to mother was predictive of boy's self-esteem. (Contains 11 references.) (RJM) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** 111 The Relationship Between Closeness to Significant Others and Self-Esteem in Children Paul C. Burnett and Wayne Demnar Queensland University of Technology The relationships that children have with significant others in their lives influences the perceptions that they cp 71hold of themselves. Children's reflections on the opinions or 71perceived opinions of significant others contribute to the formation of their self-esteem. The question often posed is who actually possesses the greatest influence on the development of self-esteem. Juhasz's (1989) found that parents were nominated as being most significant followed by peers, siblings, grandparents and other relatives and teachers. However, Juhasz did not investigate the separate influence of mothers and fathers and did not investigate the intensity of the relationships with significant others. 411 It is in the family that we first learn about ourselves, others and relationships. Of particular interest is the relationship between children's perceptions of their parent's behaviour and their self-esteem development. Studies have reported correlations between aspects of parental support and children's self-esteem (Felson & Zielinski, 1989; Gecas & Schwalbe, 1986; Hoelter & Harper, 1987). Litovsky and Dusek (1985) also investigated the relationship between aspects of child-rearing practices and self-esteem development during the early adolescent years. Their results supported the hypothesis that a warm, caring environment suggestive of closeness to parents impacted positively on childrens' selfesteem. Paulson, Hill and Holmbeck (1991) investigated the relationship between perceived closeness to parents and children's self-esteem. Closeness was conceptualised as a specific facet of parental warmth, representing mutual intimacy, positive affection and self-disclosure and was measured using a four item scale which examined the expression Ilk of affection and self-disclosure. Self-Esteem was measured using the revised Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1979). The results indicated that childrens' perceptions of closeness to parents were significantly related to self-esteem in all four parent-child dyadsmother-son, mother-daughter, father-son, father-daughter. The results also indicated that the children perceived greater closeness with their mothers than with their fathers. Youniss and Smollar (1985) explained similar findings in terms of the time spent with children by mothers compared to the time spent by fathers.