Abstract

GOROSTEGUI, María Elena  and  DORR, Anneliese. Gender and Self-Concept: A Comparative Analysis of Gender Differences in a Sample of Elementary School Children (1992-2003). Psykhe [online]. 2005, vol.14, n.1, pp.151-163. ISSN 0718-2228.  http://dx.doi.org/10.4067/S0718-22282005000100012.

The aim of this study is to determine the changes in children's self-perception, produced during a period of ten years, in relation to their culturally assigned roles. The study analyses the differences in the levels of self-worth of boys and girls from high, medium, and low socioeconomic levels in the 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th and 6^th year of elementary school (General Basic Education, GBE) in the Metropolitan area of Santiago of Chile, observed between the years 1992 and 2003. In both evaluations the same measurements of self esteem and the same variables of stratification were utilized. The results conclude that a reversal of the results obtained in 1992 has been produced, in the sense that today the girls supersede the boys in their general levels of self-esteem as well as in various scales separately considered. Additionally, the possibility is discussed that socio-cultural changes produced during the 10 year period might have had an impact on the self-perception of the society's expectation of gender roles.

Keywords : gender roles; self-esteem; self-concept; children.