Self-esteem: A comparison between Hong Kong children and newly arrived Chinese children

The Self-esteem Inventory developed by Coopersmith (1967) was used to measure the self-esteem of 387 Chinese children. The sample included newly arrived mainland Chinese children and Hong Kong children. The results showed significant statistical differences when measuring the self-esteem level associated with the length of their stay in Hong Kong and self-esteem exhibited in the home, whereas few differences were found in the age and gender variables. This indicates that newly arrived children tend to have low general self-esteem compared with their Hong Kong counterparts. The results suggest that the newly arrived children have similar school experiences to their Hong Kong peers, but have a different home self-esteem experience. They tend to be unhappy and have less confidence in expressing themselves at home. These findings could be caused by a number of factors, for example family unsettlement, hardship, relationship problems with parents or traditional authoritarian styles of parenting. Copyright © 2004 Manchester University Press.