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Starting in infancy and continuing throughout later ages, people construct a changing image about themselves that gradually becomes clearer and more comprehensive [ 1 ]. The changing image regarding the self is a result of both biological and environmental factors.
Biological factors could be explained by the neurological processes which undergo a critical maturation during adolescence. Neurological changes in one's body partially contribute to the diversity of affective and cognitive behavior observed among adolescents [ 2 ].
On the other hand, environmental factors pertain to one's education level, lifestyle, socioeconomic status and different life experiences. Isolating environmental effects from biological effects are a controversial issue. In fact, both effects are integrated and can barely be isolated [ 3 ]. Both gender biological and grade environmental in particular can fundamentally influence self-concept development. Researchers have attempted to trace the developmental patterns of psychological variables such as self-concept within individuals.
For example, cross-sectional studies are used to compare the variation in such variables between different age groups e. Researchers have asserted that grade level is the strongest affecting variable in the development of self-concept [ 4 ]. For example, upon examining the development of four dimensions related to self-esteem and self-concept among children of different nationalities across second, fourth, sixth and eighth grades, Velasco-Barraza and Muller [ 5 ], found that as grade level increased, academic success self-esteem and self-concept became less positive.
However, Alawiye and Alawiye [ 4 ] indicated that self-concept increased across grades. Similar findings were reported by longitudinal studies which examined individual developmental changes over time [ 6 ]. Very little research, if any, to our knowledge, has examined the development of self-concept in the Omani context.
Without doubt, culture has a great role to play in any pattern of development. Arabic culture has its own distinguished norms and values that affect the way its people develop which is likely different from the other cultures. Therefore, the current study is important as it highlights the effects of grade and gender, and their interaction in the development of four dimensions of self-concept general school, peer-relations, parents-relations, and appearance among early and middle adolescents grades 7, 9, 11 in the Sultanate of Oman.
Early theories of psychosocial development, such as Erikson's theory, implied the importance of social interactions in one's cumulative understanding of the self, which usually fall into different dimensions. Erikson proposed eight psychosocial obstacles that a child goes through as a result of social interactions. Each obstacle contributes to the development of the child's identity or self.
In , Shavelson, Hubner, and Stanton [ 8 ] developed self-concept theory in which they suggested that self-concept has two main characteristics: 1 It is multifaceted in that it has different dimensions, 2 It is hierarchal with general self- concept placed at the top of the hierarchy first level followed by both academic and non-academic self-concept second level. In the third level, various dimensions of academic self-concept e.
In addition to those two main characteristics of self-concept, Shavelson's et al. A number of studies have been conducted examining the model presented by Shavelson et al. Several attempts have been made by researchers to illustrate what self-concept is; yet, almost all of them are concerned with the understanding or perceptions of oneself.
According to Baby [ 11 ], self-concept reflects someone's feelings or perceptions about himself including self-assessment of physical attributes, hobbies, skills, abilities and personality. It is like a set of beliefs people have about who they are; involving personal, ethnic, and professional awareness as well as other future goals or desire.
Self-concept can be referred to as a general self or general self-worth, and it can be measured using specific dimensions. Independent self-concept comprises elements of oneself such as physical appearance, education, goals, intelligence and abilities.
On the other hand, interdependent self-concept represents one's relationships with others such as peers and family. It is crucial to know that the first stage of development of self-concept starts in infancy when the infant recognizes himself as one individual.
Early in infancy, children acquire information about themselves and organize this information as a means to understand the world and their relationships with the social environment [ 14 ].
On the other hand, during middle childhood, self-concept becomes more differentiated and integrated. It becomes more internal as the child starts to interact with different social relations.
In fact, there is a possibility that self-concept may undergo some changes even during middle or late adulthood, for example, Mansoor [ 15 ] found significant differences in self-concept across early adulthood, middle age, and old age. According to Baby [ 1 ], the formation of self-concept goes through four stages: 1 in infancy, the infant develops self-concept of being a distinguished part of the environment, 2 as the child grows up, others' perspectives, especially parents', are internalized and 3 finally, moving from parents' perspectives, the child internalizes society norms e.
One can conclude that multiple factors contribute to the reshaping of self-concept as individuals age. For example, consistent feedback from parents is considered a primary source of forming self-concept among children; however, as they grew up to become teenagers, they become more reliant on their peers' opinions and peers' perceptions become an important source of self-concept for adolescents.
In addition, Kawkash [ 16 ] explained some other factors contributing to a person's self-concept such as gender, attitudes, physical appearance and confidence. If parents and teachers are able to understand the changes that occur during adolescents' self-concept formation, they may be able to help them adjusting to these changes [ 16 ].
Furthermore, early adolescence has been recognized as a developmental phase in which peer relationships become more salient while family relationships become weaker [ 17 ]. Therefore, focusing self-concept research on this stage of development is very important.
Self-concept may become more positive or negative as individuals grow up. The change in self-concept is dependent on its specific dimensions. For instance, Shapka and Keating [ 6 ] examined the developmental change of different self-concept dimensions among school students grades over a two-year period.
The researchers found that students had more positive self-concept as they grew up in dimensions of job competence, romantic relationships, close friendships, and social acceptance.
On the other hand, over the course of their time at high school, students' perceptions about scholastic competence declined. Also, according to Marsh [ 11 ], Australian students' appearance, physical and academic self-concepts reduced by the largest margin in moving from grade two to grade eight. It is clear that there have been several studies addressing self-concept development in Western cultures. However, there may be critical differences when examining a collective Arabic culture such as that found in the Sultanate of Oman.
It is, therefore, crucial to explore the developmental patterns of self-concept in such a context. For example, Smoaay [ 18 ] showed that general self-concept for Iraqi children increased from age 5 to 7 years old.
Also similar to Shapka and Keating [ 6 ] who found increased self-concept in dimensions of social acceptance and close friendship, Gamer [ 19 ] showed that social self-concept among undergraduate Sudanese students increased as they got older. However, another Arabic study conducted by Saber [ 20 ] using adolescents aged 12 to 18, social self-concept was positively correlated with age during middle school but negatively during secondary school.
Moreover, in another study involving students from elementary school and junior high school students in the UAE, the findings showed that elementary school students scored higher in math self-concept and school self-concept than high school students [ 21 ] which was consistent with the findings by Shapka and Keating [ 6 ] related to scholastic competence self-concept. While these studies have demonstrated some differences in self-concept dimensions for different age groups, others found no differences.
For example, Chang et al. Moreover, Adeeb [ 22 ] examined general self-concept development among Omani students during late childhood, grade six age and early adolescents, grade 9 age The researcher found no evidence for self-concept development between these two periods. Also, Shapka and Keating [ 6 ] did not uncover any cross-sectional change between grade 9 and 10 in different self-concept dimensions.
A number of studies was conducted to examine gender effects on self-concept development. For example, Alrajhi and Aldhafri [ 23 ] found that Omani girls scored higher on academic English self-concept than boys did; yet, no differences in social self-concept were reported.
In another study, Omani girls were also found to have higher math and verbal self-concept than boys [ 24 ].
However, contradictory results have been documented in other studies. Marsh et al [as cited in 25] found that in four Arab countries, boys reported more positive science and math self-concept than girls. Likewise, Gamer [ 19 ] reported that Sudanese male students showed higher academic and social self-concept than female students.
It seems that all previous studies have examined gender differences in self-concept separately from the effect of age. However, possible differences in the development of self-concept by age may appear across gender. A substantial amount of literature has shown that males and females may follow different patterns in their self-concept development. For instance, a significant interaction was found between time and gender in general self-worth across a two year period of time from grade to grade Unlike girls, boys' levels of self-worth dropped off over the course of time.
Moreover, boys did not only show lower levels of close friendships self-concept than girls but also this level increased only during late high school. On the other hand, girls' levels of self-concept in this domain increased both during early and late high school [ 6 ].
In addition, over a three-year period of time from grade 1 to 3 , Bouffard, Marcoux, Vezeau, and Bordeleau [ 26 ] found that although both boys' and girls' perceptions of reading competence decreased across time, the decrease started earlier for boys than girls. Hence, it is vital to examine how boys' and girls' self-concepts develop over the course of time.
The current study uses a statistical design that allows the examination of the interaction between gender and age effects.
As different cultural environments exist, it is expected that different patterns of self-concept will be developed by individuals [ 4 ]. The development of self-concept depends on the nature of the society; whether it is an individualistic or a collective i.
Triandis [ 27 ], has gradeified cultures as individualistic or collective cultures. While individualism focusses on one's independence as a way of life, collectivism focuses on one's centering on the group as a way of life. Unlike collective societies, people in individualistic societies tend to be more competitive and value individual attributes more than collective attributes, or group identities such as family, community or religion [ 3 ].
Therefore, individualists have higher levels of positive self-concept than collectivists because they tend to exaggerate in order to reinforce their self-worth and draw attention to themselves [ 27 ].
Some studies in Western individualistic societies suggested similar patterns of self-concept development. For example, Nagy et al. In another cross-cultural study conducted in Mexico, Chile and the United States, researchers found that physical maturity and peer-relations self-concept was relatively stable across grades 2, 4, 6, 8 ; however, as grade level increased, the levels of academic success self-concept and school adaptiveness self-concept decreased [ 5 ].
Abu Hilal [ 27 ] stated that cross-cultural studies have shown that East-Asian individuals look at themselves in a communal or societal framework and it is difficult for them to view themselves as distinct from this framework.
An Arab individual is not very different from an East-Asian in the way they look at themselves. Thus, the success one achieves is looked at in terms of how it serves the group more than the individual. The communal nature of collective societies suggests that in collective societies such as Oman, social self-concept i. This was posited by Abu-Hilal et al. Unfortunately, there is a notable lack of research examining the development of different self-concept dimensions in the Arab context.
The current study will contribute to the existing literature regarding this area. Also, it adds to Adeeb's [ 22 ] study, which focused only on general self-concept development among Omani students across late childhood to early adolescence. The current study examined the development of four self-concept dimensions general school, peer-relations, parents-relations, and appearance among early and middle adolescence across gender.
Finally, findings of this study allow comparisons between Omanis' self-concept development patterns, which is considered a collective society, and other Western and Eastern cultures. The sample consisted of middle and high school students from two school districts i.
The students were enrolled in grades 7, 9, and 11; half of the sample were males Permission for data collection was obtained from the Ministry of Education and the local school district. All contacted schools agreed to participate in the study. Two research assistants visited convenient samples of schools and administered the self-concept questionnaire.
Some demographic information was also obtained from the participants including age, grade, and gender. The questionnaire originally includes 67 items that measure different dimensions of self-concept including general school, academic, peer relationships, physical ability, physical appearance, and parent relationships.
A 5-point Likert scale questions are used i. Early Arabic research showed good reliability coefficients for the questionnaire in the Omani context [ 23 , 29 ]. All items were positively scored no reverse scored items. Construct validity for the questionnaire was obtained by a pre-specified four-dimension solution using maximum likelihood as an extraction method with a Promax rotation. The results showed a very clear 4-factor solution with all items loading in their perspective theoretical dimensions with loading values equal to 0.
First, multivariate normality was examined. The sample size in the current study included more than 20 individuals in each comparison group i.
They do not necessarily rely on objective assessments; often, parents underlie stereotypical evaluations which do not correspond to their children's actual achievements. For example, parents tend to regard daughters as being less talented in mathematics and science and reinforce dysfunctional attribution patterns as a result Dresel et al. In these studies, participants usually were confronted with a stereotype about a target group, e. In the context of STEM, stereotypes would include males being more talented and successful in math and science.
After confrontation with the stereotype, study participants worked on a task that is associated with the stereotype Martignon, , p. In nearly all studies on stereotype threat, females achieved worse results with mathematical tasks, and their interest decreased when they were confronted with the stereotype that women are less talented in mathematics Shapiro and Williams, Owens and Massey describe two mechanisms that explain why stereotype threat occurs.
The second mechanism works via external stereotypes Owens and Massey, Confrontation with the stereotype, however, affects the perception of task difficulty, increasing strain and tension. Rumination about the stereotype uses up resources that are otherwise needed for task completion, impairing performance as a result see Macher et al.
This research shows that even females who believe themselves to be competent and pursue a career in STEM still can be impaired by stereotype threat.
Stereotypes are also communicated by significant others such as parents or teachers Gunderson et al. Tiedemann showed in his study on pupils in primary school that mothers as well as teachers based their feedback on children's competence in mathematics not only regarding previous grades but the respective child's gender as well. Mothers were even more prone toward gender stereotypes than teachers. Stereotypes were especially strong in feedback on achievements and had a significant impact on the children's self-concept Tiedemann, In a study by Kiefer and Shih , students were especially receptive to teacher feedback that was associated with gender stereotypes.
Parents' and teachers' gender stereotypes manifest themselves not only in communication, but in dysfunctional support for their children or students as well. When parents endorse specific gender stereotypes e. These kinds of long-term influences by parents and teachers may have a significant influence over the years not only on motivation and achievement but regarding career choices as well Bleeker and Jacobs, The academic self-concept is a key variable in explaining learning and motivation in specific academic domains.
It is also of interest in explaining career choices and perseverance in a specific profession. It can be expected that these females would tend to be confident regarding their academic self-assessments in STEM fields, and less prone to stereotypical attributions concerning females' lack of abilities here. Therefore, the research question will investigate:. Regarding this research question, we would still expect a negative effect of stereotypes.
However, due to a lack of research in the field, we cannot provide hypotheses about its strength within the context of the ambiguous effects of school and family factors. For strengthening these results, we will also provide evidence from a qualitative study with STEM students that took part in an earlier stage of the project. Students of the qualitative study were also invited to participate in the quantitative one but as this was an anonymous survey there was no control of participation.
Ertl et al. A specific questionnaire was developed for the study. Items were deducted from theory and adapted for the field of the study. During this process, all six partners of the SESTEM project consortium brought in aspects within their field of expertise. Seeking and including expert judgment on the content of a questionnaire, on item formats, item contents, and scoring systems enhance content validity of a measurement instrument. Then, the consortium negotiated about the inclusion of the different scales weighting between satisfying the needs of the different partners, adopting existing scales, and keeping the questionnaire as short as possible for maintaining students' motivation for answering the questions.
This resulted in a final questionnaire in an English language version, which was translated into further five national languages including German. These six language versions were implemented as a LimeSurvey multi language questionnaire.
The students reported in this paper answered the German language version. They were asked about:. Their majors or the subject combination they had chosen for their degree. Based on the data from the German Federal Statistical Office [ Destatis Statistisches Bundesamt , ], majors were classified with respect to the proportion of females. Their parents' professions. Higher values indicate a more positive self-concept.
Their internalization of gender stereotypes was measured by three scales: interests 7 items , abilities 5 items , and conformance 2 items. Each of these scales was based on a five-point Likert scale see Table 1.
Higher values indicate stronger stereotypes. School factors. This means that the score includes subjects such as mathematics, physics, or computer sciences, but not subjects like biology. Higher values indicate more favorite STEM subjects. Third, a five-point Likert scale regarding students' perception of teachers' stereotyped behavior 4 items, see Table 1.
Family factors with respect to family support. This was surveyed by different areas in which students may have received support and the persons that supported the students e. These scores were mapped regarding their theoretical maxima and minima on a range between 0 and 1. Altogether three variables were derived: Parents' support in math, parents' support in STEM, and parents' general support. Higher values indicate stronger support. Table 1. Overview on the scales used for the study with the number of items, an exemplary item, and the internal consistency.
Table 1 gives an overview of the different Likert scales including the number of items, an exemplary item, and the internal consistency of the scale. The reported consistency measures relate to the whole sample of students. Missing items of single scales were imputed; missing scales were treated as missing.
Table 2 provides an overview of all scales including their value range, their means, and their standard deviations. The quantitative study was complemented by a qualitative study.
It comprised interviews based on a semi-structured interview protocol for the complete set-up of the qualitative studies see Mok and Ertl, Interviewees were contacted by personal contact, email, and via STEM-related distribution lists. In the following, we will first report results of the quantitative study. The results section will first provide insights into the descriptive outcomes. Then it will describe the results of the confirmatory factor analysis for the factors of stereotypes, school, and family.
It will finally present a structural equation model that provides insights into the impacts of each of the factors onto the students' academic self-concept in STEM and illustrate these afterwards by the interviews with these five students of the qualitative study.
We could find distinctive occurrences with respect to the internalization of stereotypes between the students. To analyse the distribution of the data, we used the values of the skewness and kurtosis.
West et al. All scales meet the requirement of normal distribution. Latent regression analysis was used to test relationships between the variables in a multivariate, multiple regression context. Structural relationships between multiple dependent variables and multiple independent variables can be analyzed simultaneously.
Regression analyses are specified at the latent level and are corrected for measurement error at the level of the independent and dependent variables. Latent regression analysis has the advantage that the relationship between variables in the regression model can be estimated more accurately. At least two manifest variables or indicators are required for each latent variable factors in a latent regression model Geiser, The data were analyzed with Mplus 6 using a maximum likelihood estimator.
Table 3 displays the standardized solutions for the latent regression analysis with three the factors of stereotypes, school, and family. Each factor comprises different variables that describe stereotypes rooted in the culture or encountered in school or the family.
The regression coefficients between the three factors stereotypes, school, and family and self-concept in STEM of students show the following result: Students with higher levels of experienced stereotypes e.
Students who reported a higher number of favorite STEM subjects in school have a higher self-concept whereas higher levels of school support and teachers' stereotypes indicate a lower and less positive self-concept in STEM. A higher level of support math, STEM, parents indicates a lower self-concept. Figure 1 gives an overview of indicators and factors of the latent regression analysis model.
Correlations between the three latent factors were allowed in the model specification. We found low to moderate, but non-significant correlations between the three latent factors.
The analysis of the qualitative study aims to illustrate the latent variables of the quantitative one. Students' statements can give evidence for the latent factors of the quantitative study with respect to the impact of stereotypes and family. School factors were just mentioned in a few words, e.
We will present the English translation of the statements; the German original version can be found in the project report Mok and Ertl, With respect to the impact of stereotypes, students mentioned that they were taking an untypical career path and that their social environment was surprised by this kind of career choice.
These untypical career choices also result in a perceived lack of role models and contact persons, e. Thus, also the interview data highlights that students are aware that they are studying an untypical subject and name surprise of their friends about their study choice, obstacles for working in the untypical field, as well as missing role models. Psychological Reports, 55 — Gilligan, C.
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Educational Psychologist, 20 — Multidimensional adolescent self-concepts: Their relationship to age, sex, and academic measures. Similar differences were also found in Wilksch et al. They found a significant improvement in self-esteem and body dissatisfaction only among boys post-test and at a 6-month follow-up. No significant differences were found among girls. Other studies reported that girls were more affected than boys by the intervention.
For example, in Bird et al. Among the girls, there were improvements in body satisfaction, and reductions in body-satisfaction and appearance-related conversations, appearance-related and restrained eating, and emotional eating.
In addition, there were improvements in knowledge of the intervention topic. In contrast, boys reported significantly lower levels of internalization of cultural appearance ideals and appearance-related conversations. Other studies also reported that in mixed-gender groups, girls are more influenced by the intervention than boys [69,70]. Some studies found no significant effect of gender on changes in self-esteem or body image in a school-based program delivered to 5 th - and 6 th - graders [66,67].
Mixed effects of gender on program results have also been reported in uni-gender interventions. In a school-based body-image intervention delivered in three minute sessions to young adolescent girls 90 girls were in the control group in the 7 th grade, a significant positive outcome was reported in the intervention group relative to the control group on the subjects of knowledge, risk factors for body dissatisfaction, body image, dietary restraint and self-esteem, post-intervention and at a 3-month follow-up [71].
In another study, performed in four weekly health class periods with adolescents aged Girls reported decreased body dissatisfaction, decreased physical appearance comparisons, and increased appearance satisfaction, relative to controls [72]. A similar impact was reported by Ross et al. Nevertheless, in another study performed by the same researcher, five sessions of a prevention program for body-image concerns that focused on self-esteem and peer relationships were delivered to adolescent boys between the ages of 11 and15 years.
No differences were found between the intervention and the control group post-intervention or at any of the follow-ups [75]. Intervention programs are an effective way of promoting positive body image and self-esteem in adolescents. However, there are differences between the genders in the influence of these programs.
In addition, different effects are found for uni-gender vs. The present review looks at gender differences among adolescents and their impact on self-esteem and body image, as well as the influence of prevention programs on adolescents' self-esteem and body image when presented to mixed-gender vs. Overall, the findings revealed that gender differences start at a very young age, and due to differences in gender roles and physical development, impact adolescents' body image and self-esteem differently between genders [31].
Physical development for boys, contrary to girls, is usually a positive experience. Therefore, more boys are satisfied with their bodies than girls. Nonetheless, today we are seeing more boys who aspire to have a lean and muscular body and to be closer to the "athletic body ideal" [55]. Body mass emerged as a potent predictor of body dissatisfaction.
Therefore, body mass can explain the differences in body dissatisfaction between the genders. The differences in gender tendencies can be attributed to differences in the age of the examined participants, weight status and differences in socioeconomic backgrounds as well as different intensities of exposure to media messages. We assume that since boys have late physical development, internalization of the muscular-body ideal comes later in life [76]. The reviewed studies presented mixed results on gender differences with respect to the impact of intervention programs to promote self-esteem and positive body image, in both mixed-gender and uni-gender programs.
Since risky behavior among youth is linked with other behaviors, further effort is warranted to develop interventions that are successful among both genders, focusing on gender differences in the context of physical development and societal influences.
To the best of our knowledge, there are no comparative reports of the same program delivered to mixed-vs. Uni-gender groups boys only, girls only and mixed groups.
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