Evaluation of adolescents' self-esteem through the Coopersmith Self-esteem Inventory and graphometric analysis of students' handwriting.
Self-esteem has long been considered an essential component of good mental health. Coopersmith's Self-esteem Inventory and Wellingham-Jones Self-esteem Values List applied to handwritings were given to 15- to 19-yr.-old students to explore the former's usefulness in designing programs to enhance self-esteem. Students were from 4 high schools representing the socioeconomic range of a small rural California city. Handwritings of the 25 students scoring highest and the 25 scoring lowest on self-esteem were graphometrically evaluated. Chi squared showed total agreement between the two tests in 62% of the cases, partial agreement in 30%, complete disagreement in 8%. This suggests Coopersmith's inventory may be a useful tool for school administrators, provided its limitations are understood. Similarities and differences between and within the high and low self-esteem groups were discussed.
Wellingham-Jones
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D000293:Adolescent; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D006236:Handwriting; D006801:Humans; D007604:Juvenile Delinquency / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D010555:Personality Inventory; D011594:Psychometrics; D012649:Self Concept; D012931:Social Environment