Self-concept, self-esteem, gender, race, and information technology use.
This research addressed two fundamental questions regarding self-concept, self-esteem, gender, race, and information technology use. First, is technology use related to dimensions of self-concept and/or to self-esteem? Second, are there gender and/or race differences in self-concept, self-esteem, and technology use? Five hundred youth, average age 12 years old, one third African American and two thirds Caucasian American, completed multidimensional measures of self-concept, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem scale, and measures of frequency of Internet use, Internet use for communication (e-mail and instant messaging), video game playing, and cell phone use. Findings indicated that technology use predicted dimensions of self-concept and self-esteem, with video game playing having a negative influence and Internet use having a positive influence on self-concept dimensions. Gender differences were observed on several self-concept dimensions, but contrary to expectations, girls did not score higher than boys in social self-concept. Only one race difference was observed: African Americans had lower behavioral self-concept than did Caucasian Americans. Implications of the benefits and liabilities of youth's current and projected technology use are discussed.
Jackson
Linda A
LA
Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, USA. jackso67@msu.edu
Zhao
Yong
Y
Witt
Edward A
EA
Fitzgerald
Hiram E
HE
von Eye
Alexander
A
Harold
Rena
R
D000293:Adolescent; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001292:Attitude to Computers / Q000208:ethnology*; D002648:Child; D003201:Computers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D012016:Reference Values; D012649:Self Concept; D020377:Self Efficacy; D012737:Sex Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D044465:White People / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data