The effect of androgyny and self-esteem on classroom behavior

Research examining student-teacher interactions has tended to focus upon the teacher's perceptions of, and reactions to, his/her students. Such studies have indicated that teachers tend to react differentially to male and female students, that these students are aware of sex-role stereotypes, and that this awareness seems to affect perceptions of self and others, as well as actual performance. The majority of these studies have targeted the perceptions and behaviors of preschool and elementary school children. As there is a dearth of research examining similar variables in adolescents, more intensive investigations need to be conducted before any generalizations about classroom behavior can be drawn. The purpose of the current investigation was to examine the effects of middle-school students' levels of androgyny and self-esteem on classroom behavior, as well as to examine the impact of these variables on students' performance attributions and classroom perceptions. Students were asked to complete questionnaires assessing their levels of androgyny and self-esteem, and their perceptions of which of their peers perform various behaviors. While few significant differences were found by degree of androgyny for student behaviors, student sex did seem to play a role in which classroom behaviors were exhibited. Peer behavior in the classroom was related to students' sex and level of androgyny. Internal and external attributions for performance seemed to be affected by degree of androgyny. Boys received higher grades than girls in both science/computer science and English, although there were no sex differences for grade expectations. High-androgynous individuals tended to have higher self-esteem than low-androgynous individuals. Implications for the conceptualization of androgyny were discussed, as well as empirical findings and developmental issues.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S.

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Psychology

Department dc:contributor.department

Psychology

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Year dc:date.issued

1986

Author dc:creator

• McLaughlin, Kimberly A.

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10919/101125

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/101125