Relationship between Low Self-Esteem and Body Weight among Adolescents (Research Paper Sample)

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LOW SELF-ESTEEM AND BODY WEIGHT AMONG ADOLESCENTS
Name of Student
Course Name of Professor
University Date
Relationship between Low Self-Esteem and Body Weight among Adolescents Introduction
Research Background
Several factors are known to contribute to low self-esteem among adolescents. According to Lowry, Sallinen, and Janicke (2007), body weight is directly related to low self-esteem among youngsters since they tend trying to fit the ideal image of physical perfection. Steiger et al. (2014) have established that adolescents often experience low self-esteem due to an identity crisis that comes because of being perceived as overweight. The authors have further established a link between having low self-esteem and being overweight to depression among adolescents. The underlying connection between being overweight and having low self-esteem among adolescents has been made clear, but it is necessary to establish the magnitude of the relationship between low self-esteem and body weight among teens.
Scope of Research
The scope of this research paper is to establish the explicit relationship between low self-esteem and body weight among the adolescents of three high schools in Oklahoma.
Research Objectives
The primary objective of the study is to measure the magnitude of the relationship between self-esteem and body weight among female and male adolescents and thus illuminate the causes of low self-esteem. Similarly, it seeks to explain why adolescents with physical challenges, such as increased body weight, tend to have low self-esteem.
Research Question and Hypothesis
The research question is:
I.What is the relationship between low self-esteem and body weight among female and male adolescents?
The research hypotheses for this study are:
Null hypothesis: Adolescents who are overweight have lower self-esteem than adolescents who are not overweight do.
Alternative hypothesis: Adolescents who are overweight do not have lower self- esteem than adolescents who are not overweight do.
Relevance of the Study
The findings of the study will help psychologists and counselors understand the dynamics of body weight and self-esteem in adolescents. The findings will also help teachers, parents, and guardians apprehend the causes of certain adolescent behaviors that come as a result of low self-esteem. Therefore, the findings may be used as a guide to building positive self-esteem among adolescents.
Methodology
Research Design
This research was conducted using a research approach that combined surveys and semi-structured interviews. The researcher chose a mixed-method approach because the scope of the research is focused, subjective, dynamic, and discovery- oriented. The qualitative interview method is best suited to gain proper insight into the situation of the case study, whereas the quantitative dimension of the study allows establishing the degree of correlation between self-esteem and body weight. Moreover,
this approach will create room for further analysis using different tools for checking the degree of error and assumptions limits. The dependent variable is self-esteem, while the independent variable is body weight.
Research Approach
The researcher conducted the survey in three high schools in Oklahoma. The study sampled data on how male and female adolescents respond to body changes with respect to weight. The researcher inquired about the experiences of 30 teenagers, 15 females and 15 males, to determine the impact of body weight on their self-esteem.
Data Collection
In order to quantify the relationship between the independent and dependent variable, ANOVA was essential in the tabular representation of correlation analysis.
Findings and Analysis
Information about the respondents is summarized in the table below.
School

Population

Male participants

Female participants

Oklahoma Junior

10

5

5

Oklahoma Academy

10

5

5

Oklahoma Success Center

10

5

5

Total

30

15

15

ANOVA Analysis
Analysis of variance focuses on establishing the differences between the means of data collected from the targeted organizations. The analysis focuses on the disintegrating the variation among and between groups. Therefore, ANOVA will attempt to establish whether there exists a statistical equality between the mean of the two groups of data. The first element ANOVA measures is the variations between groups.
iThis part will entail computing the difference between the mean for each of the educational institutions and the mean for the population. It is often denoted as x  x 2 .
The second element of ANOVA measures variation within the groups. This looks at the differences between the value of the institutions and their average. The second part is
ijidenoted as x  x 2 .
The subsequent sections will carry out the ANOVA. A multivariate analysis will be used to test the relationship between body weight and self-esteem. The three groups that will be analyzed are students from Oklahoma Junior, Oklahoma Success, and Oklahoma Academy. The table presented below gives information on the levels of self- esteem and body weights of the three groups of students.
Body Weight
Range

Oklahoma Junior

Oklahoma Success

Oklahoma Academy


mean

S.D.

rank

mean

S.D.

rank

mean

S.D.

rank

Very overweight

5.62

0.31

1

4.21

1.04

3

6.63

0.96

2

Slightly
overweight

5.21

0.74

2

3.42

1.53

4

7.71

1.34

1

Average

4.73

1.24

4

6.45

0.75

1

3.06

0.97

4

Slim

4.92

1.05

3

5.72

1.15

2

4.76

1.09

3

Results of ANOVA
Variable

F-ratio

Degrees of freedom

P-value

Self-esteem

4.21

7.102

0.001

Analysis of the indicators




Very overweight

9.42

194

0.000

Slightly overweight

6.92

194

0.004

Average

3.56

194

0.091

Slim

4.49

194

0.038

In the table above, the F-value is 4.21 while the P-value is 0.001. Thus, the null hypothesis is rejected at the 99% confidence level, confirming body weight as an indicator for determining the level of self-esteem. Thus, it can be concluded that being overweight has a statistically significant impact on the level of self-esteem among the adole