The relation between body image satisfaction and self-esteem to academic behaviour in pre-adolescent and adolescent girls and boys

Abstract

Relatively little is known about the relation between body image satisfaction and self-esteem to academic behaviour in pre-adolescent and adolescent girls and boys. The current study is guided by three research questions. The first question is to examine how does body image satisfaction and self-esteem relate individually and collectively with academic behavior? The second question is to examine how much do the relationships between body image satisfaction, self-esteem and academic behavior differ across grades 7, 8, and 9? The third question is to examine how much do the relationships between body image satisfaction, self-esteem and academic behavior differ across genders? A correlational research design is adopted for this study. The data is analyzed using multiple regressions to examine various relations. This study analyzed secondary data gathered from 161 girls and boys from a junior high school in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada as part of the school plan for the 2011 - 2012 academic year. Self-esteem had high positive correlation to academic behavior for both girls and boys across grades 7 - 9. Other highlight was that only for grade 9; body image satisfaction had a low positive correlation to academic behaviour.