Being Well vs. Doing Well: Self-Esteem and School Performance among Immigrant and Nonimmigrant Racial and Ethnic Groups
Open Access
- 1 June 2002
- journal article
- Published by SAGE Publications in International Migration Review
- Vol. 36 (2), 389-415
- https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-7379.2002.tb00086.x
Abstract
It has frequently been suggested that the academic achievement of minority students may be hindered by low self-esteem in a white-dominated society. Some researchers and theorists, however, have questioned such assumptions. The self-esteem-academic achievement issue is further complicated by the relatively strong performance of children of immigrants in general, and of children of Asian immigrants in particular. A substantial literature suggests that these children face insecurities and difficulties that are inconsistent with high self-esteem. In examining data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, we find that Asians do show the lowest levels of reported self-esteem of the major racial/ethnic groups, but also the highest grade-point averages. Black adolescents, on the other hand, show the highest levels of reported self-esteem, but show relatively low grade-point averages. In further examination, we demonstrate that despite this apparent inconsistency between school performance and reported self-esteem, the two do have a positive relationship. Immigrant parental status, we suggest, has a complex relationship to school performance and psychological well-being that can help to explain the apparent paradox.Keywords
This publication has 29 references indexed in Scilit:
- The Academic Success of East-Asian–American Students—An Investment ModelSocial Science Research, 1998
- Family Structure, Schoolmates, and Racial Inequalities in School AchievementJournal of Marriage and Family, 1998
- Similarities and Differences in Domain-Specific and Global Self-Evaluations of Learning-Disabled, Behaviorally Disordered, and Normally Achieving AdolescentsAmerican Educational Research Journal, 1998
- Explanatory Style, Family Expressiveness, and Self-Esteem Among Asian American and European American College StudentsThe Journal of Social Psychology, 1997
- Majority African American Schools and Social Injustice: The Influence of De Facto Segregation on Academic AchievementSocial Forces, 1996
- The Politics of Self-EsteemAmerican Educational Research Journal, 1996
- Religious Participation, Ethnic Identification, and Adaptation of Vietnamese Adolescents in an Immigrant CommunityThe Sociological Quarterly, 1995
- Academics, Self-Esteem, and Race: A Look at the Underlying Assumptions of the Disidentification HypothesisPersonality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 1995
- Asian-American educational achievements: A phenomenon in search of an explanation.American Psychologist, 1990
- Desocialization and Resocialization: The Adjustment Process of ImmigrantsInternational Migration Review, 1968