Concordia researcher compares development of self-esteem in
Canadian and Colombian children
Acquiring self-esteem is an important part of a teenager’s
development. The way in which adolescents regard themselves can be instrumental
in determining their achievement and social functioning. New research from
Concordia University shows that the way in which adolescents think about
themselves varies across cultural context.
To compare how teenagers assess their self-worth, William M.
Bukowski, a psychology professor and director of the Centre for Research in
Human Development, examined responses from children in Montreal and in
Barranquilla — a city on the Caribbean coast of northern Colombia. The study
revealed significant commonalities, and some differences in the factors that
these children considered to be most important when they evaluated themselves.
Bukowski is the second author on the study, which was recently published in the
Journal of Research on Adolescence.