Publication Date
2023
Conference
Scholarly and Creative Works Conference, Dominican University of California
Conference Location
San Rafael, California, USA
Major
Psychology
Second Major
English
Faculty Mentor(s)
Rosalie Chen
Abstract
The correlation between self-esteem and television in college students was studied. It was hypothesized that younger students would report lower self-esteem than older students (hypothesis 1); students who report higher levels of television viewing will report lower self-esteem (hypothesis 2); and students who see themselves represented more often in television will report higher levels of self-esteem and students who see themselves less represented in television and tv shows would report lower levels of self-esteem (hypothesis 3). Participants consisted of 104 people between the ages of 18 and 65. Many participants were undergraduate students from Dominican University of California. Participants filled out an anonymous online survey, which had them rate their self-esteem on a four-point Likert scale from the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. Results were significant for age and self-esteem and indicated that older students reported lower self-esteem than younger students. The results for hypothesis 2 were not supported, while the results for hypothesis 3 indicated a correlation between age and self-esteem, race/ethnicity and self-esteem, race/ethnicity and television viewing. However, 99 students were between the ages of 18-25, which means that the findings of this study may not show an accurate correlation between self-esteem and age.