The Influence of Age and Gender on the Self-concept of Adolescents in Pretoria

Abstract

Adolescence is a crucial period of transition from childhood to adulthood, in which significant changes occur in various domains, including physical and hormonal changes as a result of puberty, cognitive changes in understanding how they and others think, as well as socioemotional changes in which adolescents assume new roles connected to their environment. Amongst all the perceptions we experience throughout our lifespan, none have higher meaning than those we internalise concerning our own personal being and our perception of who we are, and where we belong in this world. Self-concept is significant in unravelling how individuals become what or who they are, how individuals change over time as well as their decision-making processes. This study used a cross-sectional research design to explore the influence age and gender have on the global and domain specific self-concept of adolescents in Pretoria. The final sample consisted of 145 black adolescent boys and girls from two schools in the Pretoria area. The main findings suggest that younger adolescents have a higher global self-concept compared to older adolescents, and also scored higher than older adolescents in the social and physical self-concept. The findings further showed a pattern of increase in the global, emotional and social self-concept during early adolescence, a decline during middle adolescence and an increase during late adolescence. With regards to gender, findings indicate that girls scored higher in emotional self-concept compared to their male counterparts. Based on the findings of this study, implications for practice and recommendations are noted.