The Effect of Socioeconomic Status on Adolescent Girls' Sense of Belonging, Self-Esteem, and Grit

• In Event: Trailblazers With Aspirations and Grit: Studies of Adolescent Girls

Abstract

There is converging evidence that adolescents’ socioemotional (SE) skills, or the beliefs, attitudes and behaviors that allow youth to manage self and social relationships, predict academic success and long-term life outcomes. There has been growing interest in understanding the effect of socio-economic status (SES) on these skills. This study investigates the moderating effects of SES on measures of three prominent SE skills; sense of belonging, self-esteem, and grit among highly marginalized rural adolescent Indian girls. The factor structure, reliability, and validity were examined among 663 girls. It was found that all three constructs were significantly correlated with each other; and at higher SES, sense of belonging and grit were more closely correlated. Future implications and limitations are discussed.

Author

• Ananya Tiwari, Texas A&M University