THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ADOLESCENT PERCEIVED SELF‐COMPETENCE AND ATTENDANCE AT SINGLE‐SEX SECONDARY SCHOOL

Abstract

The study examined young people's self-esteem measured using a multidimensional measure of self-esteem, Harter's Perceived Competence Scale, as well as a measure of locus of control, in relation to the type of school they attended--single-sex or co-educational. A sample of students (N = 2295) from both academic and less academic schools was employed. The results indicated that among children (N = 577) attending the more academic grammar schools only, those who attended single-sex schools had higher levels of academic self-esteem and were more inner oriented in terms of locus of control. There were no differential sex effects, however. Additional analyses suggested that this effect was not likely to be due to selection in terms of socio-economic status.