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Self-Concept, Self-Esteem, Gender, Race, and Information Technology Use

Linda A. Jackson, Ph.D., 1

Yong Zhao, Ph.D., 2

Edward A. Witt, M.A., 1

Hiram E. Fitzgerald, Ph.D., 1

Alexander von Eye, Ph.D., 1

and Rena Harold, Ph.D. 3

Abstract

This research addressed two fundamental questions regarding self-concept, self-esteem, gender, race, and information technology use. First, is technology use related to dimensions of self-concept and=or to self-esteem? Second, are there gender and=or race differences in self-concept, self-esteem, and technology use? Five hundred youth, average age 12 years old, one third African American and two thirds Caucasian American, completed multidimensional measures of self-concept, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem scale, and measures of frequency of Internet use, Internet use for communication (e-mail and instant messaging), video game playing, and cell phone use. Findings indicated that technology use predicted dimensions of self-concept and self-esteem, with video game playing having a negative influence and Internet use having a positive influence on self-concept dimen- sions. Gender differences were observed on several self-concept dimensions, but contrary to expectations, girls did not score higher than boys in social self-concept. Only one race difference was observed: African Americans had lower behavioral self-concept than did Caucasian Americans. Implications of the benefits and liabilities of youth’s current and projected technology use are discussed.

Introduction

The purpose of this research was to examine relation-ships among self-concept, self-esteem, and information technology (IT) use and to explore possible gender and race differences in these relationships. Harter’s Self-Perceived Competence scale1 and additional measures of self-concept developed in previous research were used to capture the multidimensional nature of self-concept.2,3 Rosenberg’s self- esteem scale, a widely accepted and well-validated measure of one’s overall sense of self-worth, was used to measure self- esteem.4 Multiple measures of IT use typical of preteen chil- dren were used to examine relationships between IT use and dimensions of self-concept and self-esteem.

According to Harter,1 youth’s self-concept can be cap- tured by three dimensions: cognitive, social, and physical appearance=body. Cognitive self-concept is based primarily on school or academic performance. Social self-concept is based on popularity with peers and friendship networks. Physical appearance=body self-concept is based on self- perceived athletic skills and participation in sports. Harter also posited a fourth dimension that summarizes general feelings of self-worth, typically called self-esteem. The cog- nitive, social, and physical appearance dimensions are con- sidered distinct from the self-worth or self-esteem dimension,

although evaluations on former dimensions contribute to overall self-esteem.5

IT use, self-concept, and self-esteem

IT use is defined in this research as the frequency of Internet use, Internet use for communication, video game playing, and cell phone use. A diverse set of research findings suggests that there may be relationships between IT use and self-concept and self-esteem. With respect to cognitive self- concept, research indicates that the presence of computers in the home is a strong predictor of academic success in math- ematics and science as well as overall academic success.6

However, a variety of factors related to both having com- puters at home and academic success, such as parental in- come, may account for this relationship. A review of research on school learning with computer-based technology, which included five meta-analytic reviews, concluded that, overall, the findings are inconclusive.7

A recent longitudinal study of low-income youth and home Internet use suggests a positive causal relationship be- tween Internet use and academic performance.8 Children who used the Internet more over a 16-month period scored higher on standardized tests of reading skills and grade point averages than did children who used it less. A large-scale

1Department of Psychology; 2Department of Educational Technology; 3Department of Social Work, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan.

CYBERPSYCHOLOGY & BEHAVIOR Volume 12, Number 4, 2009 ª Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. DOI: 10.1089=cpb.2008.0286

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evaluation project in the United Kingdom, however, found no relationship between computer and Internet availability and performance on standardized tests.9

Research on the effects of video game playing suggests con- flicting relationships with cognitive self-concept. Some evidence shows that video game playing improves visual-spatial skills, which are considered important to performance in mathematics, science, and technology.10 In several studies with adult partici- pants, video game playing was positively and causally related to better visual-spatial skills.11 A substantial body of corre- lational research, however, indicates that children who play video games more have lower grade point averages and more problematic school behavior than children who play less.12

With respect to social self-concept and IT use, research has again produced conflicting results. On the one hand is evi- dence that Internet use strengthens connections with family and friends.13 On the other hand is evidence that the social benefits of Internet use depend on characteristics of the user and the nature of Internet use. Adolescents who already have strong social connections in the real world benefit from In- ternet use, whereas those who have weak social connections may become isolated further in the online world, especially if they use chat and social networking Web sites.

Similarly, video game playing may have positive or neg- ative effects on social self-concept. Positive effects occur when video game playing involves groups already connected by real-life social ties. However, playing violent video games has been linked to aggressive cognition and behavior, which are likely to undermine social self-concept.14

Findings regarding the relationship between psychological self-concept or self-esteem and IT use are also inconclusive. Some evidence suggests that online communication encour- ages self-disclosure, contributing to friendship networks, self- esteem, and well-being.15 Other evidence suggests that youth at risk for depression and youth who overuse specific Internet tools, such as chat rooms, may be psychologically harmed by Internet use.eg,16 There are also concerns about psychological harm due to exposure to pornography, cyberbullying, hate speech, and sexual predators online.8

IT use may be related to physical appearance self-concept in youth. Time online and time spent playing video games is time taken away from physical activity, which is strongly associated with body weight. Indeed, there is widespread concern that increased screen time, whether it be watching TV, playing video games, or surfing the Internet, is respon- sible, at least in part, for the alarming increase in overweight and obesity among America’s youth.17

Although the cell phone is one of the most widely used technologies in the world,18 research is just beginning to ex- amine its effects on psychological well-being and other out- comes. Voice calls are currently the primary use of cell phones, accounting for about 80% of cell phone revenue, but text messaging is becoming increasingly popular, especially among adolescents and young adults. One study found that cell phone cyberbullying is on the rise and may result in psychological harm to its victims.17

Gender, race, and IT use

The gender gap in the United States, once substantial, has all but disappeared.13 However, gender differences persist in the intensity and nature of Internet use.8 Males use the

Internet more intensely than do females, going online more often and for longer periods of time. Males are more likely to use the Internet for commercial transactions, whereas females are more likely to use it to connect with others.

The existence of a racial digital divide is a much debated and largely unresolved issue. While racial disparities in ac- cess to the Internet are decreasing, disparities in the intensity and nature of Internet use abide.eg,13,19 Home Internet access in the United States is still lower among African American than Caucasian American adolescents, a difference that can- not be attributed to income. Even within income levels, there are race differences in home Internet access favoring Cauca- sian Americans.8,20 Moreover, a new digital divide is devel- oping between those who have broadband access and those who have dial-up access. Again, this divide cannot be ex- plained entirely by income. The broadband divide may have implications as far reaching as the original access divide be- cause broadband changes dramatically the users’ relationship with the Internet.19,21 Broadband users spend more time and engage in more diverse activities than do dial-up users.13

Livingstone21 suggested that yet another type of digital di- vide is developing between youth who use the Internet in rich, diverse, engaging ways and those who use it as a narrow, unengaging, if occasionally useful resource. This divide is structured along ethnic, gender, socioeconomic, age, and ur- ban-rural lines.19 Like the broadband divide just discussed, this new divide has implications as far reaching as the original access divide. Because Internet skills are soft skills associated with material wealth, income disparity, and the cultural capital of the household, the rate of information and online literacy skills and uses will continue to accumulate differentially. Thus, a digital divide that goes beyond having physical access to the Internet may actually increase over time.

Gender, race, self-concept, and self-esteem

Research on gender and self-concept has produced mixed results.2,5 Harter1 found that preadolescent boys had higher physical appearance self-concept than did girls but found no gender differences in social, cognitive, and overall self-concept. Other researchers have found significant differences favoring girls in school and total self-concept but no gender differences in general ability or confidence.22 Most studies find no gender difference in overall self-concept or self-esteem.eg,3

A study focused on African American youth found that boys viewed themselves more favorably in athletic=physical ability, physical appearance, friendship, and romantic appeal than did girls.23 Another study found that gender identity mediated the relationship between gender and self-concept.24

Studies comparing African American and Caucasian American youth on global measures of self-esteem generally find no differences.25 However, when specific dimensions of self-concept are considered, Caucasian American youth score higher than do African American youth on social and aca- demic self-concept,26 whereas African American youth score higher on physical appearance self-concept.23,25

Methods

Participants and procedures

A total of 500 youth (mean age 12) participated in this research. Just over half were girls (53%). About two thirds

438 JACKSON ET AL.

were Caucasian Americans (67%) and one third was African Americans (33%). Participants were recruited from 20 middle schools in Michigan and from an afterschool center in Detroit, Michigan.

Parent=Guardian surveys and Youth surveys were distrib- uted and returned by mail. Participants were compensated $25 for completing both a Parent and Youth survey and were also entered into a lottery for a grand prize drawing of $500.

Materials

Youth completed three sets of measures relevant to this research: Harter’s Self-Perceived Competence scale (35 items), Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem scale (10 items), and multiple mea- sures of IT use developed in previous research.8 Youth re- sponded to Harter’s self-descriptive statements using a 1 to 3 scale: 1, not=never true of me; 2, somewhat=sometimes true of me; and 3, very=often true of me. Eight additional measures were included to assess social self-concept.8

IT use was measured by responses to five questions. Par- ticipants were asked how often they used the Internet, played video games, and used a cell phone (1, I do not use (play) at all; 2, about once a month; 3, a few times a month; 4, a few times a week; 5, every day, for less than 1 hour; 6, every day, for 1 to 3 hours; 7, every day, for more than 3 hours).

Internet use for communication was assessed by two questions: ‘‘How often do you use e-mail?’’ and ‘‘How often do you instant message friends?’’ (1, never; 2, sometimes,; 3, often; 4, very often). The two measures highly correlated (r¼0.51) and averaged to form one measure of Internet use for communication.

Factor analysis (maximum likelihood; varimax rotation) was performed on the 35 items of Harter’s scale and the eight additional items used to measure self-concept.8 Five dimen- sions of self-concept were identified: (a) academic=school (9 items, a¼0.87; e.g., ‘‘Overall, I like school’’); (b) social (9 items, a¼0.76; e.g., ‘‘I find it hard to make friends’’ [reverse scored]); (c) physical appearance (4 items, a¼0.74; e.g., ‘‘I am happy with my height and weight’’); (d) athletic (6 items, a¼0.75; e.g., ‘‘I do very well at all kinds of sports’’); (e) be- havioral (6 items, a¼0.74; e.g., I usually act the way I’m supposed to.). Composite measures (arithmetic averages) were computed for each of the five self-concept measures and for the 10 items of the Rosenberg scale (a¼0.85).

Net annual household income was obtained from parents who responded to the question ‘‘What is the total net annual income of your household? (1, Under $20,000; 2, $20,000 to $49,999; 3, $50,000 to $79,999; 4, $80,000 to $99,999; 5, $100,000 to $149,999; 6, $150,000 to $200,000; 7, over $200,000).

Results

Hierarchical linear regression analyses were used to pre- dict each of the five self-concept dimensions and the self- esteem dimension from the four measures of IT use. Gender, race, and income were entered in step 1 to examine the in- dependent contributions of the four IT use measures.

Gender and income predicted academic self-concept. Girls had higher academic self-concept than did boys (b¼0.22), and children from households with higher incomes had higher academic self-concept than did children from households with lower incomes (bs¼0.14). Video game playing negatively predicted academic self-concept (b¼�0.10). Income and cell

phone use predicted social self-concept (bs¼0.11 and 0.12). Children from households with higher incomes and children who used cell phones more had higher social self-concept.

Gender and income predicted physical appearance self- concept (bs¼�0.14 and 0.09), athletic self-concept (bs¼�0.15 and 0.18), and behavioral self-concept (bs¼0.11 and 0.26). Girls had lower physical appearance and athletic self-concept but higher behavior self-concept than did boys. Children from households with higher incomes had higher physical appear- ance (b¼0.09), athletic (b¼0.18) and behavioral self-concept (b¼0.26) than did children from households with lower incomes.

Income and video game playing predicted overall self- esteem (bs¼0.15 and �0.10). Children from households with higher incomes had higher self-esteem, and children who played video games more had lower self-esteem.

Multivariate analyses of variance were used to examine gender and race differences in IT use. The multivariate main effects of gender, F(4, 486)¼48.54, p < 0.001; race, F(4, 486)¼ 4.67, p < 0.001; and their interactions were significant, F(4, 486)¼3.04, p < 0.05. Univariate tests indicated that girls used the Internet more frequently than did boys and used it more for communication than did boys. However, a gender-by-race interaction indicated that African American girls used the In- ternet more than did African American boys, whereas there was no gender difference for Caucasian American children.

Univariate main effects of gender and race on cell phone use were also qualified by their interaction. African American girls used cell phones more than did Caucasian American girls, but there was no difference in cell phone use between African American and Caucasian American boys. African American girls used cell phones the most, and Caucasian American boys used cell phones the least. A main effect of gender indicated that boys played video games far more than did girls, re- gardless of race.

Discussion

IT use was related to dimensions of self-concept and self-esteem. Race and gender differences were found in self- concept and technology use, but not in overall self-esteem. Household income and gender were the strongest predictors of dimensions of self-concept. Children from households with higher incomes had higher academic, social, physical, ath- letic, and behavioral self-concept and higher overall self- esteem than did children from less affluent households. How family income influences children’s self-concept and self- esteem is doubtless a complex process likely to involve pa- rental education and parenting style, among other factors.

Girls had higher academic and behavioral self-concept, whereas boys had higher physical appearance and ath- letic self-concept. There was no gender difference in overall self-esteem. These findings are consistent with previous re- searcheg,2 and extend it to include the dimension of behav- ioral self-concept. However, contrary to some previous research, girls did not have higher social self-concept than did boys. This null effect may be attributable to sample characteristics such as age (12 year olds) or to how social self- concept was measured. Similarly, our evidence that girls have higher academic self-concept than boys is consistent with some studies27 but inconsistent with others,22 suggesting that how academic performance is measured may influence the strength and direction of gender differences.27

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Contributing to previous research, we observed only one race difference in self-concept. African Americans had lower behavioral self-concept than did Caucasian Americans. Fu- ture research is needed to establish the reliability of this di- mension and why there are race differences. Interventions may be needed to change both the actual behavior of African American children and=or self-perceptions of behavior.

The most robust finding in our research was the unsur- prising gender difference in video game playing.8 Boys, re- gardless of race, played video games far more than did girls. Video game playing was associated with a lower behavioral self-concept and lower self-esteem. Other consequences of video game playing, such as improved visual-spatial skills, suggest that more research is needed to address how and why video game playing has its effects and why gender dif- ferences in playing are so persistent. Research on how video games, the Internet, and other technologies can be harnessed to contribute positively to youth’s development will be wel- come news to parents and educators who are well aware that their children are the ‘‘Net Generation.’’

Disclosure Statement

No competing financial interests exist.

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Address correspondence to: Dr. Linda A. Jackson

308 Psychology Building Michigan State University

East Lansing, MI 48824

E-mail: [email protected]

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