IMPACT OF SELF CONCEPT ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE & HANDLING OF PEER PRESSURE BY ADOLESCENTS

Self-concept is all the information and beliefs individuals have about their own characteristics and themselves. Self-Concept refers to domain-specific evaluations of the self. Children can make self-evaluations in many domains of their life. These include academics, athletics, physical appearance, social interactions, moral, temperamental, intellectual and so on. Rogers 1951, defines self-concept ‘as our beliefs and knowledge about ourselves’. As children develop an appreciation of their inner mental world, they think more intently about themselves. During early childhood the me-self-knowledge and evaluation about one’s characteristics expands. Children begin to construct a self-concept, the set of attributes abilities, attitudes and values that an individual believes defines who he or she is. A Correlational Study and a Descriptive and Diagnostic study were undertaken to analyse, describe and measure the variables of self-concept, academic performance and ability to succumb to positive and negative peer pressure. The Correlational Study was used to study the relationship between Self-Concept and Academic Performance and relationship between Self-Concept and Positive and Negative Peer Pressure and to determine to what extent different variables are related to each other. Dr. R.K. Saraswat’s Self-Concept Questionnaire and a Self-constructed Questionnaire comprising 15 questions was used to collect primary data on Academic Performance and Peer Pressure. Karl Pearson’s correlation coefficient was used to analyse the data. Random sampling and Snow ball sampling methods were used to conduct the study. Based on a random sample size of 50 adolescents of 13-18 years, the correlational study undertaken shows that a high self-concept of an individual has a positive correlation with academic performance of an adolescent and also has a positive and moderate correlation with positive peer pressure. This indicates that a high self-concept reinforces a higher academic performance which further enhances a higher self- concept. Further, such individuals get influenced by positive peer pressure and the peer group is a support system which encourages constructive behavior and helps them to perform better. In this study the academic performance was assessed through questions related to Academic scores, the activities that the students enjoy at school-academic pursuits, extracurricular or the time spent with peers and friends. Thus, the results of the study indicate that individuals with a higher self-concept have higher academic performance and they are influenced by positive peer pressure whereas those with a lower self-concept tend to have lower academic performance and are susceptible to succumb to negative peer pressure