Influence of Maternal Acceptance on Self-Esteem as Expressed by Secondary School Students in Kwara State

ABSTRACT

        The early intimacy between the mother and the child makes the mother the most significant person in the life of the child. Thus maternal acceptance plays an inestimable role in the process of child’s personality development. This study therefore investigated the influence of maternal acceptance on self-esteem as expressed by secondary school students in Kwara State. Simple sampling technique was adopted for the selection of 450 respondents that participated in the study. The instrument used for the study was a questionnaire tagged “Influence of Maternal Acceptance on Self-Esteem Questionnaire” (IMASAEQ). The instrument consisted of 25 items which elicited information from the randomly selected respondents. Four null hypotheses were formulated and tested and the data collected were analysed using frequency counts, simple percentages, student t-test and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The null hypotheses generated were tested at 0.05 alpha level of significance. The results of the tested hypotheses revealed that they were all accepted; thus age, religion, gender and class level did not influence the expression of the respondents. The results revealed that maternal acceptance influences students’ self-esteem because it makes them feel happy and confident.

        Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended that school counsellors should organize talks with mothers on the importance of maternal acceptance to school-going adolescents. It was also recommended that various agencies should organize seminars on the need for adequate maternal acceptance. Thus, Government agencies and the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) should put in place community counselling programme to help sensitise parents on their roles to the children.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGES

Title Page                                                                                i

Certification                                                                             ii

Dedication                                                                               iii

Acknowledgements                                                                   iv

Abstract                                                                                  vi

Table of Contents                                                                     viii

List of Tables                                                                           xii

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background to the Study                                                 1

Statement of the Problem                                               11

Research Questions                                                       15

Research Hypotheses                                                     16

Purpose of the Study                                                      17

Significance of the Study                                                17

Operational Definition of Terms                                        20

Scope of the Study                                                        21

CHAPTER TWO

REVIEW OF THE RELATED LITERATURE

Introduction                                                                  22

Concept of Self-Esteem                                                  23

Impacts of Mother in the development of self-esteem of

the child                                                                       32

Effects of parents’ absence on the development of

self-Esteem                                                                  40

Parents’ Leadership Styles                                              43

Parental Attitudes towards the child                                  48

Summary of the Review of Related Literature                     59

CHAPTER THREE

METHODOLOGY

Introduction                                                                  60

Research Design                                                            60

Sample and Sampling Procedure                                      61

Instrumentation                                                            63

Psychometric Property of the Instrument                           65

Pilot Testing                                                                  67

Procedure for Data Administration and Collection                67

Scoring Procedure                                                          68

Method of Data Analysis                                                 69

CHAPTER FOUR

RESULTS

Introduction                                                                  70

Demographic Data                                                         70

Hypotheses Testing                                                        77

Summary of Findings                                                     81

CHAPTER FIVE

DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Introduction                                                                  82

Discussion                                                                    83

Conclusion                                                                    92

Counselling Implications                                                 93

Recommendations                                                         95

Suggestions for Further Studies                                       97

References                                                                   99

Appendix                                                                     104