Abstract

• The main purpose of this study is to investigate self-esteem and social relations of Grade 9 students. The study conducted a survey research design and employed with a quantitative method. The participants in this study were 1017 Grade 9 students including 432 males and 585 females from selected schools in Monywa Township, Sagaing Region. The required sample was selected by using random sampling technique. As research instruments, Self-Liking /Self-Competence Scale-Revised Version (Tafarodi & Swamm, 1995) and A Semi Structure Questionnaire (Abraham, 2010) were developed to measure students’ self-esteem and social relations. And, data analysis, descriptive statistics, independent sample t test, one way ANOVA and correlation technique were used in this study. Independent sample t test showed the difference in self-esteem and social relations by gender. And then, no significant difference was found in self-esteem by specialized combination. Furthermore, significant difference was found in social relations by specialized combination. Moreover, there was significant difference in self-esteem by schools but no significant difference in social relations. Pearson Product Moment Correlation revealed that self-esteem of students was significantly correlated with their social relations (r=.391, p<0.01). The findings indicated that there was significant relationship of self-competence and self-liking with social relations. Therefore, the higher the students’ self-esteem, the better the social relations they possessed. And, the findings of current study illustrates the salient points concerning with self-esteem and social relations of adolescents for teachers, parents and headmasters in educational setting. This study gives them information about the concepts of self-esteem which can lead towards helping to improve the social relations of students.