Some aspects of self-concept among adolescents from families with or without father

Abstract

Adolescents of both sexes from fatherless families and from complete families were investigated in order to establish whether they are mutually different in certain dimensions of self-concept, and what is the relation between certain dimensions of self-concept, sex and the period of the father’s absence. Scales which measure the following dimensions of self-concept, unsed during the investigation are following: fear of negative evaluation, persistency, self-efficacy, lack of competence, loneliness, social desirability, self-estimation, social isolation, friendshih, the need of people and the lack of confidence. Comparison of the factors obtained by factor analysis revelated no difference between the two groups adolescents. In both groups three components of self-concept, which aire congruent, have been extracted. The results show that adolescents from fatherless families compared to their age groups from complete families have a significantly higher feeling of self-efficacy, they have less tear of negative evaluation, they are less lonely and their feeling of lack of competence is smaller. No significan connection was established between sex, the period of time of father’s absence and the dimensions of self-concept. The results were interpreted in accordance with the Weiss’s Theory about »growing up a little faster« in fatherless families.