Self-Esteem and Academic Performance in Personal Development Among

Grade 12 students of Sto. Tomas National High School

In partial fulfillment of the requirement of Practical Research 2

A Quantitative Study

Cervantes, Sheena L.

Donaire, Ayyesha

Enero, Lislie Anne V.

Laureno, Erica Lee

Mondia, Cristy C.

Naluan, Ednel

Nazareth, Erich A.

Rubion, Aira L.

Taghoy, Bryan Geoffrey

Introduction

Rationale

Self-esteem is a major motivator for obtaining achievement, particularly in

academic or professional undertakings (Cherry, 2022). A person who has high self-

esteem benefits in many ways like increase confidence, making better decisions,

and having a positive self-image. However, there are students who lack self-esteem,

which results in lessening the student’s desire to learn, ability to focus, and

willingness to take risks (Shore, 2016).

In Indonesia, the students at SMA 3 Negeri Pekanbaru have a high

prevalence of low self-esteem. Many students struggle to articulate their views and

lack self-confidence, which causes dread and reluctance when asked to speak in

front of the class owing to worries about their pronouncing their words correctly.

Notably, the study by Rischi (2021) shows a link between good academic

accomplishment and strong self-esteem, indicating that kids with higher self-esteem

typically perform well in school.

The academic performance of Grade 12 ABM students at Bestlink College of

the Philippines in the school year 2018-2019 is impacted by low self-esteem in three

areas: (1) performance tasks, where students feel anxious and uncomfortable

presenting in front of others; (2) group activities, where they feel uncomfortable in

their group and uncomfortable during group discussions; and (3) written tasks, where

they consistently receive high grades and would rather review their notes alone than

with friends or classmates (Gavarra, et al., 2019).

has low self-esteem that serves as a barrier for students to participate and be

productive in school, in turn affecting their academic involvement and learners’

assessments, and, more specifically, it will result in poor academic achievements

(Sobejana, 2015).

This study differs from others in that it focuses on the self-esteem and

academic performance of the Grade 12 students at Sto. Tomas National High

School. There have been few studies about the self-esteem and academic

performance of the students at STNHS, yet there is no research on the impact of

self-esteem on the academic performance of the Grade 12 Senior High School

students at STNHS. This study will look at how Grade 12 Senior High School

students’ self-esteem affects their academic performance.

Statement of the Problem

1. What is the level of self-esteem among Grade 12 students in Sto.Tomas

National High School?

2. What is the level of academic performance among Grade 12 students in Sto.

Tomas National High School?

3. Is there a significant relationship between self-esteem and academic

performance of Grade 12 students in Sto. Tomas National High School?

Hypothesis

Ho: There is no significant relationship between self-esteem and academic

performance of Grade 12 students in Sto. Tomas National High School.

Independent Variable Dependent Variable

Academic
Self-esteem
Performance

Figure 1. Paradigm of Self-Esteem and Academic Performance Among Grade 12

Students

Theoretical Framework

One of the basis of this study is Self-esteem Theory of William James (1890).

This theory explores how an individual's self-esteem can impact their academic

performance and achievements in school. Self-esteem, in this context, refers to a

person's overall subjective evaluation of their own worth and value. According to

James, self-esteem tends to increase when individuals experience success and

decrease when their expectations are not met. This theory implies that self-esteem

plays a crucial role in shaping a person's performance in both academic and life-

related goals. A study conducted by Akinleke in 2012 also indicates a correlation

between academic performance and self-esteem. It suggests that students with

lower levels of anxiety tend to have higher GPAs compared to those with higher

anxiety levels. These findings support the idea that positive self-esteem can be

linked to better academic performance and suggesting that nurturing positive self-

esteem may be beneficial for students' educational outcomes.

foundation for this study. Maslow's theory posits that individuals have a set of needs

arranged in a hierarchical manner, with basic physiological needs like food and

shelter at the bottom, and higher-level psychological needs like self-esteem and self-

realization at the top. According to Maslow, people must satisfy their lower-level

needs before they are motivated to pursue higher-level ones. His theory suggests

that students' academic performance and learning outcomes can be influenced by

whether their basic needs, including self-esteem, are met. When students feel a

sense of self-worth and recognition for their achievements, they are more likely to be

motivated and perform well academically. Therefore, the study aims to explore how

these psychological needs, particularly self-esteem, play a crucial role in the

educational process and influence students' learning outcomes.

Significance of the Study

This part of the study presents its significance to the various groups and

individuals who can benefit from the results of the study. These are the following:

The School Administrators. The result of this study will help them to be

better able to support and encourage students in all of their accomplishments.

The Teachers. The results of the study will help them understand more about

the abilities of the students. They might also incorporate exercises that will improve

students' self-esteem into the curriculum.

The Parents. The study's findings will assist parents in raising their children

intentionally and in giving them spiritual support so they can gain confidence.
 The Students. The results of this study will direct them as they learn to

become more self-aware.

The Future Researchers. It will be able to utilize this document as a resource

if further investigation into this topic is conducted in the future.

Scope and Delimitation

This study aims to determine the Self-Esteem and Academic Performance in

Personal Development among Grade 12 students of Sto. Tomas National High

School. All grade 12 students are included in this study since, they have the subject

of Personal Development. This study takes place in Sto. Tomas National High

School and will take the school year 2023-2024.

Definition of Terms

Self-Esteem. According to Hewitt (2009), this refers to a person’s overall

subjective emotional evaluation of his or her worth. It is a judgment of oneself as well

as an attitude toward the self.

Academic Performance. This refers to the Grade 12 students’ grades in

Personal Development subject in the First Quarter of S.Y 2023-2024.

Review of Related Literature

Self-Esteem

Self-esteem is a key academic term in the educational process, according to

Ahmad et al. (2013). A person who has high self-esteem benefits in many ways. For
example, students who are confident in themselves typically outperform their peers

academically (Olea et al. 2012).

Self-esteem is defined as an individual’s beliefs about their worth and value. It

also encompasses the feelings that people experience regarding their sense of

unworthiness or worthiness. Furthermore, self-esteem is important considering that it

plays an influential role in people’s decisions and choices. It serves as a motivator

regarding one’s decision to explore their full potential (Arshad, Zaidi, & Mahmood,

2015).

Relationships with people close to a person, such as siblings, parents,

teachers, peers, and other relevant contacts play a significant role in a person’s self-

esteem. Many beliefs that one has regarding themselves are based on others’

opinions. If an individual has strong relationships and they receive generally positive

feedback, they are highly likely to consider themselves worthwhile, which translates

to high self-esteem. People that receive negative feedback and face criticism on

numerous occasions are likely to struggle with low self-esteem (Hagen et al., 2020).

Throughout life, self-esteem changes in a variety of ways: it is high in

childhood, considerably drops in adolescence, rises in maturity, stabilizes somewhat

in middle age, and then drops again in old age (Harris et al. 2016). This suggests

that people are driven to work on enhancing their impressions of themselves

because self-esteem serves as a barrier of defense against the constant threat of

concern.

Academic Performance

Academic performance is among the several components of academic

success. Self-reported grades from the most recent internal exams were used to
evaluate academic performance. Although there is still some ambiguity surrounding

the term, definitions have gradually come to identify a number of components of

"academic success." When used interchangeably with the term "student success," it

refers to a variety of outcomes including performance, satisfaction, perseverance,

learning objectives met, desired skills and competencies acquired (York et al., 2015).

The next predictor in this research is the academic performance. Academic

performance relates to knowledge that has been obtained and assigned by the

teacher's marks. In the context of education, the educational objective that must be

met by a pupil, instructor, or institution is academic performance during a

predetermined time period, and is evaluated by exams or ongoing evaluations, and

varies depending on the person or organization (Narad & Abdullah, 2016).

Higher education ensure the students professional training and to their ability

to be independent. When students possess independence, they can utilize their

academic performance to the fullest extent possible for their personal development

(Kuzmin et al., 2016).

The success, ability, and capability of a student can be determined in large

part by their academic performance. Students are evaluated on their capacity to

advance society. This has the notion that pupils that performs better than average in

comparison to the norms established by society is not only seen as clever but also

likely to meaningfully contribute to the survival, growth, and expansion of such a

society, particularly in the future. Due to this, every society pays close attention to its

students' academic success (Olaitan, 2017).

Relationship between Self-Esteem and Academic Performance

education, given its impacts on students' behavior and academic performance.

These self-related psychological perceptions include self –concept, self –esteem,

and self –efficacy (Essel & Owusu, 2017).

Self-esteem can serve as a motivator for academic engagement (Lim and

Lee, 2017). According to a 2013 study by Ahmad et al., the academic concept of

self-esteem is crucial to learning. This illustrates that when students have high levels

of positive self-esteem, their academic performance is excellent. Academically

successful adolescents have higher self-esteem and positive self-esteem are critical

factors in commitment to academic success (Regier, 2015).

By definition, self-esteem is a construct that does not necessarily reflect a

person's qualities or how they are perceived by others (Orth, Erol, & Luciano, 2018).

Nevertheless, self-esteem is often associated with self-confidence because it

predicts certain outcomes, such as academic achievement.

Additionally, Moneva and Tribunalo's research (2020) found a strong link

between students' positive attitudes towards school activities and better levels of

self-esteem, which in turn helps students complete tasks more effectively. On the

other hand, pupils with low self-esteem could struggle to finish assignments

successfully. Students' confidence levels and interactions with their environment

have an impact on how they behave. This suggests that there is a strong association

between students' academic success and self-esteem. As a result, it is recognized

as one of the key determinants in the students' learning outcomes.

Methodology

Research Design

This study will utilize correlational quantitative study. Quantitative research is

the process of collection and analyzing numerical data. It can be used to find

patterns and averages, make predictions, test casual relationships, and generalize

results to wider populations. On the other hand, a correlational study seeks to

ascertain relationships between two or more variables. In addition, it is useful when

researchers are attempting to establish if a relationship exists between two variables

(Bhandari 2020; Tan 2014; O’Brien and Scott 2012). In this research, we wanted to

determine the relationship between self-esteem and academic performance among

Grade 12 students in Sto. Tomas National High School.

Research Locale

This study will be conducted at the Sto. Tomas National High School located

at Menzi, Sto. Tomas Davao Del Norte, Philippines.

Research Respondents

In SY 2022-2023, Sto. Tomas National High School has 927 enrolled students

under the Grade 12 Department. By using the Raosoft online calculator, a total of

272 sample respondents were needed in the study.

Table 1 shows the distribution of respondents.

ABM 1 59 15

ABM 2 59 15

HUMSS 1 53 13

HUMSS 2 49 12

HUMSS 3 54 14

HUMSS 4 55 14

HUMSS 5 55 14

HUMSS 6 54 14

HUMSS 7 58 15

STEM 1 51 13

STEM 2 50 13

AUTO 58 15

CSS 1 53 13

CSS 2 56 14

EIM 49 12

HE 1 51 13

HE 2 58 15

SMAW 1 53 13

SMAW 2 56 14

SMAW 3 48 12
Research Instruments

In order to gather data needed for the study, the researchers used survey

research questionnaire as their instrument. According to McLeod (2018), a

questionnaire is a research instrument consisting of a series of questions for the

purpose of gathering information from respondents. This study will utilize a

standardized questionnaire from the Self-Esteem Scale of Rosenberg and the

Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory. All items are answered by using a 5-point scale

format ranging from Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree.

Level (of mean) Descriptive Equivalent Interpretation

4.20 to 5.00 Very High Always Manifested

3.40 to 4.19 High Oftentimes Manifested

2.60 to 3.39 Moderate Sometimes Manifested

1.80 to 2.59 Low Rarely Manifested

1 to 1.79 Very Low Never Manifested

Size of Correlation Interpretation

Very High Positive (Negative) Correlation

±0.70 - ± 0.89 High Positive (Negative) Correlation

±0.50 - ±0.69 Moderate Positive (Negative) Correlation

Low Positive (Negative) Correlation

Negligible Correlation
±0.00 - ±0.29
Data Gathering Procedure

The following methods will be used by the researchers to collect data required

for this study. To begin with, they will ask the school administration for permission to

conduct the research involving Grade 12 students. We will communicate with the

Grade 12 teachers or advisers and ask for their cooperation in carrying out the study

in their classes once we have the principal's approval. The Grade 12 students will

then be approached and asked whether they would be willing to participate in the

study.

To ensure that the students fully understand and voluntarily consent to

participate, we will clearly explain the study's objectives to them before distributing

the questionnaires. We will then give the questionnaires and gather the data in an

ethical and systematic way after receiving consent. Afterward, we will next

thoroughly examine the gathered data using appropriate techniques.

Data Analysis

This study will utilize the following statistical tools:

Mean. This will be used to determine the level of Self-esteem and Academic

Performance of Grade 12 students in Sto. Tomas National High School.

Pearson Product-Moment Correlation. This will be used to determine if there is a

significant relationship between Self-esteem and Academic Performance of Grade

12 students in Sto. Tomas National High School.