Self-esteem among different social group undergraduate students.

Self-esteem is a vital psychological construct that influences students’ academic performance, emotional adjustment, and social relationships. The undergraduate stage is a critical period marked by significant academic, social, and emotional challenges that can shape students’ self-perception and sense of self-worth. In the Indian context, social stratification based on categories such as General, OBC, and SC continues to affect students’ educational experiences and psychological development. The present study aims to examine the level of self-esteem among undergraduate students and to investigate differences based on gender and social category. The study adopted a descriptive research design with purposive sampling. A total sample of 300 undergraduate students (150 boys and 150 girls) belonging to General, OBC, and SC categories was selected from J.J. College, Gaya, Bihar. Self-esteem was measured using the Self-Esteem Inventory developed by Tiwari and Kumar (2017). The collected data were analysed using mean, standard deviation, and t-test. The results revealed significant gender differences in self-esteem, with girls scoring higher than boys overall. Category-wise analysis indicated that girls in General and OBC categories exhibited higher self-esteem than boys, whereas in the SC category, boys scored significantly higher than girls. Furthermore, significant differences were observed among social categories, with OBC students showing the highest level of self-esteem, followed by General category students, and SC students exhibiting comparatively lower self-esteem. The findings clearly indicate that social category and gender significantly influence self-esteem among undergraduate students.