STUDENTS’ AGGRESSION AND SELF-ESTEEM AS CORRELATES OF SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENT’S ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN MATHEMATICS IN ANAMBRA STATE
Authors: Anyanwu, Adeline Nne, Ezenwosu, Elizabeth Ngozi & Emesi, Kingsley Ekene
Abstract:
The impact of aggression and self-esteem on academic achievement has long been an important issue in developmental research. The study aimed to explore the students’ aggression and self-esteem as correlates of academic achievement in Mathematics in Anambra State. Five research questions and five null hypotheses guided the study. The study adopted a correlation approach to provide answers to the research questions and testing of the hypothesis. The population of the study comprised 21204 from which a sample of 630 was drawn. A multi-stage procedure was used to select the sample. Two standardized research instruments namely; the Aggression Questionnaire (AQ), and Self-esteem Questionnaire (SQ), as well as scores from students’ promotional examinations, were used for data collection. Cronbach’s alpha was used to determine the reliability of the items in the instruments. A reliability index of 0.71 for physical aggression, 0.64, for verbal aggression, 0.73, for anger aggression, 0.81, for hostility aggression, 0.83, for high self-esteem, and 0.76, for low self-esteem respectively. The overall reliability coefficient was 0.7 which shows that the instrument was reliable and good for the study. The Pearson Product Moment Correlation was used to answer research questions 1 to 4 and test hypotheses 1 to 4 while research question 5 and hypothesis 5 were answered and tested with multiple correlations. Findings showed that students’ verbal aggression and anger aggression recorded a low positive relationship with academic achievement in mathematics except for physical aggression which recorded and hostility aggression that recorded a low negative relationship with academic achievement. the findings on the multiple correlations reveal that a low positive and significant relationship existed between students’ aggression, self-esteem, and academic achievement. Based on these findings, it was recommended that this variable should be examined by using another group of students from higher institutions of learning to see whether the results will be similar or different.