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J. Life Earth Sci., Vol. 9: 97-105, 2014 ISSN 1990-4827
http://banglajol.info.index.php/JLES © 2014, JLES, RU
SELF-ACCEPTANCE AND ANXIETY OF ADOLESCENTS: ITS LINKAGE TO THEIR
ETHNICITY AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS
* Md. Nurul Islam1, Mohd. Ashik Shahrier2, Md. Nurul Absar3
1. Department of Psychology, University of Chittagong
2. Department of Psychology, University of Rajshahi
3. MS in Psychology, University of Chittagong
*Corresponding author: email: mnipsy@cu.ac.bd
Abstract: The present study aimed at investigating the relationships between self-acceptance
and anxiety of 320 ethnic adolescents of Bangladesh in regards to ethnicity and academic
achievement. Bengali version of Self-Acceptance Questionnaire (Ilyas, 2001) and Bengali
version of Dutt Personality Inventory (Khanam and Arjumand, 2002) were used to collect data.
Findings revealed that both ‘Bengali’ and ‘High Achiever’ ethnic adolescents expressed higher
self-acceptance and lower anxiety as compared to their ‘Tribal’ and ‘Low Achiever’ counterpart
respectively. From results, significant negative correlations have been found between self-
acceptance and anxiety of ethnic adolescents, indicating that lower anxiety leads an adolescent to
develop better self-acceptance or the lower self-acceptance is vulnerable to higher anxiety. Value
of adjusted R2 through regression analysis revealed that anxiety was an important predictor that
can explain 7.4% variance of the adolescents’ self-acceptance.
Key words: Academic achievement, anxiety, ethnicity, self-acceptance
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Introduction
‘Self-acceptance’ refers to an individual's satisfaction or happiness with himself, and thought to
be necessary for good mental health. Self-acceptance involves self-understanding, a realistic,
albeit subjective awareness of one's strengths and weaknesses. It results in an individual's feeling
about himself that he is of "unique worth" (Shepard, 1979). Self-acceptance implies accepting
ourselves unconditionally with all our past wrong doings and undesirable behaviors without
offering justification for any of them, as well as acknowledging the worthiness that is inherent in
each one of us (NLP-Motivational). According to The Penguin Dictionary of Psychology, self-
Islam et al.
acceptance is used with the specific connotation that this acceptance is based on a relatively
objective appraisal of one’s unique talents, capabilities and general worth, a realistic recognition
of their limits and a rich feeling of satisfaction with both these talents and their boundaries”.
Social acceptance is defined as the fact that most people, in order to fit in with others, attempt to
look and acts like them. Alternatively, sometimes it is a term that refers to the ability to accept,
or to tolerate differences and diversity in other people or groups of people (Urban Dictionary).
Anxiety (also called angst or worry) is a psychological and physiological state characterized by
somatic, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral components. It is the displeasing feeling of fear
and concern (Davison, 2008). The root meaning of the word anxiety is 'to vex or trouble'; in
either presence or absence of psychological stress, anxiety can create feelings of fear, worry,
uneasiness, and dread (Bouras and Holt, 2007). It is also associated with feelings of restlessness,
fatigue, concentration problems, and muscle tension. However, anxiety should not be confused
with fear, which is more of a dreaded feeling about something, which appears intimidating and
can overcome an individual (Henig, 2012). Anxiety is considered a normal reaction to a stressor.
It may help an individual to deal with a demanding situation by prompting them to cope with it.
The Quick Reference Dictionary for Occupational Therapy edited by Jacobs and Jacobs (2004)
defines anxiety as: "Characterized by an overwhelming sense of apprehension; the expectation
that something bad is happening or will happen; class of mental disorders characterized by
chronic and debilitating anxiety (e.g. generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, phobias, and
post-traumatic stress disorder)" (pg. 13). Kaplan and Sadock in the Concise Textbook of Clinical
Psychiatry (1996) state that anxiety "is characterized by a diffuse, unpleasant, vague sense of
apprehension, often accompanied by autonomic symptoms, such as headache, perspiration,
palpitations, tightness in the chest, and mild stomach discomfort" (pg. 189). Social anxiety
characterized by feelings of apprehension, emotional distress and reticent or avoiding behavior in
real or imagined social interactions (Cheek & Melchior, 1990; Leitenberg, 1990).
Ethnicity is a group of people whose members identify with each other, through a common
heritage, often possess a common language, a common culture and stresses common ancestry or
endogamy. ‘Ethnicity is a highly biologically self-perpetuating group sharing an interest in a
homeland connected with a specific geographical area, a common language and traditions
including food preferences, and a common religious faith’ (GDF Unity in Diversity). During
adolescence, individuals begin to construct a general sense of their identity, or their personal
definitions of whom they are, what is important to them, and appropriate ways to think and
behave. During this period, youth also differentiate their various social identities, the self-
constructed definitions of who they are in relation to the social groups to which they belong. A
sense of ethnic identity becomes salient for many ethnic minority adolescents as they explore the
significance of their ethnic group membership in defining who they are (Spencer & Markstrom-
Adams, 1990; Phinney, 1990). The concept of ethnicity differs from the closely related term race
Self acceptance and anxiety of ethnic adolescents
in that race” refers to grouping based mostly upon criteria that in the past presumed to be
biological, while ethnicity” also encompasses additional cultural factors.
The tribal population of Bangladesh consisted of 897,828 persons, just over 1 percent of the total
population, at the time of the 1981 census. The Bangladeshi population is relatively
homogeneous and consists of about 98% Bangali and of various tribal groups, mostly in the
Chittagong Hill Tracts and in the regions of Mymensingh, Sylhet, and Rajshahi. Ethnic groups of
Bangladesh are the Bangali People, The Chakmas, The Santal, The Tanchangya, The Tippearas,
The Mros, Khasis, Garoes, Khajons, and Urdu speaking people. The primary census report of
2011 illustrates that total ethnic population group of Bangladesh is 27. The first one is Chakma
consisting 4, 44,748 people while the Marma, the second largest ethnic group comprises 2, 02,
974 people. Bangali’s are the largest ethnic group in Bangladesh, forming more than 98% of the
entire population.
Literature Review: Some specific empirical studies revealing the relationships between self-
acceptance and anxiety of adolescents are stated below. Ruth and Orth (2011) found that black
have higher self-esteem, higher self-acceptance and higher self-concept than Whites do have in
both adolescence and young adulthood. Greene and Way (2005) found that Black adolescents
reported higher self-acceptance, while Asian- American adolescents reported lower level of self-
acceptance as compared to their Latino peers. Rucker and Cash (1992) found that compared with
African Americans, Caucasian-Americans had more negative cognition about body image and
poor evaluation of general physical appearance, which in turn, lead to negative acceptance of the
self of them. Hofman, Beit–Hallahmi & Hertz-Lazarowitz (1982) found that Arab- Israeli
students have lower self-esteem, lower level of self-acceptance and poor self-concepts than
Jewish- Israeli students. Grossman and Wirt (1985) investigated the similarities and differences
on self-concept and self-acceptance with respect to ethnic identity between Anglo and Chicago
adolescents from Texas. Results were consistent with the interpretation that there is a
relationship between being Chicago and having lower self esteem, lower acceptance of the self
and poor self concept. The study of Miranda (2010) revealed that ethnic minority adolescents
bullied more in ethnically heterogeneous classes and had lower self-acceptance. Chen, Killeya-
Jones and Vega (2005) examined prevalence rates of anxiety utilizing the 2000 NHSDA survey
results. These results suggested that African American majority adolescents reported a higher
rate of anxiety problems compared to minority Caucasian adolescents. In addition, African
American adolescents were at increased risk for any anxiety cluster, severe co-occurrence and
overall anxiety problems.
It was found that there exist a correlation between the degree of self-acceptance, adjustment,
anxiety and acceptance of others (Mitchel, 1959; Sheere, 1949). Cunha and Paiva (2012)
conducted a study to explore test anxiety in adolescent students. Results showed that gender, self-
Islam et al.
criticism and competencies for acceptance and mindfulness had a significant and an independent
contribution on the prediction of test anxiety. In their study La Greca and Lopez (1998) revealed
that adolescents with higher levels of Social Anxiety (SA) reported poorer social functioning
(less support from classmates, less social acceptance). These findings extend work on the Social
Anxiety Scale for ChildrenÍRevised (SASC-R) to adolescents and suggest the importance of SA
for understanding the social functioning and close friendships of adolescents. Weems, Hayward,
Killen, Taylor (2002) investigated the anxiety sensitivity in a sample of high school students (N
= 2,365) assessed over 4 years. Results indicated that Asian and Hispanic adolescents tended to
report higher anxiety sensitivity but that their anxiety sensitivity was less strongly associated
compared to that of majority Caucasian adolescents. Austin and Chorpita (2004) found
significant mean level differences among ethnic groups for several specific anxiety dimensions,
suggesting that factors outside the tripartite model of anxiety and depression explain observed
ethnic differences. The correlation between test anxiety scores and grade point average was
minimal for the group as a whole and non-significant for students of Eastern background, who
have been purported particularly affected by high levels of test anxiety (Zeidner and Safir, 1989).
Reis, Hebert, Diaz, Maxfield, & Ratley (1995) conducted a study to determine the self-concepts
and acceptance of the self of high achiever and underachiever students in a large urban high
school. Thirty-five students participated in this three-year study. In this school, 60% of the
students were Puerto Rican, and approximately 20% were African-American and the remaining
10% were a mixture of white, Asian, and other racial/ethnic groups. The findings of this study
indicate that high achieving students had a strong belief in self and were resilient about negative
aspects of their families and their environment. However, students who underachieved in school
did not exhibit the same belief in self, were more anxious and often came from families in which
problems were evident, and were not resilient enough to overcome urban environmental factors
such as gangs and drugs. Various cultural differences found between students from specific
cultural groups who achieved and underachieved in school. It said that education is a significant
step to increase the positive self-acceptance of boys and girls. Parents are very ambitious about
their children. High achiever boys and girls are capable to fulfill the ambition of their parents.
Moreover, high achiever students have higher levels of aspiration. They have fewer records of
failure at different stages of education. Instead, they are rewarded and nurtured differently for
their superior achievement. All these activities are helpful to increase self-esteem, self-regard
and self-efficacy. These may account for higher self-acceptance for high achievers as compared
to low achievers. High achieving students experience the classroom atmosphere positively, have
higher self-concepts, and felt less social anxiety than low achievers (Malmberg and Sumra,
2001). Kim (2012) investigated whether self-acceptance has any moderating effects on the
relationships between interpersonal relationships, depression, and anxiety. The results indicate
that depression and anxiety are negatively related to interpersonal relationships and self-
Self acceptance and anxiety of ethnic adolescents
acceptance. Again, depression is positively associated with anxiety. Interpersonal relationships
are positively related to self-acceptance. The results also indicate that self-acceptance functions
as a protective factor for high school students who have problems with depression and anxiety in
their interpersonal relationships.
Objective of the Study: The objective of the present study is to investigate the relationships
between self-acceptance and anxiety of ethnic adolescents of Bangladesh with reference to their
ethnic background and academic achievement. The present study gives rise to the following
questions:
1) Is there any difference in self-acceptance and anxiety of the ‘Bangali’ and the ‘Tribal’ ethnic
adolescents?
2) Is there any difference in self-acceptance and anxiety of ‘High Achiever’ and ‘Low Achiever’
ethnic adolescents?
3) Is there any correlated relationship between self-acceptance and anxiety of ethnic adolescents?
4) Can adolescents’ self-acceptance be predicted by their anxiety or anxiety be predicted by self-
acceptance?
Rationale of the study: In Bangladeshi context, ‘Bangalis’ are the largest ethnic group who has
their own culture, rituals, values, religious faith and ideology. The ‘Bangalis’ have an
independent and enriched cultural background that is vastly different from other minority ethnic
groups (Tribals) of Bangladesh. Most of the population in Bangladesh belongs to Bangali ethnic
group & as a consequence, Bangali adolescents get more social facilities and positive feedback at
different spheres of their daily life. This helps them to cope with negative and stressful life
events properly and to develop a good sense of mental well-being through self-confidence, self-
efficacy, self- regard and self-esteem. However, when minority ethnic group adolescents
(Tribals, likely as Chakma, Marma, Santals etc.) perceive that the overall atmosphere of
Bangladeshi culture is in favor of majority group then they treat and evaluate themselves as
somewhat different and exceptional from the main stream of society. Such types of perceptions
create anxiety among them and decrease their self-acceptance. Considered on these perspectives,
this study will provide an insight to explore the relationship of self-acceptance with anxiety of
the Bangladeshi adolescents with reference to certain correlates like ethnicity and academic
achievement.
Materials & Method
Sample
The ethnic adolescents of Chittagong Hill Tracts and Chittagong City of Bangladesh were
regarded as the target population of the present study. The sample of the present study comprised
of 320 ethnic adolescents. Among them 160 were Bangali and 160 were Tribal ethnic
Islam et al.
adolescents. In the study, Chakma, Marma and Tipperas” were taken under the category of
Tribal ethnic adolescents. Among the Bengali ethnic adolescents, 76 were high achievers and 84
were low achievers and among the tribal adolescents, 59 were high achievers and 101 were low
achievers based on their academic achievement i.e. GPA obtained in the last annual examination.
Students who obtained GPA 4.00 or above 4.00 out of 5.00 were regarded as high achievers and
students who obtained GPA below 4.00 out of 5.00 were regarded as low achievers. Thus, the
total respondents were selected purposively. The age of the respondents ranged from 13 to 16
years. They were students studying in class seven to ten. Table 1 describes the distribution of the
sample according to different characteristics.
Table 1: Distribution of the Sample According to Ethnicity and Academic Achievement
Ethnicity
High Achiever
Low achiever
Total
Bangali Adolescents
76
84
160
Tribal Adolescents
59
101
160
Total
135
185
320
Measuring Instruments
In this study, the following instruments were used to collect data.
a) Demographic and Personal Information Sheet: A demographic and personal information
sheet was used to collect personal and demographic information of the respondents which
included Ethnicity, Gender, Age, Class, GPA in last annual exam, and Place of residence.
b) Bengali Version (Ilyas, 2001) of Self-Acceptance Questionnaire: The original English
version of the Self-acceptance Scale was developed by Berger, E.M. (1950) and translated into
Bengali by Ilyas (2001). This Bengali version was used to measure self-acceptance of the
respondents in the present study. The original English version of this scale contains 36 items but
the adapted Bengali Version of this scale was named as ‘Self Acceptance Questionnaire’ and it
constituted 37 items culturally appropriate to Bangladesh. The Bengali version of Self-
Acceptance Questionnaire has high internal consistency. The English and Bengali versions of the
scale were administered on a representative sample with a gap of several days. Significant
correlation (r= 0.894, p<0.01) between the scores of English and Bengali versions indicated test-
retest reliability of the translated form of the scale. The scale has satisfactory criterion and
convergent validity gathered from reviews concerning the scale’s psychometric properties. The
scale is a 5-point Likert type scale consisting of 37 items. For item number 1, 3, 4, 7, 11, 13, 15,
18, 19, 26, 29, 34, 35, 36 and 37 respondents were given 1 for strongly disagree, 2 for disagree, 3
for uncertain,4 for agree and 5 for strongly agree. For item number 2, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, 14, 16,
17, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 27, 28, 30, 31, 32 and 33 respondents got 1 for strongly agree, 2 for
agree, 3 for uncertain, 4 for disagree and 5 for strongly disagree. Higher scores in both the
Self acceptance and anxiety of ethnic adolescents
original and adapted versions indicate greater self-acceptance and lower scores reflect a negative
view of self- acceptance. In the original English version of this scale scores of 1-110 reflect a
negative view of the self, while scores of 111-150 are average. Scores of 151-180 reflected high
self-acceptance and these individuals consider themselves to be worthy and confident
individuals.
c) Bengali Version (Khanam and Arjumand, 2002) of Dutt Personality Inventory (DPI):
The author of the Dutt Personality Inventory is N. K. Dutt (1966). The inventory was used to
measure the degree of anxiety. The anxiety questionnaire was originally developed in English and
Hindi. The questionnaire has been translated in Bengali by Khanam and Arjumand (2002). There
are 40 items in DPI. Each item of the questionnaire is provided with a 3 point scale with the
following response categories: æoften”, æsometimes” and ænever”. The sum of the response in
any one point in the 3-point scale of each respondent constitutes the anxiety score. DPI has been
validated against æTaylor Manifest Anxiety Scale” and æSinha Anxiety Scale” and validity was
found to be satisfactory. Dutt has reported reliability coefficients of DPI ranging from .87 to .95.
Significant correlation (r= 0.82, p<0.01) between the scores of English and Bengali version
indicated test- retest reliability of the translated form of the scale. The face, content and criterion
related validity of the scale were determined and found to be satisfactory. Scores of a respondent
in DPI were calculated as follows: æOften”=2; æSometimes”=1; and æNever”=0. Total scores
were obtained through summation. The highest possible score of respondent in this scale is 80
and lowest possible score is 0. The high score indicates higher anxiety and low score indicates
lower anxiety.
Procedure
Standard data collection procedure was followed to collect data from the respondents in this study.
At the beginning, participants were briefed about the general purpose of the study and good rapport
was established with them. The data of the respondents were collected from different educational
institutions of Chittagong Hill Tracts and Chittagong City of Bangladesh. While collecting data
from these institutions, the respondents were informed that the investigation was purely academic
and their responses to the questionnaires would be kept confidential. Then the above instruments
were administered individually to the members of the sample. Prior to responding the items,
participants were requested to give a silent reading of the standard instructions on the
questionnaire. Along with this, they also were given verbal instructions. The respondents were told
to read the items of the scales attentively and to respond carefully. All necessary clarifications were
made regarding the items. They were asked to give a tick (√) mark in the appropriate box. They
were also requested not to omit any item in the questionnaire and told that there was no right or
wrong answer and had no time limit for answering the items. Generally, each participant took 35 to
40 minutes to fill up the above questionnaires.
Islam et al.
Results
Analyses focus on respondents’ self-acceptance and anxiety with regard to their ethnic
background and academic achievement. To analyze the collected data mean, standard deviation,
t-test, correlation-coefficient and regression analysis were used.
Table 2: Differences in Self-acceptance of Bangali and Tribal Ethnic Adolescents
Ethnicity
N
M
SD
SE
df
t
p
Bangali
160
124.33
13.978
1.105
318
4.183
.000*
Tribal
160
118.13
12.496
.988
*p<.001
In Table-2, a significant independent sample t test value for the independent measure of ethnicity
on the dependent measure of self-acceptance (t=4.183, df =318, p<0.001) was found having
significant mean difference between the ‘Bangali’ (M=124.33) and the ‘Tribal’ (M=118.13).
That is, the ‘Bangali’ ethnic adolescents expressed higher self-acceptance as compared to their
‘Tribal’ counterpart.
Table 3: Differences in Anxiety of Bangali and Tribal Ethnic Adolescents
Ethnicity
N
M
SD
SE
df
t
p
Bengali
160
27.84
8.390
.663
318
2.153
.032*
Tribal
160
29.92
8.696
.688
*p<.05
In Table-3, the mean differences between ‘Bangali’ (M=27.84) and ‘Tribal’ (M=29.92) revealed
a significant difference (t=2.153, df =318, p<0.05) in anxiety of ethnic adolescents. That is, the
‘Bangali’ ethnic adolescents expressed higher self-acceptance and lower anxiety as compared to
their vice-versa effect for ‘Tribal’ counterpart.
Table 4
Differences in Self acceptance of High and Low achiever Adolescents
Academic achievement
N
M
SD
SE
df
t
p
High achiever
135
125.01
14.188
1.221
318
4.379
.000*
Low achiever
185
118.46
12.477
.917
*p<.001
A significant t-test value for the independent measure of academic achievement on the
dependent measure of self-acceptance (t=4.379, df =318, p<0.001) was found having greater
mean differences between ‘High Achiever’ (M=125.01) and ‘Low Achiever’ (M=118.46; table
4). That is, ‘High Achiever’ adolescents expressed higher self-acceptance as compared to their
Self acceptance and anxiety of ethnic adolescents
‘Low Achiever’ counterpart.
Table 5: Differences in Anxiety of High and Low achiever Adolescents
Academic achievement
N
M
SD
SE
df
t
p
High achiever
135
27.24
8.419
.725
318
2.942
.004*
Low achiever
185
30.06
8.544
.628
*p<.01
The mean differences between ‘High Achiever’ (M=27.24) and ‘Low Achiever’ (M=30.06)
revealed a significant difference (t=2.942, df =318, p<0.01) in anxiety of the adolescents (Table-
5). That is, ‘High Achiever’ adolescents expressed lower anxiety as compared to their ‘Low
Achiever’ counterpart.
Table 6: Correlations between the variables of Self acceptance and Anxiety on the basis of
Ethnicity
Variables
r (Overall)
r (Bengali)
r (Tribal)
Self-acceptance
-.278**
-.270**
-.369**
Anxiety
** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)
A significant negative correlation has been found between self-acceptance and anxiety of ethnic
adolescents in general (r= -.278, p<0.01) and particularly for Bangali (r= -.270, p<0.01) and
Tribal (r= -.369, p<0.01) adolescents respectively (Table 6). While the respondents with higher
self-acceptance, have shown lower anxiety. In other words, lower anxiety leads a respondent for
better self-acceptance or the lower self-acceptance is vulnerable to higher anxiety.
Table 7: Regression of Adolescents’ Self-acceptance on Anxiety
Predictors
Un standardized
coefficients
Standardized
coefficients
t
p
Part
Correlation
(rp)
r2p×100
B
SE
β
(Constant)
133.921
2.567
-.278
52.165
.000
-.278
7.73
Anxiety
-.440
.085
-5.159
.000
Adjusted R2=0.074, (F1, 318=26.617, p<0.001)
Islam et al.
Table-8: Regression of Adolescents’ Anxiety on Self-acceptance
Predictors
Un standardized
coefficients
Standardized
coefficients
t
p
Part
Correlation
(rp)
r2p×100
B
SE
β
(Constant)
50.164
4.153
-.278
12.080
.000
-.278
7.73
Self-acceptance
-.176
.034
-5.159
.000
Adjusted R2=0.074, (F1, 318=26.617, p<0.001)
In table 7, anxiety was the predictor variable and self-acceptance was the criterion variable. The
value of standardized beta (β= -.278) reveals that the increases of one standard deviation unit in
anxiety, decreases .278 standard deviation unit in self-acceptance. The value of adjusted R2
(Adjusted R2=0.074, F1, 318=26.617, p<0.001) in table 7 also reveals that the predictor variable or
anxiety explains 7.4% variance of criterion variable or self-acceptance. Furthermore, part
correlation coefficient in this table indicates that the unique contribution of ‘anxiety’ to explain
the variance in self-acceptance of adolescents was 7.73%. Thus, ‘anxiety’ was one of the
stronger predictors to explain ethnic adolescents’ self-acceptance. Again, ‘self-acceptance’ was
one of the stronger predictors to explain adolescents’ anxiety, when ‘self-acceptance’ was the
predictor variable and ‘anxiety’ was the criterion variable (Table-8).
Discussion
The present study attempted to investigate the relationships between self-acceptances and
anxiety of ethnic adolescents of Bangladesh with regards to their ethnic background and
academic achievement. Results reported in table 2 revealed that Bengali ethnic adolescents
expressed higher self-acceptance as compared to their Tribal counterpart. The results are
consistent with the previous study of Ruth & Orth (2011) who found that Hispanic adolescents
significantly had lower self-acceptance than black non-Hispanic Whites and black have higher
self-esteem, higher self-acceptance and higher self-concept than Whites in both adolescence and
young adulthood. This study was also consistent with other previous studies where Black
majority adolescents reported higher self-acceptance than Asian- American adolescents (Greene
and Way, 2005); African Americans had more negative acceptance of the self of them compared
to Caucasian-Americans (Rucker and Cash, 1992); Arab- Israeli students have lower level of
self-acceptance and poor self-concepts than Jewish- Israeli students do (Hofman et.al., 1982).
Again, results reported in table 3 revealed that majority Bangali ethnic adolescents expressed
lower anxiety as compared to their minority Tribal counterpart. This result is consistent with the
earlier findings of Austin and Chorpita (2004) who found significant mean level differences
among ethnic groups for several specific anxiety dimensions. Researchers found that Asian and
Hispanic adolescents tended to report higher anxiety sensitivity than that of majority Caucasian
Self acceptance and anxiety of ethnic adolescents
adolescents (Weems, et al., 2002). However, the results are in opposed to the previous study of
Chen et.al. (2005) suggested that African American majority adolescents reported a higher rate
of anxiety problems compared to minority Caucasian adolescents and African American
adolescents were at increased risk for overall anxiety problems.
Results reported in Table 4 & 5 revealed that high achiever ethnic adolescents expressed higher
self-acceptance and lower anxiety as compared to their low achiever counterpart. The results are
consistent with the previous study of Reis et al. (1995) indicating that high achieving students
had a strong belief in self and were resilient about negative aspects of their families and their
environment. However, students who underachieved in school did not exhibit the same belief in
self, were more anxious and often came from families in which problems were evident.
Therefore, it is said that education is a significant step to increase the positive self-acceptance of
boys and girls. The result is also consistent with the finding of Malmberg and Sumra (2001)
where it was found that high achieving students experience the classroom atmosphere positively,
have higher self-concepts, and felt less social anxiety than low achievers. In the present study, a
significant negative correlation has been found between self-acceptance and anxiety of ethnic
adolescents in general and particularly for Bangali and Tribal respectively. Adolescents having
higher self-acceptance have had lower anxiety. That is, higher self-acceptance leads a person to
develop lower anxiety. The results may be supported by the previous study of Kim (2012) who
investigated the relationships between interpersonal relationships, depression, and anxiety
indicating that depression and anxiety negatively related to interpersonal relationships and self-
acceptance.
In table 7, the value of adjusted R2 revealed that the predictor variable or anxiety explains 7.4%
variances of the criterion variable or self-acceptance. Thus, ‘anxiety’ was one of the stronger
predictors to explain ethnic adolescents’ self-acceptance and was negatively associated with self-
acceptance. The results are in accordance with the previous studies of Mitchel (1959) and Sheere
(1949) indicating a correlation between self acceptance and anxiety. Cunha and Paiva (2012)
showed that competencies for acceptance had a significant and an independent contribution on the
prediction of test anxiety. It was also found that adolescents with higher levels of Social Anxiety
(SA) reported poorer social functioning such as less support from classmates, less social
acceptance (La Greca and Lopez, 1998). Consistent with previous research findings in different
cultures, the present study identified ethnic adolescents’ anxiety as an important predictor for
self-acceptance. Moreover, the present study has revealed that self-acceptance is negatively
correlated with anxiety. It has also showed that self-acceptance and anxiety significantly vary
with reference to ethnicity and academic achievement.
Explaining Self-acceptance and Anxiety from Theoretical Perspectives: Developed by the
psychologist Daryl Bem (1967, 72), Self-Perception Theory (SPT) asserts that people develop
Islam et al.
their attitudes by observing their own behavior and concluding what attitudes must have caused
it. Reflecting to the SPT theory, majority or minority ethnic group in Bangladesh develop their
attitudes by observing their behavior getting influenced by several factors. The factors, likely as
positive academic atmospheres, stable emotional climate of the family, advantages of modern
educational infrastructure, effective teaching-learning practices, skilled teachers and modern
technological availability etc. help the majority adolescents to develop a more positive self
referring beliefs and a more positive self-acceptance among themselves than their minority
counterpart. Due to the practice of diverse cultural activities, global recognition of the culture,
enriched language and ideology of majority ethnic adolescents shift them to build greater
confidence and high self-perception in dealing with different competitive socio-cultural
activities. As consequences, they develop positive self-perception as well as higher self-
acceptance and have lower levels of anxiety.
When compared to majority ethnics, the minority ethnic groups are still deprived of their basic
and legal demands, which is a prime factor to create a feeling of inferiority among them thus
leading to high anxiety and low self acceptance among tribal adolescents. Moreover, ‘Paharee-
Bangalee’ or ‘Minority-Majority’ conflict on different existing unresolved issues after the
independence of Bangladesh has not yet been resolved and as a result, minority people still feel
themselves as inferior and restrict their own behavior exposures from what they actually believe.
Self-determination theory (SDT) is concerned with the motivation behind the choices that people
make without any external influence and interference. SDT focuses on the degree to which an
individual’s behavior is self-motivated and self-determined (Deci & Ryan, 2002) which might
affect the minority adolescent attitude formation in Bangladesh. Minority adolescents having
inferiority feelings and anxiety proneness tend to develop their ‘self’ in a restrictive manner as
compared to majority’s diversity and this actually leads them to be self-motivated, and self-
determined. The educational, cultural, familial and linguistic background of minority ethnic
adolescents group are so different and exceptional that they feel deviated from the mainstream
when communicate with majority ethnic adolescents. Thus in most cases, they could not expect
in a realistic manner to adjust properly with society. Financial crises, inadequate or insufficient
educational environment, low parental education, negative social feedback and various
behavioral, emotional and social barriers create a negative atmosphere for them to develop a high
positive self-perception about themselves. Because of their negative self-perceptions and
negative social reactions they are prone to experience higher social anxiety. This might reflect
the self-presentation model of Schlenker and Leary (1982) who told that negative self-
perceptions are prone to experience higher social anxiety because of their overestimation of the
severity and probability of negative social events (Rheingold et al., 2003).
Implications of the study: The present study makes several important contributions to different
areas. Some specific implications of this study are:
Self acceptance and anxiety of ethnic adolescents
1) This study makes psychologists to understand the relation of self-acceptance with anxiety of
ethnic adolescents.
2) The study highlights some impact of social context, cultural factors, social norms, societal codes,
school environment and practices, residence and family atmospheres of children on the formation of
their positive acceptance of self.
3) The study would reflect on the opportunities and techniques to develop a positive self
acceptance of adolescents.
4) The study focuses on risk factors associated with a minority ethnic set up and lays emphasis
on protective factors to enhance self-acceptance, facilitate social support and promote good
social relationships in the case of minority ethnic adolescents.
Limitations and Recommendation for Further Research
Although the present study tried to maintain a sound methodology and analysis of collected data,
nevertheless it is not free from certain limitations. The data of the Bangali adolescents were
collected only from Chittagong City; if it would cover different parts of Bangladesh then the
sample would be more representative. Similarly, participants from Chakma, Marma and Tippera
were considered only as the tribal adolescents in this study. If however, some more tribal groups
with wide differences in self-acceptance and anxiety could be determined by taking a relatively
large sample size then the results of the study would become more accurate. Moreover, the
significant findings of the study could not be emphatically generalized without substantial
empirical researches on self-acceptance and anxiety of different ethnic group adolescents in the
context of Bangladesh. Here in lies the urgent need for future research for the issue.
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Websites:
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