Self-Esteem and Children's Human Figure Drawings

Abstract

115 students in Grade 5 made human figure drawings which were compared with their scores on the Coopersmith Self-esteem Inventory and on teachers' ratings of the students' self-esteem. Critical dimensions of the drawings were the absolute height of self-figures and the relative height of self-figures in relation to their drawn figures of two peers. The scores from the Coopersmith Self-esteem Inventory and from teachers' ratings were congruent, consistent with Coopersmith's (1967) findings. However, contrary to some clinical beliefs, self-esteem was not related to the size of drawn figures.