Missionary Children: Correlates of Self-Esteem and Dependency

Abstract

The purpose of the research was to study the correlates of self-esteem, negative attention-seeking dependency, and passive-approval-seeking dependency in missionary boarding school and nonboarding school students. Self-esteem was positively correlated with perceived approval of others, parental and houseparental acceptance, and identification with parents. Negative attention-seeking dependency for males was correlated positively with paternal psychological control, while for females negative attention-seeking dependency was negatively correlated with paternal acceptance and identification with father. For females there were significant positive correlations between passive approval-seeking dependency and the variables of father acceptance, father psychological control, and identification with mother. Consensual religious orientation was negatively correlated with self-esteem, and committed religiosity was negatively correlated with negative attention-seeking dependency. There were no significant differences between the specific groups of early, late, and nonboarders on any of the relevant variables, although, for those who boarded, there was a significant positive correlation between number of years boarding and self-esteem.