General and Domain‐Specific Self‐Esteem Among Regular Education and Special Education Students

Abstract

We examined the global and domain‐specific self‐esteem of students who are emotionally disturbed, students who are learning disabled, and students who are in regular education classrooms. Students who were emotionally disturbed or learning disabled had lower global self‐esteem than did students in regular education classes. The specific domains in which students in special education felt that they were less competent than students in regular education included social skills, leadership skills, and academics. However, the 2 groups of students in special education did not differ from one another. No differences emerged between the groups on a measure of self‐esteem that is less subject to social desirability concerns. Implications of this research for education are discussed.