Self-Concept in Dyslexic School Children

Abstract

ABSTRACTPersonal construct theory and the repertory grid technique were used to investigate the self-concepts of 30 dyslexic and 30 non-dyslexic children aged between 9 and 16 years. It was predicted that he self-concepts of the dyslexic students would be more negative than the self-concepts of the non-dyslexic students and that there would be a greater discrepancy between the self-constructions and the ideal self-constructions of he dyslexic group than of the non-dyslexic group. Results indicated hat the dyslexic students ranked themselves as significantly worse at reading and significantly less important than did the non-dyslexic students. The dyslexic children also exhibited significantly greater discrepancy between their ideal self and actualself. A cluster analysis of the grid data indicated that the dyslexic students perceived the constructs ‘Hardworking’, ‘Clever’ and ‘Good at Reading’ as similar, while no such connection was made by the non-dyslexic group.