Self-esteem, self-concept and life satisfaction of dyslexic students at university

Abstract

Numerous studies with dyslexic children have consistently found that they have lower self-esteem, lower academic self-concept and lower reading self-concept but not a lower non-academic self-concept than non-dyslexic children. This study therefore, intends to examine whether similar findings could be replicated in dyslexic university students. Given the lack of studies investigating the effects dyslexia has upon ones’ satisfaction with life, this study also looked at life satisfaction. 28 dyslexic university students and 28 controls completed the amended Burnett Self-Scale, the amended Reading Self-Concept Scale, the Brief Multidimensional Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale and the Dyslexia test (http://www.xtraordinarypeople.com/). The study demonstrated six main findings. Independent t-tests found that: (1) there was a non-significant difference in self-esteem between dyslexics and controls although interestingly, an independent factorial ANOVA revealed a significant interaction effect of group and gender on ratings of self-esteem, (2) dyslexics reported a significantly lower academic self-concept than controls, (3) there was a non-significant difference in non-academic self-concept ratings between the two groups, (4) dyslexics reported a significantly lower reading self-concept than controls, (5) dyslexics reported a significantly lower school satisfaction than controls. Bivariate correlations analysis found that (6) both ASC and NASC were significantly positively correlated with self-esteem in dyslexics. Thus, dyslexia continues to have a negative impact in older dyslexics’ life. As like young dyslexics, dyslexic university students also show lower perceptions of academic self-concept and reading self-concept than controls. Moreover, life satisfaction is also affected by dyslexia. Self-esteem and non-academic self-concept however, was not affected. Future implications and directions for future studies were also discussed.