Which child living in a low-SES, predominantly African-American neighborhood is the most likely to have self-esteem problems? Group of answer choices

A. Patti, a European-American child

B. Tamara, an African-American girl

C. Perry, a child from a low-SES family

D. Sherman, an African-American boy

It's A

The correct answer is A. Patti, a European-American child.

Explanation:

Self-esteem refers to the value that we give to ourselves, according to our understanding of how others see us and how we compare to them. Self-esteem is highly dependent on our social environment, and one of the biggest influences on self-esteem comes from our sense of belonging to a group. If we feel that we fit right in, our self-esteem tends to be higher than if we feel as outsiders.

According to researcher Gray-Little, African-American children usually have higher self-esteem than children from other ethnic groups, possibly because of having larger families and a much more defined sense of ethnic pride. Similarly so, children who live in places where they feel their socioeconomic status (SES) and their ethnic groups are well-represented are more likely to feel like they fit in and thus have higher self-esteem. In our example, Tamara and Sherman are both African-American children in a predominantly African-American neighborhood, so they should feel like they belong there. Perry comes from a low-SES family, so living in a low-SES neighborhood should give it a sense of belonging as well. This leaves us Patti, the European-American girl, who is the most likely to have self-esteem problems, given that in she will be a minority in her neighborhood and thus she's likely to feel like she doesn't fit in because she doesn't belong there.