Perceived ethnic discrimination, self-esteem and anxiety among secondary students in Central Uganda

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationships between perceived ethnic discrimination, self-esteem and anxiety among secondary students. A correlation research design using quantitative approach was used and the study used primary data which was obtained by administering questionnaires to 100 students from 5 secondary schools within 2 districts of Nakasongala and Wakiso in the central region of Uganda who represented the general students’ population in the region. The data collected was analyzed using SPSS software version 2022. Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient (r) was used to determine the level of significance of the hypotheses. Results indicated that there were significant relationships between perceived ethnic discrimination, self-esteem and anxiety among secondary students. However, the findings also revealed that there was a weak negative relationship between perceived ethnic discrimination and self-esteem which could have a result self-esteem related factors other than perceived ethnic discrimination. Similarly, there was a weak negative relationship between self-esteem and anxiety which could have a result anxiety related factors other than self-esteem. This study recommends that students, staffs and administrators of Secondary Schools should desist from utterances and actions that may be perceived by other students as ethnically discriminative. Parents, school administrators and government should promote programs and policies that protect and encourage development of self-esteem as measures to curb rate of anxiety among their students