Comparison of self-concepts possessed by children attending regular and special classroom settings

The purpose of this study was to compare the self-concepts possessed by children in regular classroom settings and children in special classroom settings, children at different grade levels, and male and female children. The questions raised in the study were stated in the form of null hypotheses and were tested for significance using the multivariate and univariate analysis of variance, the F statistic, and the t-test. The hypotheses were tested for rejection or acceptance at the alpha 0.05 level of significance. The 240 randomly selected subjects were placed into 8 groups according to the variables of type of class placement, grade level, and sex. The subjects' self-concepts were assessed by the non-verbal Self-Social Symbols Test. Results indicated no significant differences between special class children and regular class children when they were compared on the basis of overall self-concept. Significant differences were found between special and regular class children and between male and female children when they were compared on the basis of their nine subtest scores on the Self-Social Symbols Test. Also, a significant interaction effect was found between the factors grade level and sex on one subtest.