DO SELF-ESTIMATES & ESTIMATES BY OTHERS OF INTELLIGENCE AND PHYSICAL ATTRACTIVENESS RELATE TO SELF-ESTEEM?

Abstract

An empirical study examining possible link between self-estimates & estimates by others
of both intelligence and physical beauty (attractiveness), and self-esteem, was conducted
on Macedonian sample of university students. The sample itself consisted of 203
respondents in total, all students of II or III year of either preschool or primary teacher education.
Individual differences were measured employing two measuring tools: (1) SEI i.e.
Self-Esteem Inventory (Coopersmith), and (2) anonymous survey sheet with names of all
respondents in attendance listed, seeking a three-point estimation (above-average, average,
below-average) of (a) intelligence of each individual from the list, including oneself, as
well as (b) physical beauty of each individual from the list, also including oneself. Results
(correlation-based data processing, separately for females & males) only partially support
previous findings in the field. The general self-esteem, regardless of gender, strongly relies
on both intelligence and physical beauty as seen by others, as well as on self-assessed
beauty, but not on self-assessed intelligence. Both intelligence and beauty as self-assessed
significantly influenced the social self-esteem in female students. From the other hand,
only self-assessed intelligence (but no beauty) showed very strong positive relation to the
academic self-esteem in males. Overall, a fairly strong social component of self-esteem as
related to intelligence was indicated in females, while a significant achievement component
was indicated in males.