Sex differences in the effect of academic achievement on self esteem: A Hong Kong case

In this paper the controversial issue of whether there are sex differences in the effect of academic achievement on self esteem is investigated. A large scale survey was administered to a representative sample of all the secondary school students in Hong Kong. The results showed that males generally had a higher score on self esteem than females, and that while the self-esteem of males was susceptible to the influence of academic achievement, the same was not true for their female counterparts. Similar findings were established in a recent study carried out in Norway. Explanations were given to account for the similarity.