Self-esteem and social class are prominent factors in society, positively and negatively influencing adolescents, impacting their future occupation, and their physical and mental health. Consequently, this topic is important in understanding what influence social class has on an adolescent’s self-esteem, thus the aim of this study is to understand the extent to which an adolescent’s self-esteem is influenced by their social class. Quantitative research was undertaken in the form of an online questionnaire to young adults aged 18-25 years old, guided by different literature from Bernstein (1964), Bourdieu (1984), Heller (2019) and many others. The results of the study demonstrated that there are no significant correlations between an adolescent’s self-esteem and their social class. Instead, there are several factors that contribute to an adolescent’s self-esteem, that of peers, school experience, support from family and friends, and parental educational interest, which was in line with Spencer and Amato’s (2013) research, which found that there are many factors that affect an adolescent’s self-esteem (951). The research findings show that social class does not influence self-esteem and daily life as much as previously believed. Future recommendations include raising awareness to teachers and adolescent-based institutions and policymakers to raise awareness of the impact social class can have on self-esteem levels.
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