Abstract

Relationship between self-esteem and mathematical self-confidence in high school students in Costa Rica

This paper presents the results of a study about the relationship between self-esteem and mathematical self-confidence of students in Costa Rican high schools. Such study shows research upon the existence of differences between men and women in regards to both constructs. The study was carried out with a sample of 2984 students of public, daytime official high schools of the Ministry of Public Education of Costa Rica during 2015. The results suggest that, as a whole, 78.9% of the students show levels of selfconfidence between high and moderate; 74.4% show levels of self-esteem between high and moderate. It also was found that there are statistically significant differences between the level of self-confidence, as well as in the self-esteem according to sex, with lower levels in the case of women. Finally, the research showed the existence of a linear relation between the level of mathematical self-confidence and that of selfesteem.

Key words: Mathematics; mathematical self-confidence; self-security; self-esteem; anguish; high school education