“Am I Good Enough for You?” Features Related to Self-Perception and Self-Esteem of Brazilians from Different Socioeconomic Status

Anthonieta L. Mafra, Fívia A. Lopes

Graduate Program in Psychobiology, Department of Physiology, UFRN, Natal, Brazil.
Graduate Program in Psychobiology, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte [UFRN], Natal, Brazil.

DOI: 10.4236/psych.2014.57077                

Abstract

Several studies have been conducted to expand our knowledge about human romantic relationships, mostly seeking to highlight the factors of greatest influence. However, much of these works were based on samples of university students, which affords certain limitations to drawing any conclusions about the general population, especially in countries where the rate of social inequality is high. The current study aims to address this limitation and determine whether there actually is a significant difference between self-esteem and self-perception as a potential romantic partner among samples of people from two different socioeconomic status (SES), based on data derived from 150 participants (64 of higher SES and 86 of lower SES) in northeastern Brazil. Our results confirm the existence of differences in self-esteem and self-perception as a romantic partner among people from different SES, underscoring the need for further exploration of non-university groups in the study of factors that influence romantic relationships.

Keywords

Self-Perception, Self-Esteem, Socioeconomic Level, Educational Level, Mate Preference

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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