Psychological Studies 1986 Vol. 31 No. 2 CERTAIN CORRELATES OF SELF-ESTEEM: A FACTOR STUDY H. SAM SANANDA RAJ & IMMANUEL THOMAS University of Kerala, Trivandrum A factor analytical study on certain correlates of self-esteem was conducted using a stratified sample of 624 secondary school pupils (314 boys and 310 girls) drawn from Kerala State. Pearson r's showed that out of the eight variables studied (hypo- thesized as correlates of self-esteem), five had (significant relationship with self- esteem. The r's were generally low. However, factor analysis of the 9 X 9 correl- ation matrix revealed that there are two significant factors. The first factor, on which self-esteem loaded along with six other variables, was identified as 'Cognitive Esteem' while the second factor, on which five variables loaded, was identified as 'Masculine Orientation'. The study showed in general that cognitive potentiality, faith in one's own abilities, and a positive attitude towards oneself and towards others are variables which go together. The attainment of a favourable attitude towards oneself is considered to be an important prerequisite in one's personal satisfaction and effective functioning. Recent research on self-esteem (which is defined in terms of an individual's self- evaluation or judgment of his/her own worth) have added a new dimension to the psychology of individual differences. The construct of self-esteem has been invoked to explain a wide variety of behavioural phenomena including personal and social adjustment (Ziller et al., 1965; Coopersmith, 1967; Kimble and Helmreich, 1972), task performance (Shra-uger and Sorman, 1977; Brockner and Wallnau, 1981), achievement motivation (Coopersmith, 1968; Bedeian, 1977) academic achievement (Bachman and O'Malley, 1977; O'Malley and Bachman, 1981; Srivastava, 1981; Thomas and Sanandaraj, 1982), etc Extensive studies on self-esteem in terms Reprint request to Dr. Sam Sananda Raj, Lecturer in Psychology, University of Kerala, Kariavattom, Trivandrum, 69550!. of its antecedents have been undertaken by several authors (e.g. Coopersmith, 1967; Rosenberg, 1965). But, personality correlates of self-esteem are not studied . exhaustively. Among those studied include persuasibility (Janis and Field, 1959; Cohen, 1959; Ziller et al., 1969), risk- taking behaviour (Hart, 1979), locus of control (Fleming and Watts. 1980; Banks, 1980; Bost, 1978), competitiveness (Fauc- heux and Moscovici, 1968; Graf and Hearne, 1970), creativity (Coopersmith, 1967). dominance (Hamilton, 1971) and authoritarianism (Heaven and Stones, 1979; Heaven, 1980). However, conclusive evi- dence with regard to the relationship of self-esteem with the variables is not for- thcoming from these studies; either beca- use the results are contradictory or because they typically bring about a low or a weak relationship. One of the reasons that is attributed to the failure of the studies in revealing the relationship of the variables is that they make use of the univariate methods of analysis like that t-test or correlation, which are inadequate in taking into acc- ount of the complex inter-relationships