General self-esteem of adolescents from ethnic minorities in The Netherlands and the reflected appraisal process

This article examines the question of how the lack of differences in general self-esteem between adolescents of ethnic minorities and Dutch adolescents can be explained. Attention is focused on the reflected appraisal process. It was found that for adolescents of ethnic minorities there is a significant relationship between general self-esteem and the perceived evaluation of family members, and no such relationship with nonfamily members. For the Dutch adolescents the findings are the opposite, which may explain why adolescents of ethnic minorities in general do not have lower general self-esteem, despite low status, prejudice, and discrimination.