ing different, as with 11 year olds being postmenarcheal and 13 year olds as pre-menarcheal, this can represent a lack of fit and increases the sensitivity of these girls to have poor evaluations of physical appearance and self-esteem (Williams & Currie, 2000). It was also reported that both girls that were 11 and 13 who reported concerns with their body size and noted perceiving themselves as not physically attractive had lower self-esteem ratings than their peers (Williams & Currie, 2000). Gender and Class as Factors Contributing to Adolescent Self-esteemAbell and Richards (1996) studied the differences that gender and SES have on adolescent self-esteem. It was found that both males and females portray a similar level of dissatisfaction with their body shape. The overall body image scores correlated significantly with self-esteem scores for both males and females. In this study, females who reported a desire for a thinner figure had lower self-esteem scores, but no relationship between these variables were found for males (Abell & Richards, 1996).The relationship found between SES and weight satisfaction portrayed that those high in SES wanted to be larger and heavier, while those in low SES wanted to be thinner and weigh less (Abell & Richards, 1996). The authors point out that the conclusions drawn concerning the factor of SES may also be due to the variable of religion. The study was done at an urban Roman Catholic university. A contributing variable may be that religious and ethnic backgrounds influence an individuals perception of a desirable body shape. Females in this study that reported being religious had significantly heavier real and ideal weights (Abell & Richards, 1996). It was also found that high SES women who had greater dissatisfaction of body shape had lower self-esteem ratings (Abell & Richards, 1996). Contrasting this finding, females of high SES and high overall body image had scores of high self-esteem. ...
