Abstract:
Purpose: To know the correlation between religiosity and perceived family support
and the self-esteem and self-development of young people who do not know their
parentage.
Method: This was a non-experimental correlation study that investigated the
interrelationship between self-realization and self-esteem. Further, the research
utilized convenience sampling and moderate participation. Besides, the study took an
urban bias, focusing on young people in Nairobi Pentecostal Church Academy and
Nairobi Pentecostal Church, Woodley. A questionnaire was distributed to 136
participants. However, the study limited the sample to 28 participants for analysis.
This was because only 14 of the 136 participants did not know their parentage. As a
result, a similar number who knew their parentage were sampled for comparison
purposes. They were all Kenyan Africans living in Nairobi. The sheet included a
demographic questionnaire that asked for each participant's gender, age group, and
whether or not they know their parent (s). It also had the Rosenburg Self-Esteem
Scale, a Religiosity Scale, and the Perceived Social Support Family Scale (Appendix
I). These were used to measure the participants' levels of self-esteem, religiosity, and
perceived family support respectively.
Data analysis involved determining certain variables: religiosity and perceived
family social supports' relationship to respondents' self-esteem. Further, the
hypotheses were tested for statistical significance using the T test and interpretations
duly made.
Results: Respondents who know their parentage are more likely to have a stable social
identity, hence a higher self-esteem. Also, religious and spiritual commitment
influences self esteem positively.
What is more, only about 11 per cent of the religious commitment of the
respondents is referable to their self-esteem. If so, since 43 per cent of the
respondents' religiosity and family support is referable to their family and church
setting, fully 57 per cent of their self-esteem is attributable to other factors or settings,
e.g. the school.
Most important, a strong or healthy self-esteem among respondents is partly a
product of wholesome interactions between young people and their parents.
Conclusion: A statistically significant difference exists about religiosity scores and
perceived family support scores of respondents. Only the correlation between selfesteem
and religiosity, among respondents who know their parentage; and the
correlation between self-esteem and perceived family support, for respondents who do
not know their parentage, are significant statistically.
Key words: Self-esteem; self-realization; self-development; religiosity; perceived
family social support; parentage.
