RELATIONSHIP AMONG SELF-ESTEEM, PEER GROUP INFLUENCE AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN GUSAU LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF ZAMFARA STATE, NIGERIA

Abubakar, Hindatu; Ishaka Yahaya & Bala zaki Tambuwal

Abstract

The study examined the relationship among self-esteem, peer group influence and academic performance of senior secondary school students in Gusau Local Government Area of Zamfara State. Four research questions and four research hypotheses guided the study. The study adopted a correlational research design. A sample of 346 SSII students was drawn from the population of 3,471. Two sets of instruments were adopted by the researcher which were validated by Akinboye (1985) and Dikki (2016) and had reliability indices of 0.87 and 0.66 respectively. The results from the findings showed that, no significant relationship exists between self-esteem and academic performance and no significant relationship exist between peer group influence and academic performance. The study concluded that, Peer group influence emerged as a better predictor of the senior secondary school students’ academic performance than their self-esteem. Based on the findings, recommendations were made including that school administrators should find out the strategies to adequately motivate their students, such as promoting good morals, discouraging bad habits and enhance self-discipline among students in order to facilitate learning and improve academic performance.