Effect of literacy on self-esteem of adult neo-literates

The current study attempted to find out whether literacy influences self-esteem of adult neo-literates. Altogether 30 adults in the age-group 28–78 years, (Mean age=45.7 years) who were enrolled in Adult Literacy Centres involved in the study as participants. The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (1965) was employed to assess the self-esteem of the adult learners. The test was conducted twice (one-shot case study) at an interval of one month between Time One (during the first week of enrolment) and Time Two (during last week of literacy classes) to examine whether there was any difference in the self-esteem score of the adults. The results of the study indicated that there was a significant increase in self-esteem scores. t-test between Time One (mean=22.72; s.d. =9.116) and Time Two (mean=31.06; s.d. =4.111) was found to be significant at p≤ 0.05 level of significance (t-value=4.57). There seems to have a salutary effect of literacy on self-esteem of adult neo-literates. Limitations and suggestions for further research were also made.