Comparative Study of Self-Esteem and Automatic Thoughts between Male and Female Undergraduate Engineering Students

Abstract

This study explores the comparison of self-esteem and automatic thoughts of male and female undergraduate engineering students. The sample size consisted of 110 young adults (55 males and 55 females), who were aged between 18-25 years. The sample was purposively selected from Engineering students by administering the Self-Esteem Rating Scale and the Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire on them. The data was further analysed with the help of SPSS version 27. The findings revealed significant gender differences in self-esteem, with male and female students displaying distinct levels of self-worth. Similarly, automatic thoughts varied significantly across genders, indicating that the automatic cognition differ between male and female undergraduate engineering students. Additionally, the study identified a significant negative relationship between self-esteem and automatic thoughts. This suggests that students experiencing higher levels of automatic thoughts tend to report lower self-esteem, highlighting the detrimental impact of maladaptive cognition on psychological well-being. Overall, the study emphasizes the need for gender-sensitive interventions that promote psychological resilience and well-being among undergraduate engineering students.

Introduction

The text presents a comparative psychological study on self-esteem and automatic thoughts among male and female undergraduate engineering students. It traces the historical development of both concepts, highlighting key theoretical contributions—from William James, Cooley, Mead, Rogers, and Maslow on self-esteem, to Ellis and Beck on automatic thoughts and cognitive therapy. Self-esteem is described as a multidimensional construct shaped by self-concept, social interactions, and evaluation processes, while automatic thoughts are framed as spontaneous cognitive patterns that influence emotions and behavior, particularly in stress, anxiety, and depression.

The rationale emphasizes that engineering education prioritizes technical competence while often neglecting students’ emotional and psychological well-being. Academic pressure, societal expectations, and recent student suicide cases underscore the need to examine internal cognitive and emotional processes among engineering students. A key research gap identified is the lack of Indian studies focusing on automatic thoughts and their relationship with self-esteem in engineering populations.

The literature review summarizes prior research linking self-esteem to academic performance, career decision-making, social adjustment, and well-being, as well as studies showing how automatic thoughts relate to emotional regulation, resilience, stress, and various clinical and non-clinical outcomes. Cross-cultural and methodological advancements further demonstrate the importance of understanding thought patterns in psychological functioning.

Methodologically, the study adopts a comparative design to examine gender differences in self-esteem and automatic thoughts, and their interrelationship. Using standardized tools such as the Self-Esteem Rating Scale (SERS), the research aims to test hypotheses regarding gender differences and correlations between the two variables. Overall, the study seeks to enhance emotional awareness among engineering students and contribute to improved psychological support and preventive mental-health interventions in technical education settings.

Conclusion

The objective of the paper was to compare the levels of self-esteem and automatic thoughts among male and female undergraduate engineering students. The study collected responses from one hundred and ten undergraduate engineering students in the age range of 18-25 years. The results uncovered significant gender differences in the self-esteem, with male students displaying higher level of self-worth as compared to female students. Similarly, automatic thoughts varied significantly across genders, demonstrating that automatic thoughts differ between male and female engineering students. In addition to these gender-based differences, the study discovered a significant negative relationship between self-esteem and automatic thoughts. Suggesting that the students who undergo higher levels of automatic thoughts tend to report lower self-esteem, highlighting the harmful impact of disturbed thought processes on the overall well-being of an individual. Bringing out this study in the field of Psychology will help in making more youngsters understand about the need of awareness of the believes and cognitive processes and thereby, enforcing new styles of preventive measures for building better resilience among the students.

References

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Copyright © 2026 Anshika Dikshit, Neerja Pandey. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.