This study is designed to explore the influence of a competitive environment on self-esteem,
peer relations, school dissatisfaction, and delinquency for high school students, using the data
from KEDI, ?Analysis on the Actual Status and Qualities of School Education in Korea?. This
study explores the relation of a competitive environment to variables. Moreover, the study
investigates the difference between high school students in 2006 and 2009, by examining the
difference in the respective educational policies of the previous two Governments. The structural
equation modeling analysis and cross-group analysis are used, and the results are as follows.
First, a competitive environment does not influence status delinquency, but helps the
development of self-esteem and encourages the formation of close peer relationships. In
addition, the high level of self-esteem and peer relations have a positive effect on reducing
school dissatisfaction, status delinquency and criminal acts of high school students. Status
delinquency has a positive correlation with criminal acts.
Second, with regard to the difference between 2006 and 2009 groups, there is no significant
change of a competitive environment, but rather the motivation in 2006 is more powerful than
the one in 2009. This result supports the opinion that there are only several changes of
government with no change to the basis of educational policy. More details about it emerge.
Both the negative and positive effects of a competitive environment coexist in 2006, but the
negative effect has decreased in 2009. Although a competitive environment reduces school
dissatisfaction in 2009, a non-significant relation between them is discovered in 2006. In
addition, school dissatisfaction is higher in 2006 than in 2009. As a reason for this finding, this
study discusses the possibility that the high level of socio-economic status would relieve school
dissatisfaction.
The significance of this study is the empirical attempt to investigate the effects of a
competitive environment, in contrast to the previous qualitative studies. The study’s limitations
is not controlling variables such as SES, gender and achievement.