A study on the self-concept of the mature University students

Abstract

This research studied the self-concept of mature students and the impact social comparison and stereotypes have on their self-concept. There were 55 participants in this study, of which 81.8% were regular students (n = 45) and 18.2% were mature students (n = 10). A quantitative methodology was used for this study and data was collected using an online questionnaire. As hypothesised, the results showed that mature students have a higher selfconcept clarity than regular students and engage in less social comparison. Mature students seemed to not be aware of the stereotypes about them and, hence, these did not affect their self-concept. The main limitation of this study was the small sample size, which made the results unable to be generalised to the population. This study could impact the way society looks at and treats mature students since it showed that they are capable of being as good students as any other.