Abstract
The study examined the role of self esteem in the manifestation of aggression among the
internally children. Participants drawn from two communities in Nasarawa State, Nigeria,
namely, Bassa and Igbirra, were the participants for the study (N=445), aged 11 -16 years
old. Index of self esteem, originally developed by M.A. Hudson in 1982 and was modified to
suit the Nigerian sample in 1996, by M.A. Onighaiye, was the instrument used to measure self
esteem, while aggression in children was measured by a 19-item questionnaire developed by
the researcher. It was hypothesised that there will be no statistically significant difference in
the manifestation of aggression between internally displaced children who have high self
esteem and those who have low self esteem. Result of the ANOVA summary model showed
that displacement status and self esteem significantly contributed to children’s aggression F
(1,444) =168.02, P<.001, but the beta coefficient table showed that only displacement status
has significant beta value B(1,444)= -.72, P<.05. Findings of this study support some of the
earlier research findings on the relationship between self esteem and aggression and also,
contradict some.