Measures of self-ideal congruence and of social-personal orientation were obtained in Delhi from groups of 50 Indian males and females of about age 12 and age 18, predominantly of socio-economic Class I. These data were compared with longirudinal American data obrained by Carlson. Among the preadolescents, the average self-ideal congruence score for the Indian girls was highest, followed by Indian boys, American girls and boys. Only the differences involving the Indian girls were statistically significant. At age 18 the average female congruence score was insignificantly above the average male score. In social-personal orientation, over half of the Indian preadolescent and adolescent girls were socially oriented. About one quarter of the Indian preadolescent boys were socially oriented; almost half of the older boys were. In contrast, the American girls had changed from one quarter socially oriented to over one-half; the American boys had changed from almost one-half to approximately one-eighth.The self-esteem and social-personal orientation of Indian women are of special interest because of the existence of a goodly number of high achieving, serene-appearing women in a culture where women are generally thought to play inferior roles. As compared with American women more Indian women have reached extremely high stams positions, such as Prime Minister and Ambassador to the United Nations, as well as state governor, mayor and high positions in professions. On the other hand, many Indian women, including middle-class women, can be seen walking behind their husbands and silent on social occasions when men are present. There are many indications that men are held in higher esteem than women and that boys are favored over girls (Spratt, 1966, p. 193). W e have been told by a high-achieving woman that every man is a god to his wife. Hindu women are supposed to receive religious rewards only through their husbands. To these Western investigators, it seems that low self-esteem would logically be the lot of most Indian women, since the selfconcept is built at least partially from the individual's perceptions of the way in which he is esteemed by people important to him. The outstanding Indian women would be expected, however, to be high in self-esteem, since they have solid achievement of which to be proud and since they appear so gracefully selfconfident. Therefore, we predicted, some Indian women would be unusually high in self-esteem when compared to American women, while many would be '

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