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Change in adult self‐esteem: A longitudinal assessment
Author(s) -
Schafer Robert B.,
Keith Pat M.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
british journal of social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.855
H-Index - 98
eISSN - 2044-8309
pISSN - 0144-6665
DOI - 10.1348/014466699164185
Subject(s) - self esteem , psychology , longitudinal study , perception , developmental psychology , population , self concept , social psychology , demography , medicine , pathology , neuroscience , sociology
This is a longitudinal investigation of self‐esteem change in an adult population. The analysis addresses two limitations in earlier studies: the use of convenience samples of children and adolescents, and cross‐sectional or short‐duration longitudinal studies of self‐esteem change. Participants are 97 randomly selected married couples interviewed at two points in time separated by 13 years. Two components of the self were measured: self‐esteem and reflected appraisals (perception of others evaluation). Contrary to previous research on self‐esteem change, a significant decline was found in all components of the self for both husbands and wives. The decline in self‐esteem was not a function of age, education or income. The decline was more likely to occur for high, rather than low, self‐esteem participants. This finding is attributed to the demands on higher self‐esteem participants to maintain or enhance self‐esteem and the caution of low self‐esteem participants to engage in behaviours that would threaten the self.