1,721,097 research outputs found
Self-esteem across the life span: Stability and change
No full textIn this talk, I will provide an overview of recent longitudinal research examining the development of self-esteem and its influence on important life outcomes. There is now robust evidence that self-esteem changes in systematic ways across the life span. On average, self-esteem increases from adolescence to middle adulthood, peaks at about age 50 to 60 years, and declines in old age; moreover, the evidence suggests that there are no significant cohort differences in the life-span trajectory of self-esteem. Despite these normative developmental changes, research indicates that individual differences in self-esteem are relatively stable even across long periods, supporting the conclusion that self-esteem is a personality trait. Finally, research suggests that self-esteem contributes to a person’s well-being and success in important life domains such as peer and romantic relationships, work, and health. Given the increasing evidence that self-esteem has important real-world consequences, the topic of self-esteem development is of considerable societal significance
Die Entwicklung des Selbstwertgefühls über die Lebensspanne
No full textIm Vortrag werden die Ergebnisse neuerer Längsschnittstudien zur Entwicklung des Selbstwertgefühls über die Lebensspanne und zu Einflüssen des Selbstwertgefühls auf Erfolg und Wohlergehen in wichtigen Lebensbereichen vorgestellt. In vielen dieser Studien werden Daten von großen, teilweise bevölkerungsrepräsentativen Stichproben verwendet. Die empirische Evidenz unterstützt die folgenden drei Schlussfolgerungen. (1) Das Selbstwertgefühl steigt typischerweise von der Adoleszenz bis ins mittlere Erwachsenenalter, erreicht bei etwa 50 bis 60 Jahren den Höhepunkt und sinkt im hohen Erwachsenenalter. Die Ergebnisse kohortensequenzanalytischer Studien legen zudem nahe, dass – bezogen auf die im 20. Jahrhundert geborenen Generationen – weder die Höhe noch die Form des Entwicklungsverlaufs durch Kohorteneffekte beeinflusst ist, was populären Annahmen zur sogenannten „Generation Me“ widerspricht. (2) Das Selbstwertgefühl ist trotz der genannten alterskorrelierten Veränderungen eine relativ stabile Persönlichkeitseigenschaft. Personen mit relativ hohem (bzw. relativ niedrigem) Selbstwertgefühl in der einen Lebensphase haben im Vergleich zu ihrer Altersgruppe auch in der nächsten Lebensphase mit großer Wahrscheinlichkeit ein relativ hohes (bzw. relativ niedriges) Selbstwertgefühl. (3) Das Selbstwertgefühl sagt Erfolg und Wohlergehen in Lebensbereichen wie Partnerschaft, Beruf und Gesundheit prospektiv vorher, auch nach Kontrolle von Drittvariablen wie sozioökonomischer Status und Intelligenz. Die Ergebnisse haben wichtige Implikationen, weil sie auf Entwicklungsphasen hinweisen, in denen Individuen aufgrund niedrigen Selbstwertgefühls häufig vulnerabel sind (Adoleszenz und hohes Alter) und weil sie nahelegen, dass das Selbstwertgefühl nicht nur eine passive Begleiterscheinung der Lebensumstände ist, sondern das Wohlergehen von Menschen in wichtigen Lebensbereichen beeinflusst
The influence of the family environment in early childhood on self-esteem from age 8 to 26 years
No full textA better understanding is needed of those factors that shape the development of self-esteem. Using a prospective longitudinal design, this research tested whether the family environment during early childhood influences the longterm development of self-esteem. Data came from a nationally representative U.S. sample of 11,510 participants, who reported on their self-esteem biannually from age 8 to 26 years. Moreover, during the participants’ first 6 years of life, biannual assessments of their mothers provided information on quality of care, presence of father, quality of parental relationship, poverty status of the family, and mental health of mother. The analyses were controlled for the effects of child gender and ethnicity. The results suggested that the family environment in early childhood had significant effects on self-esteem as the children grew up. Although the effects became smaller with age, the effects were still present during young adulthood
The life-span development of domain-specific self-esteem
No full textSo far, nothing is known about the life-span development of domain-specific self-esteem. In this research, we examined the trajectories of self-esteem in 11 domains, moderators of the trajectories, and the age-graded relations of domain-specific self-esteem with global self-esteem in a nationally representative Swiss sample aged 16 to 90 years (N = 1,000). In most domains, self-esteem showed life-span trajectories that were quite different from the life-span trajectory of global self-esteem. Self-esteem in the domains of physical appearance, social relations, honesty, problem solving, and academic abilities explained a large amount of variance in global self-esteem. However, the correlation between self-esteem in the domain of physical appearance and global self-esteem significantly decreased with age. Controlling for self-esteem in the domain of academic abilities altered the trajectory of global self-esteem, suggesting that self-esteem changes in this domain might account for the decline of global self-esteem observed in old age
How large are actor and partner effects of personality on relationship satisfaction? The importance of controlling for shared method variance
Full text linkPrevious research suggests that the personality of a relationship partner predicts not only the individual’s own satisfaction with the relationship but also the partner’s satisfaction. Based on the actor–partner interdependence model, the present research tested whether actor and partner effects of personality are biased when the same method (e.g., self-report) is used for the assessment of personality and relationship satisfaction and, consequently, shared method variance is not controlled for. Data came from 186 couples, of whom both partners provided self- and partner reports on the Big Five personality traits. Depending on the research design, actor effects were larger than partner effects (when using only self-reports), smaller than partner effects (when using only partner reports), or of about the same size as partner effects (when using self- and partner reports). The findings attest to the importance of controlling for shared method variance in dyadic data analysis
Secondary victimization of crime victims by criminal proceedings
Full text linkIt is conceivable that criminal proceedings cause psychological harm to the crime victims involved, that is, cause secondary victimization. To investigate this hypothesis, negative and positive effects of criminal proceedings were investigated, as perceived by 137 victims of violent crimes who were involved in trials several years previously. Trial outcome and procedure variables were measured as potential causes of secondary victimization. Results show a high proportion of victims reporting overall negative effects. Powerful predictors were outcome satisfaction and procedural justice, but not subjective punishment severity, interactional justice, and psychological stress by criminal proceedings. The practical implications of the results pertain to whether victims should be advised to report the crime to the police or not, and to appropriate prevention and intervention measures of secondary victimization by criminal proceedings
Does perpetrator punishment satisfy victims' feelings of revenge?
Full text linkCriminal victimization often provokes strong feelings of revenge. Two studies were conducted to investigate whether legal punishment of the perpetrator reduces victims’ feelings of revenge. A cross-sectional study of 174 crime victims revealed that punishment severity does not predict feelings of revenge at a time several years after the trial. A longitudinal study of 31 crime victims revealed that, for the time interval from a few weeks before the trial to a few weeks after the trial, punishment severity significantly predicts a decrease in feelings of revenge; nevertheless intraindividual and interindividual stability of these feelings was high. Taken together, results of the two studies suggest that perpetrator punishment only partially, and moreover only transitorily, satisfies victims’ feelings of revenge. Therefore, satisfaction of victims’ feelings of revenge cannot be taken as empirical justification for tightening of sentencing norms
Family environment and self-esteem development in adolescence: A replication and extension
No full textA study by Krauss et al. (2020) suggested that the family environment (e.g., parental warmth, economic conditions of family) plays an important role for self-esteem development in adolescence. The present research sought to closely replicate and extend the study, using 4-wave longitudinal data from the Iowa Youth and Families Project, including 451 families. To replicate the prior study, we conducted the same set of analyses with similar measures and multi-informant assessments of mothers, fathers, and children from the same families. To extend the previous study, we tested novel aspects (i.e., controlling for prior exposure and testing the effect of the quality of sibling relationships). Overall, the findings provide no evidence for prospective effects between family environment and self-esteem in adolescence
The effects of legal involvement on crime victims' psychological adjustment
No full textThe purpose of this chapter is to examine the effects of legal involvement of crime victims on their psychological adjustment. First, causes of possible effects are described, which may be located within the procedure or the outcome of the legal process. Then, the available evidence is reviewed, most of it suggesting that legal involvement does not strongly affect the victims' psychological adjustment, neither negatively nor positively. The chapter continues with a discussion of whether victims should be advised to report the assault to the police or not, and it describes relevant decision criteria, such as victim adjustment retributive justice, victim compensation, victim security and societal security. Finally, suggestions for future research are outlined, pointing to necessary methodological improvements in the design of future studies on legal involvement
The long-term stability of self-esteem : Its time-dependent decay and nonzero asymptote
Full text linkHow stable are individual differences in self-esteem? We examined the time-dependent decay of rank-order stability of self-esteem and tested whether stability asymptotically approaches zero or a nonzero value across long test–retest intervals. Analyses were based on 6 assessments across a 29-year period of a sample of 3,180 individuals aged 14 to 102 years. The results indicated that, as test–retest intervals increased, stability exponentially decayed and asymptotically approached a nonzero value (estimated as .43). The exponential decay function explained a large proportion of variance in observed stability coefficients, provided a better fit than alternative functions, and held across gender and for all age groups from adolescence to old age. Moreover, structural equation modeling of the individual-level data suggested that a perfectly stable trait component underlies stability of self-esteem. The findings suggest that the stability of self-esteem is relatively large, even across very long periods, and that self-esteem is a trait-like characteristic
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