A Cohort-Sequential Study of Self-Esteem Development

背景和目标：高自尊与许多积极的结果有关，包括职业成功、健康的人际关系、主观幸福感和学业成就。相反，缺乏自尊与许多社会问题有关，包括抑郁症状、健康状况不佳和反社会行为。鉴于自尊的重要性，我们对自尊在成年和老年期间的发展、在人生不同阶段促进自尊的因素、或自尊对重要生活成果的长期影响知之甚少。该项目的目标包括：(1)记录整个成人一生中自尊的年龄差异；(2)检验关于工作、人际关系和健康经历对个体内自尊变化的影响的假设；(3)考察自尊对工作、关系和健康经历变化的交互影响。方法：这项拟议的研究将使用美国人改变生活(ACL)研究的数据，这是一项全国性的三波小组研究，采用队列序贯设计，对25岁至96岁的个体进行8年的纵向跟踪(N=3,617；N=2,867；N=2,562)。ACL数据集提供了一个独特的机会来描绘从成年早期到老年的自尊的标准轨迹，并考察自尊和重要生活经历之间的相互关系。队列序贯设计使我们能够测试自尊的年龄相关变化以及自尊的前因和后果是否在多个年龄段的人群中普遍存在。假设将使用潜在增长曲线的结构方程建模进行检验。 意义：这些发现将有助于确定自尊在一生中何时发生正常变化，提供关于自尊变化条件的新知识，并确定促进自尊健康发展的因素。此外，这项拟议的研究将检验关于自尊的积极和消极后果的相互矛盾的假设，并有助于调和关于自尊是重要社会问题的原因或结果(或两者兼而有之)的相互矛盾的理论观点。最后，通过研究不同发展阶段和三个生活领域的结果模式，我们将利用这些发现来发展自尊的生命过程轨迹的总体理论。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Background and Aims: High self-esteem is associated with many positive outcomes, including occupational success, healthy relationships, subjective well-being, and academic achievement. Conversely, low self-esteem has been linked to a number of societal problems, including depressive symptoms, poor health, and antisocial behavior. Given its importance, we know relatively little about the development of self-esteem during adulthood and old age, about the factors that promote self-esteem at different stages of the lifespan, or about the long-term consequences of self-esteem for important life outcomes. Aims of the proposed project include: (1) to document age differences in self-esteem across the entire adult lifespan, (2) to test hypotheses about the effects of work, relationship, and health experiences on intra-individual changes in self-esteem, and (3) to examine the reciprocal influence of self-esteem on changes in work, relationship, and health experiences. Methods: The proposed research will use data from the Americans' Changing Lives (ACL) study, a national 3-wave panel study that uses a cohort-sequential design in which individuals aged 25 to 96 were followed longitudinally for eight years (N = 3,617; N = 2,867; N = 2,562). The ACL dataset provides a unique opportunity to delineate the normative trajectory of self-esteem from early adulthood to old age and to examine reciprocal relations between self-esteem and important life experiences. The cohort-sequential design allows us to test whether age-related changes in self-esteem and the antecedents and consequences of self-esteem generalize across multiple age cohorts. Hypotheses will be tested using structural equation modeling with latent growth curves. Significance: The findings will help establish when in the lifespan normative change in self-esteem occurs, provide new knowledge about the conditions under which self-esteem changes, and identify factors that promote healthy self-esteem development. Moreover, the proposed research will test competing hypotheses about the positive and negative consequences of self-esteem and help reconcile conflicting theoretical views about whether self-esteem is a cause or consequence (or both) of important social problems. Finally, by examining patterns of results across developmental periods and across three life domains, we will use the findings to develop an overarching theory of the life course trajectory of self-esteem.