A Cohort-Sequential Study of Self-Esteem Development

背景和目的：高自尊与许多积极的结果有关，包括职业成功，健康的关系，主观幸福感和学术成就。相反，低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。考虑到自尊的重要性，我们对成年和老年时期自尊的发展、在生命的不同阶段促进自尊的因素以及自尊对重要生活结果的长期影响知之甚少。该项目的目的包括：（1）记录整个成人生命中自尊的年龄差异，（2）测试关于工作，关系和健康经历对自尊变化的影响的假设，以及（3）检查自尊对工作，关系和健康经历变化的相互影响。研究方法：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3波面板研究，采用队列顺序设计，对25至96岁的个体进行了8年的纵向随访（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规范轨迹，并检查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与年龄相关的自尊变化以及自尊的前因和后果是否在多个年龄组中普遍存在。将使用具有潜在增长曲线的结构方程模型对假设进行检验。 重要性：这些发现将有助于确定在生命周期中自尊发生规范性变化的时间，提供有关自尊变化条件的新知识，并确定促进健康自尊发展的因素。此外，拟议中的研究将测试关于自尊的积极和消极后果的竞争假设，并帮助调和关于自尊是否是重要社会问题的原因或后果（或两者兼而有之）的相互冲突的理论观点。最后，通过检查跨发展阶段和跨三个生活领域的结果模式，我们将使用这些发现来发展自尊的生命历程轨迹的总体理论。

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.