Self-esteem development across the life span: A longitudinal study with a large sample from Germany

Developmental Psychology

Volumn 51, Issue 2, 2015, Pages 248-259

  Orth, Ulrich ^a   Maes, Jürgen ^b   Schmitt, Manfred ^c  

^a UNIVERSITY OF BERN   (Switzerland)

^b BUNDESWEHR UNIVERSITY MUNICH   (Germany)

^c University of Koblenz Landau   (Germany)

Author keywords

Life span development; Longitudinal; Measurement invariance; Self esteem

Indexed keywords

ACHIEVEMENT; ADOLESCENT; ADULT; AGED; EMPLOYMENT; FEMALE; GERMANY; HEALTH STATUS; HUMAN; INCOME; JOB SATISFACTION; LIFE EVENT; LONGITUDINAL STUDY; MALE; MIDDLE AGED; PSYCHOLOGY; SELF CONCEPT; VERY ELDERLY;

ACHIEVEMENT; ADOLESCENT; ADULT; AGED; AGED, 80 AND OVER; EMPLOYMENT; FEMALE; GERMANY; HEALTH STATUS; HUMANS; INCOME; JOB SATISFACTION; LIFE CHANGE EVENTS; LONGITUDINAL STUDIES; MALE; MIDDLE AGED; SELF CONCEPT;

EID: 84925880636     PISSN: 00121649     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1037/a0038481     Document Type: Article

References (78)

1. Ackerman, R. A., Witt, E. A., Donnellan, M. B., Trzesniewski, K. H., Robins, R. W., & Kashy, D. A. (2011). What does the Narcissistic Personality Inventory really measure? Assessment, 18, 67-87. http://dx .doi.org/10.1177/1073191110382845
2. Baltes, P. B., Cornelius, S. W., & Nesselroade, J. R. (1979). Cohort effects in developmental psychology. In J. R. Nesselroade & P. B. Baltes (Eds.), Longitudinal research in the study of behavior and development (pp. 61-87). New York: Academic Press.
3. Baltes, P. B., & Mayer, K. U. (1999). The Berlin Aging Study: Aging from 70 to 100. New York: Cambridge University Press.
4. Baumeister, R. F., Smart, L., & Boden, J. M. (1996). Relation of threatened egotism to violence and aggression: The dark side of high self-esteem. Psychological Review, 103, 5-33. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X .103.1.5
5. Birkeland, M. S., Melkevik, O., Holsen, I., & Wold, B. (2012). Trajectories of global self-esteem development during adolescence. Journal of Adolescence, 35, 43-54. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2011.06 .006
6. Bollen, K. A., & Curran, P. J. (2006). Latent curve models: A structural equation perspective. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
7. Buhrmester, M. D., Blanton, H., & Swann, W. B., Jr. (2011). Implicit self-esteem: Nature, measurement, and a new way forward. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 100, 365-385. http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1037/a0021341
8. Burnham, K. P., & Anderson, D. R. (2004). Multimodel inference: Understanding AIC and BIC in model selection. Sociological Methods & Research, 33, 261-304. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0049124104268644
9. Chung, J. M., Robins, R. W., Trzesniewski, K. H., Noftle, E. E., Roberts, B. W., & Widaman, K. F. (2014). Continuity and change in self-esteem during emerging adulthood. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 106, 469-483. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0035135
10. Cole, D. A., & Maxwell, S. E. (2003). Testing mediational models with longitudinal data: Questions and tips in the use of structural equation modeling. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 112, 558-577. http://dx.doi .org/10.1037/0021-843X.112.4.558
11. Cole, D. A., Maxwell, S. E., Martin, J. M., Peeke, L. G., Seroczynski, A. D., Tram, J. M., . . . Maschman, T. (2001). The development of multiple domains of child and adolescent self-concept: A cohort sequential longitudinal design. Child Development, 72, 1723-1746. http://dx .doi.org/10.1111/1467-8624.00375
12. Cole, D. A., & Preacher, K. J. (2014). Manifest variable path analysis: Potentially serious and misleading consequences due to uncorrected measurement error. Psychological Methods, 19, 300-315. http://dx.doi .org/10.1037/a0033805
13. Donnellan, M. B., Trzesniewski, K. H., & Robins, R. W. (2011). Selfesteem: Enduring issues and controversies. In T. Chamorro-Premuzic, S. von Stumm, & A. Furnham (Eds.), The Wiley-Blackwell handbook of individual differences (pp. 718 -746). Chichester, England: Wiley- Blackwell.
14. Duncan, T. E., Duncan, S. C., & Strycker, L. A. (2006). An introduction to latent variable growth curve modeling: Concepts, issues, and applications. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
15. Edwards, M. C., & Wirth, R. J. (2009). Measurement and the study of change. Research in Human Development, 6, 74-96. http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1080/15427600902911163
16. Erol, R. Y., & Orth, U. (2011). Self-esteem development from age 14 to 30 years: A longitudinal study. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 101, 607-619. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0024299
17. Ferrer, E., Balluerka, N., & Widaman, K. F. (2008). Factorial invariance and the specification of second-order latent growth models. Methodology, 4, 22-36. http://dx.doi.org/10.1027/1614-2241.4.1.22
18. Gentile, B., Twenge, J. M., & Campbell, W. K. (2010). Birth cohort differences in self-esteem, 1988-2008: A cross-temporal meta-analysis. Review of General Psychology, 14, 261-268. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/ a0019919
19. Greenwald, A. G., & Farnham, S. D. (2000). Using the Implicit Association Test to measure self-esteem and self-concept. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79, 1022-1038. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022- 3514.79.6.1022
20. Harter, S. (2006). Developmental and individual difference perspectives on self-esteem. In D. K. Mroczek & T. D. Little (Eds.), Handbook of personality development (pp. 311-334). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
21. Heine, S. J., Lehman, D. R., Markus, H. R., & Kitayama, S. (1999). Is there a universal need for positive self-regard? Psychological Review, 106, 766-794. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.106.4.766
22. Hu, L., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling, 6, 1-55. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/ 10705519909540118
23. Huang, C. (2010). Mean-level change in self-esteem from childhood through adulthood: Meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Review of General Psychology, 14, 251-260. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0020543
24. Hutteman, R., Hennecke, M., Orth, U., Reitz, A. K., & Specht, J. (2014). Developmental tasks as a framework to study personality development in adulthood and old age. European Journal of Personality, 28, 267- 278. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/per.1959
25. Jordan, C. H., Spencer, S. J., Zanna, M. P., Hoshino-Browne, E., & Correll, J. (2003). Secure and defensive high self-esteem. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 969-978. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022- 3514.85.5.969
26. Kuster, F., & Orth, U. (2013). The long-term stability of self-esteem: Its time-dependent decay and nonzero asymptote. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 39, 677- 690. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/ 0146167213480189
27. Kuster, F., Orth, U., & Meier, L. L. (2013). High self-esteem prospectively predicts better work conditions and outcomes. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 4, 668 - 675. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/ 1948550613479806
28. Kuzucu, Y., Bontempo, D. E., Hofer, S. M., Stallings, M. C., & Piccinin, A. M. (2014). Developmental change and time-specific variation in global and specific aspects of self-concept in adolescence and association with depressive symptoms. Journal of Early Adolescence, 34, 638-666. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0272431613507498
29. Leary, M. R., & Baumeister, R. F. (2000). The nature and function of self-esteem: Sociometer theory. In M. P. Zanna (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 32, pp. 1-62). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
30. Little, T. D., Cunningham, W. A., Shahar, G., & Widaman, K. F. (2002). To parcel or not to parcel: Exploring the question, weighing the merits. Structural Equation Modeling, 9, 151-173. http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/ S15328007SEM0902_1
31. Little, T. D., Rhemtulla, M., Gibson, K., & Schoemann, A. M. (2013). Why the items versus parcels controversy needn't be one. Psychological Methods, 18, 285-300. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0033266
32. Lucas, R. E., & Donnellan, M. B. (2011). Personality development across the life span: Longitudinal analyses with a national sample from Germany. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 101, 847-861. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0024298
33. MacCallum, R. C., & Austin, J. T. (2000). Applications of structural equation modeling in psychological research. Annual Review of Psychology, 51, 201-226. http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.51.1.201
34. MacCallum, R. C., Browne, M. W., & Cai, L. (2006). Testing differences between nested covariance structure models: Power analysis and null hypotheses. Psychological Methods, 11, 19 -35. http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1037/1082-989X.11.1.19
35. MacDonald, G., & Leary, M. R. (2012). Individual differences in selfesteem. In M. R. Leary & J. P. Tangney (Eds.), Handbook of self and identity (pp. 354-377). New York: Guilford Press.
36. Markus, H. R., & Kitayama, S. (1991). Culture and the self: Implications for cognition, emotion, and motivation. Psychological Review, 98, 224- 253. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.98.2.224
37. Marsh, H. W., Lüdtke, O., Nagengast, B., Morin, A. J. S., & Von Davier, M. (2013). Why item parcels are (almost) never appropriate: Two wrongs do not make a right-Camouflaging misspecification with item parcels in CFA models. Psychological Methods, 18, 257-284. http://dx .doi.org/10.1037/a0032773
38. Marsh, H. W., Nagengast, B., & Morin, A. J. S. (2013). Measurement invariance of Big-Five factors over the life span: ESEM tests of gender, age, plasticity, maturity, and la dolce vita effects. Developmental Psychology, 49, 1194-1218. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0026913
39. Marsh, H. W., Scalas, L. F., & Nagengast, B. (2010). Longitudinal tests of competing factor structures for the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale: Traits, ephemeral artifacts, and stable response styles. Psychological Assessment, 22, 366-381. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0019225
40. Marshall, S. L., Parker, P. D., Ciarrochi, J., & Heaven, P. C. L. (2014). Is self-esteem a cause or consequence of social support? A 4-year longitudinal study. Child Development, 85, 1275-1291. http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1111/cdev.12176
41. McMullin, J. A., & Cairney, J. (2004). Self-esteem and the intersection of age, class, and gender. Journal of Aging Studies, 18, 75-90. http://dx .doi.org/10.1016/j.jaging.2003.09.006
42. Mehta, P. D., & West, S. G. (2000). Putting the individual back into individual growth curves. Psychological Methods, 5, 23-43. http://dx .doi.org/10.1037/1082-989X.5.1.23
43. Meier, L. L., Orth, U., Denissen, J. J. A., & Kühnel, A. (2011). Age differences in instability, contingency, and level of self-esteem across the life span. Journal of Research in Personality, 45, 604-612. http:// dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2011.08.008
44. Muthén, L. K., & Muthén, B. O. (2012). Mplus user's guide (7th ed.). Los Angeles: Author.
45. Orth, U., & Robins, R. W. (2014). The development of self-esteem. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 23, 381-387. http://dx.doi .org/10.1177/0963721414547414
46. Orth, U., Robins, R. W., & Widaman, K. F. (2012). Life-span development of self-esteem and its effects on important life outcomes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 102, 1271-1288. http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1037/a0025558
47. Orth, U., Trzesniewski, K. H., & Robins, R. W. (2010). Self-esteem development from young adulthood to old age: A cohort-sequential longitudinal study. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 98, 645-658. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0018769
48. Preacher, K. J., Wichman, A. L., MacCallum, R. C., & Briggs, N. E. (2008). Latent growth curve modeling. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
49. Pullmann, H., Allik, J., & Realo, A. (2009). Global self-esteem across the life span: A cross-sectional comparison between representative and self-selected Internet samples. Experimental Aging Research, 35, 20- 44. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03610730802544708
50. Roberts, B. W., & DelVecchio, W. F. (2000). The rank-order consistency of personality traits from childhood to old age: A quantitative review of longitudinal studies. Psychological Bulletin, 126, 3-25. http://dx.doi .org/10.1037/0033-2909.126.1.3
51. Roberts, B. W., & Wood, D. (2006). Personality development in the context of the neo-socioanalytic model of personality. In D. K. Mroczek & T. D. Little (Eds.), Handbook of personality development (pp. 11-39). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
52. Roberts, B. W., Wood, D., & Caspi, A. (2008). The development of personality traits in adulthood. In O. P. John, R. W. Robins, & L. A. Pervin (Eds.), Handbook of personality: Theory and research (pp. 375- 398). New York: Guilford Press.
53. Robins, R. W., Hendin, H. M., & Trzesniewski, K. H. (2001). Measuring global self-esteem: Construct validation of a single-item measure and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27, 151-161. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0146167201272002
54. Robins, R. W., Trzesniewski, K. H., Tracy, J. L., Gosling, S. D., & Potter, J. (2002). Global self-esteem across the life span. Psychology and Aging, 17, 423-434. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0882-7974.17.3.423
55. Rosenberg, M. (1965). Society and the adolescent self-image. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
56. Roth, M., Decker, O., Herzberg, P. Y., & Brähler, E. (2008). Dimensionality and norms of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale in a German general population sample. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 24, 190-197. http://dx.doi.org/10.1027/1015-5759.24.3.190
57. Schafer, J. L., & Graham, J. W. (2002). Missing data: Our view of the state of the art. Psychological Methods, 7, 147-177. http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1037/1082-989X.7.2.147
58. Schmal, A., Maes, J., & Schmitt, M. (1996). Gerechtigkeit als innerdeutsches Problem: Untersuchungsplan und Stichprobe (Berichte aus der Arbeitsgruppe "Verantwortung, Gerechtigkeit, Moral" Nr. 96) [Justice in united Germany: Study design and sample (Reports from the Working Group "Responsibility, Justice, and Morality" No. 96)]. Retrieved from: http://www.gerechtigkeitsforschung.de/berichte/beri096.pdf
59. Schmitt, M., & Maes, J. (1998). Perceived injustice in unified Germany and mental health. Social Justice Research, 11, 59-78. http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1023/A:1022133020802
60. Schmitt, M., & Maes, J. (2002). Stereotypic ingroup bias as self-defense against relative deprivation: Evidence from a longitudinal study of the German unification process. European Journal of Social Psychology, 32, 309-326. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.91
61. Schmitt, M., Maes, J., & Schmal, A. (1997). Gerechtigkeit als innerdeutsches Problem: Analyse der Messeigenschaften von Indikatoren der seelischen Gesundheit. (Berichte aus der Arbeitsgruppe "Verantwortung, Gerechtigkeit, Moral" Nr. 104) [Justice in united Germany: Analysis of the psychometric properties of mental health indicators (Reports from the Working Group "Responsibility, Justice, and Morality" No. 104)]. Retrieved from: http://www.gerechtigkeitsforschung.de/berichte/ beri104.pdf
62. Sowislo, J. F., & Orth, U. (2013). Does low self-esteem predict depression and anxiety? A meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Psychological Bulletin, 139, 213-240. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0028931
63. Specht, J., Bleidorn, W., Denissen, J. J. A., Hennecke, M., Hutteman, R., Kandler, C., . . . Zimmermann, J. (2014). What drives adult personality development? A comparison of theoretical perspectives and empirical evidence. European Journal of Personality, 28, 216-230. http://dx.doi .org/10.1002/per.1966
64. Specht, J., Egloff, B., & Schmukle, S. C. (2011). Stability and change of personality across the life course: The impact of age and major life events on mean-level and rank-order stability of the Big Five. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 101, 862-882. http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1037/a0024950
65. Steiger, A. E., Allemand, M., Robins, R. W., & Fend, H. A. (2014). Low and decreasing self-esteem during adolescence predict adult depression two decades later. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 106, 325-338. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0035133
66. Trzesniewski, K. H., & Donnellan, M. B. (2009). Reevaluating the evidence for increasingly positive self-views among high school students: More evidence for consistency across generations (1976 -2006). Psychological Science, 20, 920-922. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280 .2009.02361.x
67. Trzesniewski, K. H., & Donnellan, M. B. (2010). Rethinking "Generation Me": A study of cohort effects from 1976 -2006. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 5, 58 -75. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/ 1745691609356789
68. Trzesniewski, K. H., Donnellan, M. B., Moffitt, T. E., Robins, R. W., Poulton, R., & Caspi, A. (2006). Low self-esteem during adolescence predicts poor health, criminal behavior, and limited economic prospects during adulthood. Developmental Psychology, 42, 381-390. http://dx .doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.42.2.381
69. Trzesniewski, K. H., Donnellan, M. B., & Robins, R. W. (2003). Stability of self-esteem across the life span. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 205-220. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.84.1.205
70. Twenge, J. M., & Campbell, W. K. (2001). Age and birth cohort differences in self-esteem: A cross-temporal meta-analysis. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 5, 321-344. http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/ S15327957PSPR0504_3
71. Wagner, J., Gerstorf, D., Hoppmann, C., & Luszcz, M. A. (2013). The nature and correlates of self-esteem trajectories in late life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 105, 139-153. http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1037/a0032279
72. Wagner, J., Lang, F. R., Neyer, F. J., & Wagner, G. G. (2014). Self-esteem across adulthood: The role of resources. European Journal of Ageing, 11, 109-119. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10433-013-0299-z
73. Wagner, J., Lüdtke, O., Jonkmann, K., & Trautwein, U. (2013). Cherish yourself: Longitudinal patterns and conditions of self-esteem change in the transition to young adulthood. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 104, 148-163. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0029680
74. Watson, D., Suls, J., & Haig, J. (2002). Global self-esteem in relation to structural models of personality and affectivity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83, 185-197. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022- 3514.83.1.185
75. Widaman, K. F. (2006). Missing data: What to do with or without them. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 71, 42-64.
76. Widaman, K. F., Ferrer, E., & Conger, R. D. (2010). Factorial invariance within longitudinal structural equation models: Measuring the same construct across time. Child Development Perspectives, 4, 10-18. http:// dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1750-8606.2009.00110.x
77. Wirth, R. J., & Edwards, M. C. (2007). Item factor analysis: Current approaches and future directions. Psychological Methods, 12, 58-79. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/1082-989X.12.1.58
78. Zeiders, K. H., Umaña-Taylor, A. J., & Derlan, C. L. (2013). Trajectories of depressive symptoms and self-esteem in Latino youths: Examining the role of gender and perceived discrimination. Developmental Psychology, 49, 951-963. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0028866