Self-esteem

Defintion of self-esteem

evaluative component of self - individual’s evaluation off their worth as a person, based on assessment of qualities that make up self-concept

Self-esteem in children

• children first evaluate their competencies seperately in different domains

• 4-7 yrs: rate themselves positively in all domains

• ~8 yrs: competency appraisals begin to converge with other people’s evaluations

• children differ in terms of importance attributed to different domains

• children who rate themselves as more competent in domains they perceive as important have higher levels of self-worth

Self-esteem in adolescents

• interpersonal self-worth comes to the forefront: centered on interpersonal relationships

• adolescents often perceive their self-worth differently in different relational contexts

• combined, these contribute to global self-esteem, though different teens may perceive one domain as more important than another

Gender differences of self-esteem

• girls tend to derive self-esteem from supportive relationships with friends and winning friends’ approval

• boys tend to derive self-esteem from ability to influence their friends, and their romantic competence

Development of self-esteem

• self-esteem gradually declines across childhood, possibly as self-evaluations become more accurate and balanced

• self-esteem continues to decline during adolescence, possibly due to issues associated with puberty, challenging academic shifts and the emerging ability to think abstractly about self and future

Importance of self-esteem

• adolescents from high risk ennvironments with high self-esteem were less likely to become depressed or display conduct disorders in the future

• adolescents with low self-esteem had poorer mental and physical health, worse economic prospects and higher criminality in mid-20s

• programmes aiming to boost self-worth of low self-esteem children and adolescents associated with enhanced personal adjustment and academic performance

• aggressive pre-adolescence with high self-esteem increasingly valued rewards won by behaving aggressively and belittling victims

Factors associated with self-esteem

• parenting styles

• peers

• culture