Age and race differences in the trajectories of self-esteem.
The purpose of this research was to assess age- and race-based variation in within-persons changes in self-esteem over a 16-year period. We used hierarchical linear modeling with data from 3,617 adults 25 years of age and older who were interviewed up to 4 times. Self-esteem increased, on average, over the course of the study period. At the same time, significant age variations around this trend were observed, with younger adults experiencing increases in self-esteem and older adults experiencing decreases. In general, race differences were not evident with respect to average levels or rates of change in self-esteem. However, a significant Age x Race interaction suggested that late-life declines in self-esteem were steeper for Blacks compared with Whites. These findings suggest the presence of age- and race-based stratification with respect to self-esteem. Future work in this area should examine the health and well-being effects of declining self-esteem during old age.
Department of Health Policy, Management, and Behavior, University at Albany School of Public Health, One University Place, Rensselaer, NY 12144-3445, USA. bashaw@albany.edu
Benjamin A
BA
Shaw
Jersey
J
Liang
Neal
N
Krause
D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000145:classification / Q000523:psychology; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology*; D044383:Black People / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011594:Psychometrics; D012649:Self Concept; D044465:White People / Q000523:psychology*