title: Continuity and change in self-esteem during emerging adulthood.
abstract: The present study examined the development of self-esteem in a sample of emerging adults (N = 295) followed longitudinally over 4 years of college. Six waves of self-esteem data were available. Participants also rated, at the end of their 4th year, the degree to which they thought their self-esteem had changed during college. Rank-order stability was high across all waves of data (Mdn disattenuated correlation = .87). On average, self-esteem levels dropped substantially during the 1st semester (d = -.68), rebounded by the end of the 1st year (d = .73), and then gradually increased over the next 3 years, producing a small (d = .16) but significant mean-level increase in self-esteem from the beginning to the end of college. Individuals who received good grades in college tended to show larger increases in self-esteem. In contrast, individuals who entered college with unrealistically high expectations about their academic achievement tended to show smaller increases in self-esteem, despite beginning college with relatively high self-esteem. With regard to perceived change, 67% reported that their self-esteem increased during college, whereas 12% reported that it declined; these perceptions tended to correspond with actual increases and decreases in their self-esteem scale scores (β = .56). Overall, the findings support the perspective that self-esteem, like other personality characteristics, can change in systematic ways while exhibiting continuity over time.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology.
authors.forename: Joanne M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology.
authors.forename: Richard W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Robins
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Development.
authors.forename: Kali H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Trzesniewski
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Willamette University.
authors.forename: Erik E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Noftle
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
authors.forename: Brent W
authors.initials: BW
authors.lastname: Roberts
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology.
authors.forename: Keith F
authors.initials: KF
authors.lastname: Widaman
mesh_terms: D000124:Achievement; D000293:Adolescent; D041923:Adolescent Development / Q000502:physiology; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D010553:Personality Development; D012649:Self Concept; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology; D013997:Time Factors; D014495:Universities; D055815:Young Adult