title: Antecedents, Consequences, and Mechanisms: On the Longitudinal Interplay Between Academic Self-Enhancement and Psychological Adjustment.
abstract: We investigated the reciprocal associations between academic self-enhancement and key indicators of intra- and interpersonal adjustment as well as the role of self-esteem as a mediator. This longitudinal study involved three assessments in a sample of 709 German children and adolescents (Mage  = 11.83; 54% female) over the course of one academic year. We assessed self-reported subjective well-being as an indicator of intrapersonal adjustment and peer-reported popularity as an indicator of interpersonal adjustment. We computed cross-lagged and longitudinal mediational analyses. Academic self-enhancement prospectively predicted high subsequent well-being and popularity. Vice versa, well-being and popularity prospectively predicted high subsequent levels of self-enhancement. High self-esteem mediated the longitudinal associations between self-enhancement and well-being in both directions, but not the links between self-enhancement and popularity. Self-enhancement and adjustment are bidirectionally linked: Self-enhancement entails intrapersonal and interpersonal benefits; at the same time, adjustment in both domains fosters self-enhancement. In terms of intrapersonal, but not interpersonal adjustment, self-esteem seems to serve as a linchpin, accounting for all longitudinal associations. Furthermore, we present evidence indicating that self-enhancement indicators that are based on difference scores (instead of residuals) are problematic and might have led to negatively biased results in the literature.
authors.affiliation: University of Leipzig.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dufner
authors.affiliation: Columbia University.|Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.
authors.forename: Anne K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Reitz
authors.affiliation: Freie Universität Berlin.
authors.forename: Lysann
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zander
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D041923:Adolescent Development; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D012574:Schools; D012649:Self Concept; D012917:Social Adjustment; D012928:Social Desirability; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*