title: Self-esteem is relatively stable late in life: the role of resources in the health, self-regulation, and social domains.
abstract: A large body of research has documented changes in self-esteem across adulthood and individual-difference correlates thereof. However, little is known about whether people maintain their self-esteem until the end of life and what role key risk factors in the health, cognitive, self-regulatory, and social domains play. To examine these questions, we apply growth modeling to 13-year longitudinal data obtained from by now deceased participants of the Berlin Aging Study (N = 462; age 70-103, M = 86.3 years, SD = 8.3; 51% male). Results revealed that self-esteem, on average, does decline in very old age and close to death, but the amount of typical decline is minor. Health-related constraints and disabilities as well as lower control beliefs and higher loneliness were each associated with lower self-esteem late in life. We obtained initial evidence that some of these associations were stronger among the oldest-old participants. Our results corroborate and extend initial reports that self-esteem is, on average, fairly stable into the last years of life. We discuss possible pathways by which common and often severe late-life challenges may undermine an otherwise relatively robust self-esteem system.
authors.affiliation: Leibnitz Institute for Science Education.
authors.forename: Jenny
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wagner
authors.affiliation: University of British Columbia.
authors.forename: Christiane
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hoppmann
authors.affiliation: Pennsylvania State University.
authors.forename: Nilam
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ram
authors.affiliation: Humboldt-University of Berlin.
authors.forename: Denis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gerstorf
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000379:methods; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008132:Loneliness; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D012649:Self Concept; D012927:Social Control, Informal; D058992:Social Participation / Q000523:psychology