SAN DIEGO, Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2001 - A new analysis of decades of self-esteem data indicates that recent generations of children and college students have rising feelings of self-worth, but may not possess better behavior or skills to match. The analysis also challenges recent studies that assert girls' self-esteem suffers more than boys' during adolescence.
Jean Twenge, Ph.D., of San Diego State University's Psychology department, used a new technique she developed called cross-temporal meta-analysis to provide a more comprehensive examination of existing self-esteem data collected between 1965 and 1994 from 65,000 young adults and 40,000 children. University of Georgia psychology professor W. Keith Campbell assisted with the project.
The study, which was published edition of the journal Personality and Social Psychology Review, shows that children's self esteem has risen since the 1980s in correlation with favorable social statistics (such as lower divorce and unemployment rates) and the advent of school self-esteem programs. It also shows that college students' self-esteem has risen steadily over the past few decades. However, declining SAT scores and rising rates of teen pregnancy, crime, anxiety and suicide over the same period provides evidence that behaviors and academic skills worsened even as self-esteem levels rose.
"Self-esteem is on the rise, but it's difficult to find many clear benefits of this when viewing broader cultural changes," Twenge said. "We may think more highly of ourselves, but there's little objective evidence why we should."
Twenge also noted the research indicated that while girls' self-esteem levels decreased slightly in junior high school, boys' levels fell at a similar rate. In high school, self-esteem grows again for boys and girls, but the boys' growth rate outpaces the girls'.
"Several previous studies over the past decade have argued that the transition into adolescence is more problematic for girls, creating a drop in their self-esteem. What we've found is that adolescence appears to be equally difficult for boys and girls," Twenge said. "However, boys' self-esteem recovers more quickly and rises higher in high school. Girls' self-esteem rises in college to narrow the gap."
Twenge's cross-temporal meta-analysis study used special codes and weights to cross-reference data from existing studies conducted via traditional and very different methods - either the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSE), most commonly used on college students; or the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory (SEI), used by psychologists working with children. Twenge's method allowed for a simultaneous examination of age and group effects to give researchers a greater understanding of generational differences in self-esteem.
San Diego State University is the oldest and largest higher education institution in the San Diego region. Since it was founded in 1897, SDSU has grown to offer bachelor's degrees in 78 areas, master's degrees in 61 areas and doctorates in 13. SDSU's more than 33,000 students participate in academic curricula distinguished by direct contact with faculty and an increasing international emphasis that prepares them for a global future.
###
