Self-Esteem Development Across the Lifespan

TLDR

Self‑esteem development across the lifespan is now reaching consensus after decades of debate. The study calls for replication of the trajectory, identification of mediating mechanisms, and development of an integrative life‑course model of self‑esteem. Self‑esteem peaks in childhood, falls in adolescence (especially girls), rises in adulthood, and falls sharply in old age, while individuals maintain relative rankings over time with stability comparable to other personality traits.

Abstract

After decades of debate, a consensus is emerging about the way self-esteem develops across the lifespan. On average, self-esteem is relatively high in childhood, drops during adolescence (particularly for girls), rises gradually throughout adulthood, and then declines sharply in old age. Despite these general age differences, individuals tend to maintain their ordering relative to one another: Individuals who have relatively high self-esteem at one point in time tend to have relatively high self-esteem years later. This type of stability (i.e., rank-order stability) is somewhat lower during childhood and old age than during adulthood, but the overall level of stability is comparable to that found for other personality characteristics. Directions for further research include (a) replication of the basic trajectory using more sophisticated longitudinal designs, (b) identification of the mediating mechanisms underlying self-esteem change, (c) the development of an integrative theoretical model of the life-course trajectory of self-esteem.