Self-Esteem Links in Families with 12-Year-Old Children and in Separated Spouses

• Published in: The journal of psychology Vol. 144; no. 4; pp. 341 - 359
• Main Authors: Elfhag, Kristina, Tynelius, Per, Rasmussen, Finn
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Taylor & Francis Group 01-07-2010; Taylor & Francis Inc
• Subjects: Academic achievement; Adults; Body mass index; Child; Child development; Children; Children & youth; Cohabitation; Divorce - psychology; Divorced persons; Environmental aspects; Families & family life; Family Relations; Family structure; Fathers; Female; Girls; Health Surveys; Humans; Male; Married persons; Medicin och hälsovetenskap; Mothers; Overweight; Parent-Child Relations; Parents & parenting; Partners; Personality Inventory - statistics & numerical data; Psychometrics; Questionnaires; Self Concept; Self esteem; Self image; Selfesteem; Selfworth; Sex Factors; Single Parent - psychology; Social Environment; Spouses; Spouses - psychology; Sweden; Sweden
• ISSN: 0022-3980; 1940-1019
• DOI: 10.1080/00223981003648237

The aim of the present study is to map associations of self-esteem in families with 12-year-old children and in separated spouses. The authors assessed self-esteem using the Harter Self-Perception Profile for Adults (B. Messer & S. Harter, 1986) and the Harter Self-Perception Profile for Children (S.
Harter, 1988
; L.
Wichstrom, 1995
) in (a) 1,236 pairs of spouses and their 12-year-old children and (b) 159 pairs of ex-spouses. The authors found links for all aspects of self-esteem for married and cohabiting spouses in contrast with ex-spouses who lacked such associations. Ex-spouses had a lower global self-worth than did married and cohabiting spouses. The authors also found parent-child associations for self-esteem. Girls resembled their mothers' global self-worth more than their fathers' and more than the boys. Family members manifest similar levels of self-esteem. The spouses' similarity can be due to assortative mating, a convergence over time, or both. For children, environmental influence in the family context can contribute to the formation of self-esteem. The stronger mother-girl link suggests that maternal identification of self-esteem is an environmental factor for girls in particular.