SELF-ESTEEM DURING EMERGING ADULTHOOD Table6 show that individuals who received better grades exhibited a in sel chievement and em by showing that c s in grades Perceived change in self-esteem Demegaed m.not self-e is dwi油 Predictor B SEB BB SEB B char 61.1438.61.1438 cem and changes in grades is not surprising at a highl el Aanmi -01 t makes on hov a their domain-speci that has received minimal attention in the research literatur ing college.high expectations for rades ear to he bene al fo icipant high expe that or typical aectoryand that itis e to th average,selt- that oc cur in a highly competitive adverse effect of high expectations on self- ge hold contro. idng for ctual ve-initial levels by the end of colleg get better grades ctually does long-term eads to an increased sense .The curent study lege)and supports previou earch that charact suc sions as a"mixed blessing"(Pau hus.1998:Rok etl.2012 but is in ontrast to previous res ch sho 2001 ning and during college is consistent withr Perceived Self-Esteem Change 20:Orth etal 2010:w or the ni20081M the steem had decreased.most reported that they thought their sel exraversion. Big Five.Why would this be the cas Big Five esteem (R et al..20 in the presen study suggest that to vi Academic Achievement and Self-Esteem with Roberts'maturity principle.One studentinoursample stated. At the individual differences in the self-esteem trajectory.Our resultsissue that has received minimal attention in the research literature. Self-esteem was assessed three times during the first year of college, and then once a year for each subsequent year. Our results show that there is an average or typical trajectory and that it is nonlinear. On average, self-esteem is greatly impacted within the first year; it drops substantially during the first semester, suggest￾ing that people are adversely affected by the initial transition into college. However, increases by the end of the first year suggest that people adapt somewhat quickly to the transition. Self-esteem continues to increase to above-initial levels by the end of college, suggesting that successfully navigating through the college years leads to an increased sense of self-worth. The current study sup￾ports previous longitudinal research showing that self-esteem de￾clines during the first year of college (Pritchard et al., 2007; Shim et al., 2012) but is in contrast to previous research showing no change in self-esteem between the beginning and end of college (van der Velde et al., 1995). Additionally, the overall increase in self-esteem during college is consistent with recent studies show￾ing that self-esteem increases during emerging adulthood (Erol & Orth, 2011; Orth et al., 2010; Wagner et al., 2013), lending support for the “maturity principle,” which states that as people age they increase on traits that reflect maturity and adaptability (Roberts & Mroczek, 2008; Roberts, Wood, & Caspi, 2008). Moreover, the increase in self-esteem is consistent with the patterns of personal￾ity change observed in the same sample. That is, the Big Five traits that tend to increase during college— extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness—are positively associated with self-esteem, whereas the Big Five trait that tends to decrease during college—neuroticism—is negatively associated with self￾esteem (Robins et al., 2005; Robins, Tracy, et al., 2001). Academic Achievement and Self-Esteem Although we were able to identify an average trajectory for self-esteem throughout college, our results show that there was significant individual variability around this trajectory. Given the importance of academic achievement in college, we examined whether individual differences in academic achievement predicted individual differences in the self-esteem trajectory. Our results show that individuals who received better grades exhibited a greater increase in self-esteem over the 4 years of college. This finding extends previous research on the link between academic achievement and self-esteem by showing that changes in grades are associated with changes in self-esteem during the college years. Some previous studies have found that only academic self￾esteem, not global self-esteem, is associated with academic achievement (e.g., Marsh & Craven, 2006). However, the small but significant correlation we found between changes in global self-esteem and changes in grades is not surprising at a highly competitive university, where the stakes to perform well are high and where academic success is often central to the overall self￾worth of academically talented students. If students are spending the majority of their waking hours engaged in academic activities, it makes sense that their self-esteem might be contingent on how well they perform academically, thus reflecting on their overall sense of self-worth, as well as their domain-specific evaluations of their academic competence. Our results also show that the majority of our participants expected to earn better grades than they ended up receiving. Upon entering college, high expectations for grades appear to be bene￾ficial for self-esteem, such that participants who have high expec￾tations also have higher initial levels of self-esteem. However, these high expectations may make students more vulnerable to the inevitable failures that occur in a highly competitive academic context, negatively impacting self-esteem over time. Importantly, the adverse effect of high expectations on self-esteem change hold after controlling for the actual grades students received. This finding provides another illustration of how positive illusions (i.e., thinking one is going to get better grades than one actually does) might be associated with short-term benefits but long-term nega￾tive consequences (i.e., reduced growth in self-esteem throughout college) and supports previous research that characterizes such positive illusions as a “mixed blessing” (Paulhus, 1998; Robins & Beer, 2001). Perceived Self-Esteem Change The present study also sought to examine people’s perceptions of self-esteem change during the college years. Our results show that the majority of participants believed their self-esteem had changed. Although some reported that they thought their self￾esteem had decreased, most reported that they thought their self￾esteem had increased, similar to Robins, Fraley, et al.’s (2001) finding that the majority of participants believed they had changed on at least one of the Big Five. Why would this be the case? Systematic biases might prevent people from seeing their self￾esteem in full light. For example, open-ended responses from participants in the present study suggest that people tend to view themselves as becoming more mature during college, consistent with Roberts’ maturity principle. One student in our sample stated, I think I have changed tremendously since I entered college. I see myself as a stronger individual with distinct interests in a wider variety of things. I feel as if I have a lot more self-confidence and higher self-esteem. I am no longer as shy nor as naïve as I was. At the same time, I see myself as being more cynical and more defensive about romantic relationships. I enjoy my private time much more, and I feel much more mature and calmer than in my younger years. Table 6 Association Between Actual and Perceived Change in Self￾Esteem, With and Without Demographic Covariates Predictor Perceived change in self-esteem No demographic covariates Demographic covariates included B SE B B SE B B Self-esteem intercept .61 .14 .38
.61 .14 .38
Self-esteem slope: First semester .62 .39 .18 .58 .42 .16 Self-esteem slope: 4 years 4.93 1.10 .57
4.85 1.16 .56
Female — — — .17 .15 .08 Asian — — — .00 .15 .00 Non-Asian minority — — — .05 .22 .01 Socioeconomic status — — — .05 .08 .04 Note. R2
.26 in both models. Dashes denote that the variable was not entered into the model.
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