10 CHUNG ET AL 14 1.752.75 3.75 Self- 375 Esteem 4-year 1st 0 Slope 44 Intercept (09 Semeste .02 Slope -06(.-32)*2 2-.01(6.18) 203.38 3.641 -26* .10 .58(16) 4.85(.56) 1.32 .61(.38) Asian Non-Asian Perceived Self- Minority Female SES Esteem Change 88 p<05. Below we discuss the implications of the findings with regard Rank-Order Stability of Self-Esteem continuity in self-c rtime and thus Increa hat person ghe consistently high,indicating that people maintained their relative evels of stab self-esteem found in longitudinal studies of self-esteem and p strongly during the first semester. nality traits Mean-Level Change in Self-Esteem 1995).The high rank-orde stability of self-est Below we discuss the implications of the findings with regard to our central research questions. Rank-Order Stability of Self-Esteem The current study sought to examine the stability of individual differences in self-esteem. Our results show that stability was consistently high, indicating that people maintained their relative positions within the sample; those who entered college with high levels of self-esteem tended to leave college with high levels of self-esteem, and vice versa. The stability coefficients from the current study are comparable to or higher than what has been found in longitudinal studies of self-esteem and personality traits during young adulthood (Roberts & DelVecchio, 2000; Robins, Fraley, et al., 2001; Trzesniewski et al., 2003; van der Velde et al., 1995). The high rank-order stability of self-esteem during this period suggests that, as individuals make the transition into adult￾hood, maturational changes are reduced, the sociocultural context is increasingly subject to individual control, and a more stable sense of self is formed. These processes would tend to promote continuity in self-concept over time and thus increase stability coefficients. These findings offer support for self-attitudes show￾ing high levels of stability, which counters Conley’s (1984) claim that personality traits and intelligence have higher levels of stabil￾ity than self-attitudes. Our results also show that the variability of individual differences was significantly restricted during the time that average self-esteem levels were at their lowest. This finding suggests that the college transition affected students similarly and strongly during the first semester. Mean-Level Change in Self-Esteem The current study also sought to examine the trajectory of self-esteem throughout the entire college experience, an important Figure 5. Correspondence between self-esteem trajectory and perceived self-esteem change (Model 5). Coefficients for demographic variables are presented in Table 6. Unstandardized estimates are presented in the figure. Standardized estimates are in parentheses. SES
socioeconomic status.
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