Predictors and correlates of perceptions of self-worth for 17 year olds in Belfast and Dublin

Abstract

Self-worth or self-esteem appears to be an important element in the process of identity achievement. Some research has looked at factors within the individual and within the family which are thought to contribute to selfesteem; much of it has been cross-sectional making it impossible to uncover dynamic relationships between early formative experiences and later outcomes in terms of self-worth/self-esteem. The study reported in this paper is longitudinal since data were collected at age 12 and age 17 and thus permits investigation of these issues. It also extends previous research in the area by examining possible relationships not only between perceptions of self-worth and other domain-specific self-evaluations and family-related experiences, but between self-worth and attitudes towards others in society and by developing a model linking these contemporaneous feelings with earlier experiences and interactions.