SELF-ESTEEM STABILITY AND RESPONSES TO THE STABILITY OF SELF SCALE

The Stability of Self scale has been used to infer the temporal stability of self-esteem from responses collected on a single occasion. Using the large, nationally representative Youth in Transition data, Stability of Self responses were related to the variability in self-esteem responses collected in four consecutive years. Within-subject variability of self-esteem responses was unrelated to Stability of Self responses, and the correlations among esteem ratings were very similar for students having high, medium, and low Stability of Self responses. Consistent with other research considering short-term stability of esteem, the present investigation indicates that stability of esteem cannot be accurately inferred from Stability of Self responses collected on a single occasion. © 1993 Academic Press. All rights reserved.