Self-Esteem and Adjustment in Early Adolescence: A Social-Contextual Perspective

Investigated (a) global self-esteem and (b) social-contextual incongruity in factors contributing to the development and maintenance of self-esteem as predictors of the emotional, behavioral, and academic adjustment of 213 young adolescents. Higher reported levels of global self-esteem were associated with more favorable scores on most measures of adjustment. Incremental predictive contributions also were found, however, for indices of social-contextual incongruity in factors contributing to the development and maintenance of self-esteem. Incongruity in the direction of domain-specific self-evaluations being relatively stronger for peer-oriented domains in comparison to the domains of school and family was linked consistently with less positive adjustment. Descriptive views of the self and standards for self-evaluation that were more favorable and lenient than parental views and standards in corresponding areas also were implicated in poorer adjustment. Results indicate the importance of social-contextual factors for understanding the role of self-esteem in adaptation during early adolescence. Implications for esteem enhancement as a prevention and health promotion strategy with this age group are discussed.