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Past research has addressed the relationship between global self-esteem and age among adolescents and has shown 1 mixed results. Longitudinal studies have more often shown self-esteem to increase with age. In this article longitudinal evidence gathered from three age cohorts of adolescents is presented that demonstrates systematic increases in self-esteem as subjects grow older. Three potential artifactual accounts of these results are assessed: (a) subject attrition, (b) the effects of testing, and (c) carelessness of subjects. None of these are found to be responsible for the pattern of results. Several possible theoretical explanations for rising self-esteem during adolescence are discussed.Theorists working in two distinct traditions have been interested in how self-esteem varies by age among adolescents. They have shown interest either in age as a proxy variable representing various developmental processes or in the social meaning of age. First, developmental psychologists have looked at the impact of development on aspects of personality. Long, Henderson, and Ziller (1967) hypothesized that increased physical size leads to a heightened sense of competence during childhood and early adolescence, which in turn increases self-esteem. Zigler, Balla, and Watson (1972), in contrast, argued that the rapid development of an adolescent's ideal self tends to depress self-esteem during adolescence; increased feelings of guilt and a perceived increase in the gap between real and ideal self lower self-evaluation. Erikson (1959) described the identity crisis aspect of adolescence, which causes a disturbance in self-image and possibly a lowering of self-esteem.Symbolic interactionists have also been interested in age variations in self-esteem. The symbolic interactionist perspective postulates a tendency for people to behave in

The impact of school experiences on students' self-esteem was estimated using a longitudinal study of sixth-and seventh-grade students. Self-esteem was measured in the fall and spring of each year, at three levels-global, academic, and discipline-specific. A multiple regression analysis assessed the impact of grades, school climate, teacher evaluations of work habits and social habits, awards and participation during the year, and student ratings of teachers on self-esteem changes from fall to spring. In all tests, school climate and evaluations by teachers had significant effects on self-esteem. Grades were more important for discipline-specific self-esteem than for global or academic self-esteem. The influences were not constant from year to year, which suggests the importance of specific teachers and specific experiences. School Climate and TeachersBoth school climate and individual teachers have an impact on students' self-esteem. School climate is defined as the perceptions of students regarding policies, motivations, and attitudes in general-not their perceptions of individual faculty members (Beane & Lipka, 1984). Schools designed to 117 This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.

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