Self-esteem development in middle childhood: Support for sociometer theory

Abstract

Though it is well-established that self-esteem develops from childhood well into old age, little is known about the processes that influence this change, especially among young populations. This international, cross-sequential study examined the development of self-esteem in 1599 second-graders (Age MT1 = 7.99, SDT1 = 0.52 years; 52% male) in the Netherlands and Germany over three years. Multilevel models revealed that mean-level trends in self-esteem were stable across time among all demographic groups, but that males and students in the Netherlands consistently had higher self-esteem than females and students in Germany. Further analyses examining the role of social support in self-esteem development demonstrated that individuals with better peer and family social support tended to have higher levels of self-esteem and that within-person changes in social support were directly related to changes in self-esteem level, providing support for sociometer theory. These findings suggest that demographic factors as well as social support are important predictors of self-esteem as early as middle childhood.

Sociometric Popularity, Perceived Peer Support, and Self-Concept in Adolescence

“…The results obtained here confirm, consistently with the findings of previous studies, that perceived support from significant peers is a key variable in the level of self-concept attained during adolescence (Mruk, 2006;Kong et al, 2015;Magro et al, 2019), with those who perceive their friends to be more available and ready to help also having a better concept of themselves. Viewed from a negative perspective, this points to the importance of paying attention to the negative messages conveyed by classmates, since these seem to have a harmful effect on self-concept, particularly during adolescence, a period in which peer relations become more assiduous and messages received from friends have a greater impact than in later stages of life, making self-concept more sensitive to their influence (Ramos-Díaz et al, 2016).…”

“…Perceived social support, understood as the subjective perception of the support and regard shown toward oneself by significant others (Lakey and Scoboria, 2005), is a variable which has been found to influence school adaptation, risk prevention during adolescence (Mishna et al, 2016;Ramos-Díaz et al, 2016), and self-concept (Kong et al, 2015;Magro et al, 2019). At a theoretical level, some authors have emphasized the importance of social support from peers as a key element of self-esteem (Mruk, 2006), since the positive interrelationship between peer support and self-perceptions is currently an unquestionable empirical fact (Marshall et al, 2014;Sarkova et al, 2014).…”

Evaluating sociometer theory in children’s everyday lives: Inclusion, but not exclusion by peers at school is related to within-day change in self-esteem

“…For instance, within-person increases in social inclusion (i.e. social support) were found to be associated with increases in self-esteem (Magro et al, 2019;Wagner et al, 2018). In an experimental study with preadolescents (about 11 years old) who received (bogus) feedback on their personal internet profiles, peer disapproval decreased state self-esteem and peer approval increased state self-esteem, a finding supporting sociometer theory (Thomaes et al, 2010).…”

“…Children reporting more peer problems showed a shift toward lowered self-esteem from the mornings before school to the afternoons at school. However, these studies were limited in that they did not include real-life interpersonal experiences (Thomaes et al, 2010), targeted longitudinal change rather than within-person associations (i.e., several years; Magro et al, 2019;Wagner et al, 2018), or examined between-rather than within-person associations between peer problems and self-esteem (Reynolds & Repetti, 2008). Summing up, to our knowledge, there is no study that has examined the effects of both perceived social inclusion and exclusion on state self-esteem in the everyday life of children in middle to late childhood.…”

Perceived social support, loneliness, and hope during the COVID‐19 Pandemic: Testing a mediating model in the UK, USA, and Israel

“…Perceived social support and hopeful thinking Perceived social support is an overarching concept used to describe situations in which assistance given by one person can help another. For the most part, researchers have assumed that perceived social support is an important measure of promoting success, positive self-image, and adaptability (Magro, Utesch, Dreisk€ amper, & Wagner, 2019). The concept of support is based on the premise that confidence in close and meaningful interpersonal relationships is an important resource for both personal and socioemotional development in various life stages (Zhu, Wang, & Chong, 2016).…”