Abstract
A 21-year longitudinal study investigated whether self-esteem in early and late adolescence, at ages 12 and 18, and any changes in it is related to dispositional optimism-pessimism in adulthood, at the age of 33. The subjects comprised a population-based sample of young Finns. The results showed that the self-esteem measured during adolescent years is significantly associated with dispositional optimism-pessimism in adulthood accounting for 5-19% of variance (p's < .001). Further, results revealed that adolescents scoring in the top thirds of self-esteem at the age of 12 and 18 showed significantly lower levels of pessimism than those whose self-esteem had changed or stayed low during the adolescent years.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 511-521 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | Personality and Individual Differences |
| Volume | 39 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Aug 2005 |
| Externally published | Yes |
| Publication type | A1 Journal article-refereed |
Funding
The research was financially supported by the Academy of Finland (grant number 50907SA), the Eemil Aaltonen Foundation, and by the University of Helsinki (grant number 20550).
Keywords
- Adolescence
- Adulthood
- Change
- Dispositional optimism-pessimism
- Longitudinal
- Self-esteem
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Psychology
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