Values and adolescents' self-esteem: The role of value content and congruence with classmates

Maya Benish-Weisman, Ella Daniel, Kristina L. McDonald

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The study examined the relations between adolescents’ self-esteem and two aspects of values: content and congruence with classmates. Using a large sample of Israeli adolescents (N = 1,683; Mage = 14.36, SD = 2.24, range = 11–18, 54.31% females), we found that self-esteem related negatively to self-enhancement values and positively to conservation values using zero order correlations. Multilevel polynomial regressions, controlling for demographic differences, found significant quadratic associations of self-esteem with self-enhancement, self-transcendence, openness-to-change, and conservation values. Furthermore, using Response Surface Analyses, it was found that adolescents who were congruent with their classmates’ self-enhancement and self-transcendence values showed the highest levels of self-esteem. The findings point to the importance of social context for the relations between values and self-esteem among adolescents.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)207-223
Number of pages17
JournalEuropean Journal of Social Psychology
Volume50
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Feb 2020

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Keywords

  • adolescence
  • polynomial- regression
  • response surface analysis
  • self-esteem
  • values
  • values-congruence
  • values-fit

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Social Psychology

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