Self-esteem declines as age progresses

Self-esteem declines sharply among older adults, while middle-aged are the most confident lot, concludes a new study.

Studies in the past have revealed that self-esteem is related to better health, less criminal behaviour, lower levels of depression and overall, greater success in life. To explore more about how an average person's self-esteem changes over time, researchers surveyed a total of 3,617 adults living in the United States four times between 1986 and 2002. The participants were aged between 25 and 100 years. The researchers measured self-esteem by asking participants to rate their level of agreement with statements such as, "I take a positive attitude towards myself," which suggests high self-esteem; "At times I think I am no good at all, and all in all, I am inclined to feel that I am a failure," both of which suggest low self-esteem.

The participants were also asked about their ethnicity, education, income, work status, relationship satisfaction, marital status, health, social support and if they had experienced stressful life events. Some examples of stressful life events were suddenly losing a job, being the victim of a violent crime, or experiencing the death of a parent or of a child.

On average, women had lower self-esteem than did men throughout most of adulthood, but self-esteem levels converged as men and women reached their 80s and 90s. Education, income, health and employment status all had some effect on the self-esteem trajectories, especially as people aged.  It was also found that people who have higher incomes and better health in later life tend to maintain their self-esteem as they age.

Native Americans and Afro-Americans had similar self-esteem levels throughout young adulthood and middle age. In old age, average self-esteem among Afro-Americans dropped much more sharply than self-esteem among Americans. This was the result even after controlling for differences in income and health. Future research needs to further explore these ethnic differences, which might lead to better interventions aimed at improving self-esteem.