Washington, April 2 (Inditop.com) Self-esteem rises steadily as people age but starts declining around retirement age, says a new study of men and women aged between 25 and 104 years.
“Self-esteem is related to better health, less criminal behaviour, lower levels of depression and, overall, greater success in life,” said Ulrich Orth of Switzerland’s University of Basel who led the study.
Self-esteem was lowest among young adults but increased throughout adulthood, peaking 60 years, before it started to decline.
These findings were based on 3,617 adults, surveyed four times between 1986 and 2002 in the US.
Researchers measured self-esteem by asking participants to rate their level of agreement with statements such as, “I take a positive attitude toward myself,” which suggests high self-esteem.
Statements like “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 suggest low self-esteem.
Subjects 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 are suddenly losing a job, being 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.
“Specifically, we found that people who have higher incomes and better health in later life tend to maintain their self-esteem as they age,” said Orth.
“We cannot know for certain that more wealth and better health directly lead to higher self-esteem, but it does appear to be linked in some way.
“For example, it is possible that wealth and health are related to feeling more independent and better able to contribute to one’s family and society, which in turn bolsters self-esteem,” said Orth.
People of all ages in satisfying and supportive relationships tend to have higher self-esteem, according to the findings, said a university press release.
These results were published in the latest issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
