Developmental stability of scholastic, social, athletic, and physical appearance self‐concepts from preschool to early adulthood

摘要

Background Self‐concept has meaningful relations with psychological functioning and well‐being across the life span. Hence, it is important to understand how and when individual differences in multiple domains of self‐concept begin to stabilize and whether individual differences remain stable throughout childhood and adolescence and into early adulthood. Methods We assessed individuals’ ( N? = 372) scholastic, social, athletic, and physical appearance self‐concepts at five waves over 20?years from age 4 to age 24. Results In general, stability was large, but medium‐sized estimates were obtained for some domains over longer (e.g., 6‐year) intervals. Indirect effects from preschool to early adulthood were small, but from age 14 to 24 were medium to large. Stabilities maintained significance independent of family socioeconomic status and global self‐worth. Stability estimates were similar for boys and girls except over adolescence for scholastic self‐concept, which was more stable for girls than boys. Conclusions Multiple domains of self‐concept constitute stable individual‐difference characteristics, independent of global feelings of self‐worth. Individuals who have high or low self‐concepts early in development tend to maintain their relative standing into early adulthood suggesting points of intervention.