A new study published in Journal of Personality & Social Psychology suggests that personality traits often drive changes in self-esteem during adolescence.
Adolescence is pivotal for the development of personality traits and self-esteem, both linked to outcomes such as academic success and well-being. While traits like extraversion and conscientiousness tend to boost self-esteem, and neuroticism lowers it, less is known about how these traits and self-esteem influence each other over time. Kristina Bien and colleagues sought to address this gap by investigating whether changes in personality traits predict changes in self-esteem during adolescence, and vice versa.
Previous research largely examined the link between personality traits and self-esteem cross-sectionally, offering snapshots rather than insight into how they evolve over time. Given that adolescence is marked by rapid social, cognitive, and emotional development, understanding how personality and self-esteem interact longitudinally is important.
The study included German adolescents aged 16 to 22, who were predominantly female (72%) and on the academic track. Data were collected over three measurement points over the course of a year, with intervals between one and six months.
At each time point, the participants completed self-report questionnaires that assessed their personality traits and self-esteem. Personality traits were assessed using the Big Five Inventory-2 (BFI-2), with each trait measured through 12 items. Self-esteem was assessed using a four-item version of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. Both measures used a 7-point scale.
In addition to self-reports, acquaintance-reports—input from people close to the participants—were collected in two of the studies to provide an external perspective on the adolescents’ personality traits and self-esteem. The researchers also accounted for variables such as gender, age, and study source to ensure results were reflective of genuine developmental trends rather than external factors.
The study found that rank-order stability—the consistency with which individual differences in traits and self-esteem were maintained—remained high over the year, meaning adolescents tended to maintain their relative standing compared to their peers.
The relationship between specific traits and self-esteem showed nuanced patterns. Extraversion and openness demonstrated reciprocal relationships with self-esteem, where increases in these traits led to higher self-esteem and vice versa. Neuroticism had a particularly strong one-way influence on self-esteem, with higher levels leading to significant decreases in self-esteem over time, but not the reverse.
Agreeableness and conscientiousness only influenced self-esteem, with changes in these traits predicting increases in self-esteem, but self-esteem changes did not affect these traits. Importantly, most of the cross-effects observed in the study were strongest within the first two months after initial changes occurred, and they generally faded after two months.
Interestingly, the acquaintance-reports corroborated the self-reports but suggested that personality changes, especially in neuroticism, exerted even stronger effects on self-esteem when viewed from the perspective of others. These externally observed effects also tended to last longer than those reported by the participants themselves.
These findings underscore a complex relationship between personality traits and self-esteem during adolescence, with neuroticism playing a particularly strong role in shaping self-esteem.
A key limitation is the sample, which mainly consisted of German adolescents from the academic track, making it difficult to generalize the findings to more diverse populations.
The research, “Growing Up to Be Mature and Confident? The Longitudinal Interplay Between the Big Five and Self-Esteem in Adolescence”, was authored by Kristina Bien, Jenny Wagner, and Naemi D. Brandt.