The Impact of General Self-Worth on the Effect of Negative Peer Experiences to Barometric Self-Esteem of Early Adolescents
Presenter Type
UNO Undergraduate Student
Major/Field of Study
Psychology
Advisor Information
Jonathan Santo
Location
CEC RM #201/205/209
Presentation Type
Poster
Poster Size
36" x 48"
Start Date
22-3-2024 9:00 AM
End Date
22-3-2024 10:00 AM
Abstract
Purpose: Being a victim of negative interpersonal experiences has long been shown to have serious negative consequences, such as low self-esteem (Pollastri et al., 2009). Furthermore, studies have concluded that internalizing factors like rejection sensitivity have caused adolescent victims of bullying to experience even lower self-esteem (Nepon et al., 2021). In this present study using a community-based sample of early adolescents, we are testing whether self-worth can mitigate the relationship between negative peer experiences and self-esteem, in the moment.
Method: A total of 112 (60 boys) grade 5 and 6 English speaking students (Mage = 10.83, S.D. = .77) were recruited from a public school in the greater Montreal metropolitan area. At school, four times per day for four consecutive school days participants completed a daily booklet where they reported about their recent experiences with peers (ex.: feeling low in “support”, alpha = .74) and their self-esteem in the moment (“I feel like I am a good person”, alpha = .93). In addition, participants filled out a self-report measure of general self-worth (“I am very happy being the way I am”, alpha = .72). Hypothesis testing was conducted using multilevel modeling of experiential self-esteem as a function of negative peer experiences. Gender and general self-worth were used as moderators.
Results: The unconditional model revealed that 16.65% of the variability in self-esteem was at level 1 (across experiences) with the remaining 83.35% at level 2 (between participants). As previously reported (Adams et al., 2011), negative peer experiences were linked with decreased self-esteem, in the moment (R2 = 19.78%). Not surprisingly, general self-worth was related with higher experiential self-esteem, overall (R2 = 8.29%). More interesting however was that general self-worth buffered the effect of negative peer experiences on experiential self-esteem (R2 = 1.02%; see figure 1). No gender differences emerged.
Discussion: In this study, general self-worth in adolescents weakened the association between negative peer experiences and experiential self-esteem. Adolescents with lower general self-worth tend to think negatively about themselves more than adolescents with higher self-worth. In situations where adolescents tend to feel worse about themselves, like undergoing negative peer experiences, being able to focus on positive attributes and qualities about oneself can protect adolescents against the damage these experiences due to their self-esteem at that moment. Knowing this association, we can further explore how general self-worth buffers the effects that negative experiences in other areas in an adolescent’s life and experiential self-esteem.
The Impact of General Self-Worth on the Effect of Negative Peer Experiences to Barometric Self-Esteem of Early Adolescents
CEC RM #201/205/209
Purpose: Being a victim of negative interpersonal experiences has long been shown to have serious negative consequences, such as low self-esteem (Pollastri et al., 2009). Furthermore, studies have concluded that internalizing factors like rejection sensitivity have caused adolescent victims of bullying to experience even lower self-esteem (Nepon et al., 2021). In this present study using a community-based sample of early adolescents, we are testing whether self-worth can mitigate the relationship between negative peer experiences and self-esteem, in the moment.
Method: A total of 112 (60 boys) grade 5 and 6 English speaking students (Mage = 10.83, S.D. = .77) were recruited from a public school in the greater Montreal metropolitan area. At school, four times per day for four consecutive school days participants completed a daily booklet where they reported about their recent experiences with peers (ex.: feeling low in “support”, alpha = .74) and their self-esteem in the moment (“I feel like I am a good person”, alpha = .93). In addition, participants filled out a self-report measure of general self-worth (“I am very happy being the way I am”, alpha = .72). Hypothesis testing was conducted using multilevel modeling of experiential self-esteem as a function of negative peer experiences. Gender and general self-worth were used as moderators.
Results: The unconditional model revealed that 16.65% of the variability in self-esteem was at level 1 (across experiences) with the remaining 83.35% at level 2 (between participants). As previously reported (Adams et al., 2011), negative peer experiences were linked with decreased self-esteem, in the moment (R2 = 19.78%). Not surprisingly, general self-worth was related with higher experiential self-esteem, overall (R2 = 8.29%). More interesting however was that general self-worth buffered the effect of negative peer experiences on experiential self-esteem (R2 = 1.02%; see figure 1). No gender differences emerged.
Discussion: In this study, general self-worth in adolescents weakened the association between negative peer experiences and experiential self-esteem. Adolescents with lower general self-worth tend to think negatively about themselves more than adolescents with higher self-worth. In situations where adolescents tend to feel worse about themselves, like undergoing negative peer experiences, being able to focus on positive attributes and qualities about oneself can protect adolescents against the damage these experiences due to their self-esteem at that moment. Knowing this association, we can further explore how general self-worth buffers the effects that negative experiences in other areas in an adolescent’s life and experiential self-esteem.