Self-esteem and perceived quality of romantic and family relationships in young adults

Abstract

A questionnaire study was conducted with young adults ( M = 26) in which they characterized the degree of problems experienced in their family as adults and during childhood, construals of their relationship with their mother and father (warm, cold, or inconsistent), construals of their adult romantic relationships (secure, avoidant, or anxious), and their social and performance self-esteem. Family problems (childhood and adulthood) were more frequently reported for mothers and fathers described as being cold or inconsistent than those described as warm. Avoidant adult romantic attachment style was associated with cold parenting styles, family problems, and lower social, but not performance, self-esteem, compared to those reporting the secure style. Those with an anxious adult romantic style demonstrated lower performance, but not social, self-esteem, compared to those reporting the secure style. This suggests a compensatory effect in the self-system. The retrospective nature of the design precludes conclusions about the developmental origins of these findings; however, the continuity within the self-system and across relationships has important implications for understanding an individual's future behavior in both family and romantic relationships.