Abstract
Previous studies have shown that self-esteem is an important predictor of subjective well-being. However, the majority of research has focused on self-esteem at the individual and the collective level, but has mostly ignored self-esteem at the relational level. According to social identity theory, individuals can maintain and enhance self-esteem through personal traits (personal self-esteem, PSE), relationships with significant others (relational self-esteem, RSE), and relationships with larger groups (collective self-esteem, CSE). The current research investigated whether RSE and CSE can predict subjective well-being beyond PSE among Chinese college students. With four cross-sectional studies and one longitudinal study (N = 847), we found that, when controlling for PSE, RSE was associated with greater life satisfaction, positive affect, meaning in life, happiness, and subjective vitality (Studies 1–5), but CSE was not (Studies 2–5). Implications are discussed.
Highlights
Self-esteem has been a popular topic in psychology for many decades [1,2,3,4,5]
We conducted two-step hierarchical regression analyses examining the contribution of PSE and RSE to explaining variance in life satisfaction, positive affect, and meaning in life, respectively
When RSE was entered in the regression, PSE was not a significant predictor of life satisfaction anymore
Summary
Self-esteem has been a popular topic in psychology for many decades [1,2,3,4,5]. Researchers have found that self-esteem—defined as a person’s sense of self-worth—is closely associated with well-being and a number of other adaptive outcomes. According to social identity theory [28], the collective is an essential aspect of the self, and evaluation of the collective self would contribute to subjective well-being They found that CSE was positively associated with well-being among White, Black, and Asian college students in the United States; when controlling for PSE, the relationship of CSE with well-being became nonsignificant for Whites, small for Blacks, and moderate to strong for Asians [27]. This suggests that culture may play a key role in determining the salience of the different types of self-esteem. RSE would predict the three outcomes, even after accounting for the variance associated with PSE
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
