The relative influence of vocational behavior and family involvement on self-esteem: Longitudinal analyses of young adult women and men

Abstract

Although self-esteem is frequently conceptualized as an independent or mediating variable affecting vocational behavior and adjustment, the effects of careers and career preparation on self-esteem are equally of interest. In the present study, relationships among parenthood, vocational status, and self-esteem were explored using longitudinal data from 462 young adult women and 192 young adult men. A latent construct of Marriage and Family Involvement initially appeared to be negatively related to the self-esteem of the young adult women, but not for the men. However, subanalyses indicated that the critical variable for self-esteem of the women was vocational status rather than marital status or parenthood. Women not engaged in vocational behavior continued to demonstrate a negative relationship between Marriage and Family involvement and self-esteem. However, no such relationship remained for women working full-time or preparing for careers. In addition, to rule out self-selection, prior self-esteem, assessed in late adolescence, did not predict subsequent family involvement and was equivalent for the two different vocational status groups. In young adulthood, men and women attending school or engaged in full-time jobs had higher self-esteem than men and women with part-time jobs or no jobs, respectively.