Abstract

This paper analyzes relationships among self-esteem, educational attainment, and occupational status. Data from a nationwide longitudinal study of more than 1600 young men show a substantial increase in self-esteem between 19TT (when respondents were beginning tenth grade) and 1974. Reliability and construct validity data for the self-esteem measure are reported. As expected, both educational attainment and occupational status are correlated with self-esteem. Contrary to expectations, educational attainment as of 1974 is more strongly correlated with tenth grade self-esteem than with 1974 self-esteem. A path analysis led to these conclusions: (a) Self-esteem during high school has little or no direct causal impact on later educational and occupational attainment; self-esteem and attainment are correlated primarily because of shared prior causes including family background, ability, and scholastic performance. (b) Occupational status has a direct positive impact on self-esteem. (c) Post high school educational attainment has no direct impact on self-esteem and only a trivial indirect impact via occupational status. Additional findings indicate that factors associated with educational success become less central to the self-evaluations of young men during late high school and the years thereafter.