Across 48 nations we found age-related increases in self-esteem from late adolescence to middle adulthood and significant gender gaps, with males consistently reporting higher self-esteem than females

Bleidorn, W., Arslan, R. C., Denissen, J. J. A., Rentfrow, P. J., Gebauer, J. E., Potter, J., & Gosling, S. D. (2016). Age and gender differences in self-esteem—A cross-cultural window. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 111(3), 396–410, May 2021. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000078

Research and theorizing on gender and age differences in self-esteem have played a prominent role in psychology over the past 20 years. However, virtually all empirical research has been undertaken in the United States or other Western industrialized countries, providing a narrow empirical base from which to draw conclusions and develop theory. To broaden the empirical base, the present research uses a large Internet sample (N = 985,937) to provide the first large-scale systematic cross-cultural examination of gender and age differences in self-esteem. Across 48 nations, and consistent with previous research, we found age-related increases in self-esteem from late adolescence to middle adulthood and significant gender gaps, with males consistently reporting higher self-esteem than females. Despite these broad cross-cultural similarities, the cultures differed significantly in the magnitude of gender, age, and Gender × Age effects on self-esteem. These differences were associated with cultural differences in socioeconomic, sociodemographic, gender-equality, and cultural value indicators. Discussion focuses on the theoretical implications of cross-cultural research on self-esteem.

Discussion

Two highly influential lines of past research have established that self-esteem is higher in men than in women (Kling et al., 1999) and that self-esteem increases from adolescence to middle adulthood (Orth & Robins, 2014). Yet, that prior research was overwhelmingly confined to Western cultures; this bias throws doubt on the generality of the patterns and potentially undermines attempts to understand the mechanisms driving gender and age differences in self-esteem. To begin to address this concern, we examined the cross-cultural generalizability of the gender and age trends in self-esteem across 48 nations. Specifically, we examined three questions concerning the cultural generalizability, cultural variability, and cultural correlates of gender, age, and Age  Gender effects on self-esteem. Consistent with previous research on Western samples, we found significant gender and age differences in self-esteem: Across all nations, men had higher levels of self-esteem than women did and both genders showed age-graded increases from late adolescence to middle adulthood. Both the shape and the average effect sizes for gender and age effects resembled previous findings and ranged between small to medium-sized effects (cf. Kling et al., 1999; Huang, 2010). The considerable degree of cross-cultural similarity has two major implications. First, it suggests that prior conclusions on gender and age differences in self-esteem are not some peculiarity of Western societies. Second, it might indicate that the normative gender and age differences in self-esteem are at least partly driven by universal mechanisms (Costa et al., 2001; Wood & Eagly, 2002). One such mechanism might be genetically based biological processes that transcend cultures and contexts. To date, only a few studies have examined biological sources, such as hormonal influences, of gender differences in self-esteem (Williams & Currie, 2000). Even fewer studies have examined potential biological explanations for age differences in self-esteem. This lack of research on the biological background of gender and age differences in self-esteem is surprising because global self-esteem shares many attributes with other broad personality characteristics for which biological explanations for gender and age differences, such as age-graded genetic influences, have been tested (e.g., Bleidorn, Kandler, Riemann, Angleitner, & Spinath, 2009; Kandler et al., 2010; for reviews see Bleidorn, Kandler, & Caspi, 2014; Briley & Tucker-Drob, 2014). The findings of the present research suggest that genetically based mechanisms might also play a role in the normative development of men’s and women’s self-esteem. Genetically informative studies and research on the biological pathways would be needed to shed light on the biological underpinnings of gender and age differences in self-esteem. An alternative explanation for the cross-cultural similarity would be that gender and age differences are largely influenced by universal sociocultural factors. For example, pancultural gender differences might result from universals in socially learned gender roles and stereotypes (Williams & Best, 1990; Wood & Eagly, 2002). In fact, several studies have shown that male attributes are positively correlated with self-esteem for both men and women, whereas the link between female attributes and self-esteem has been much weaker and less consistent (e.g., Gebauer, Wagner, Sedikides, & Neberich, 2013; Whitley, 1983; Wojciszke, Baryla, Parzuchowski, Szymkow, & Abele, 2011). In a similar vein, the majority of individuals in most cultures master relatively similar life tasks at roughly the same ages (e.g., graduation from school, one’s first job, parenthood). Such developmental turning points (Pickles & Rutter, 1991) can modify or redirect life trajectories by altering behavior, affect, cognition, or context and might be also relevant with regard to an individual’s self-esteem development (Orth & Robins, 2014). When these age-graded turning points are universal, they can produce the observed cross-cultural similarity in age differences in self-esteem. For example, during early and middle adulthood, individuals in many cultures increasingly engage in instrumental and social roles, such as professional, spouse, parent, or political party member. A successful mastery of new role demands and the socioemotional feedback associated with these social roles might convey a sense of self-worth and also lead to increases in self-esteem (e.g., Hogan & Roberts, 2004; Robins et al., 2002). For instance, a successful mastery of the challenges associated with the first job may boost young adults’ sense of mastery and consequently also lead to increased levels of self-esteem (Chung et al., 2014; Erol & Orth, 2011). Likewise, several studies have found that the transition to the first long-term romantic relationship is related to self-esteem development in young adults (Lehnart et al., 2010; Wagner, Becker, Lüdtke, & Trautwein, 2015). Despite the cross-cultural similarity in the overall pattern of gender and age differences, the 48 nations still differed significantly in the magnitude of the gender-specific trajectories. These cross-cultural differences in gender, age, and Age  Gender effects are inconsistent with strong universal explanations and suggest the relevance of culture-specific influences. In the present study, we adopted an exploratory perspective and examined the potential influences of a diverse set of 12 socioeconomic, sociodemographic, gender-equality, and cultural-value indicators. Overall, many of these cultural moderators did matter, albeit to a moderate degree (https://selfesteem.shinyapps.io/self_esteem). Specifically, gender differentiation was related to a nation’s GDP per capita, HDI, and mean age at marriage. Gender differentiation was also related to all Hofstede dimensions, except, perhaps surprisingly, masculinity. Overall, wealthy, developed, egalitarian, and individualistic nations were characterized by relatively larger gender differences in self-esteem. The above-described pattern is in line with previous crosscultural research on gender differences in Big Five personality traits. One potential explanation for the finding that the personality profiles of men and women tend to be less similar in more developed, prosperous, and egalitarian cultures was that different innate dispositional differences between men and women may have more space to develop in such cultures (Schmitt et al., 2008). An alternative explanation for this seemingly counterintuitive finding has been offered by Guimond et al. (2007). They proposed that cultural differences in the magnitude of gender differences in personality traits and other psychological constructs are partly the result of social comparison processes. Specifically, Guimond et al. (2007) predicted larger gender differences for cultures in which people are more likely to engage in between-gender social comparisons, because comparisons with other-gender individuals presumably induce self-stereotyping processes. In contrast, gender differences were supposed to be smaller in cultures in which people are more likely to engage in within-gender social comparisons because comparisons with same-gender individuals would reduce self-stereotyping processes. Guimond et al. compared samples from five different cultures with regard to their socialcomparison orientation and found that individuals from Western countries are more likely to engage in in between-gender social comparisons and, as a result, show larger gender differences than individuals from non-Western cultures. In the present study, we found particularly small gender differences in many Asian countries, such as Thailand or China, whereas gender differences tended to be generally larger in many Central and South American countries, such as Mexico or Chile (cf. Figure 2). Research on social comparison processes in these countries might help to further understand the role of within-gender versus betweengender social comparisons for the magnitude of gender differences in self-esteem. Another explanation of the larger gender differences in many Western societies concerns the cultural emphasis of girls’ and women’s physical appearance. Both males and females who feel physically attractive tend to have higher self-esteem (e.g., Feingold, 1994); yet numerous studies have shown that girls’ attitudes about their appearance become more negative during adolescence (Harter, 1993). This decline in girl’s perceived physical attractiveness is supposed to have particularly negative effects on selfesteem when cultural pressures regarding women’s physical appearance are high (Brumberg, 1997; Kling et al., 1999). Future research on cultural-beauty ideals and self-esteem would be needed to test this hypothesis in a cross-cultural research design. There were also significant cross-level interactions involving the age and Age  Gender effects on self-esteem. Specifically, for individualistic, prosperous, egalitarian, and developed nations with a lower adolescent birthrate and a later age at marriage, we found relatively smaller age effects on self-esteem for men but not for women (e.g., Norway). Moreover, we found more pronounced age effects on self-esteem for women from nations with greater gender equality and a longer history of women’s suffrage (e.g., Sweden or Finland). This finding implies that, in these nations, gender differences in self-esteem tend to become smaller with age. In contrast, even though the absolute gender gap is smaller in developing and less wealthy nations, the gender differences tend to become larger with age in these cultures. For example, in Australia—a nation with relatively high HDI and GDP scores—the absolute gender difference decreases from d  0.30 in adolescence to d  0.21 in middle adulthood. For Mexico—a nation with comparatively lower HDI and GDP scores—the absolute gender difference in self-esteem increases from d  0.24 in adolescence to d  0.35 (https://selfesteem.shinyapps.io/maps/). This pattern suggests that the gender-specific age trajectories of self-esteem are likely the result of distinct culture-specific, agegraded mechanisms, which are not necessarily related to the mechanisms that lead to the absolute gender differences in self-esteem. Consider, for example, the mechanisms that might underlie the effects of cultural differences in gender equality. Gender equality was unrelated to the absolute gender gap in self-esteem but positively correlated with steeper age effects on women’s self-esteem. In countries with less traditional gender roles and smaller genderbased gaps in economic participation, education, political empowerment, and health (e.g., Sweden, Norway, or Finland; cf. Table 1 and Figure 2), women are more likely to have access to status positions and instrumental roles, to experience a sense of mastery, and to receive appreciation and social support. As a consequence, women from countries with greater gender equality might show relatively stronger age-graded increases in self-esteem as they traverse early and middle adulthood. In summary, cultural differences in gender, age, and Age  Gender effects on self-esteem are systematically related to a broad set of socioeconomic, sociodemographic, gender-equality, and cultural value indicators. Specifically, individualistic, prosperous, egalitarian, developed nations with greater gender equality, lower adolescent birth rates and a later age at marriage are marked by larger gender gaps, which tend to decrease throughout early and middle adulthood. In contrast, collectivistic, poorer, developing nations with greater gender inequality, higher adolescent birth rates, and an earlier age at marriage are marked by smaller gender gaps, which tend to increase throughout early and middle adulthood. This pattern is likely the result of multiple macropsychological mechanisms that guide culture-specific self-esteem development in men and women. To shed more light on the nature and operation of these macropsychological mechanisms, longitudinal studies are needed that track self-esteem development over time in nonWestern societies.