Sex differences in self-concept and self-esteem of late adolescents: A time-lag analysis

The presence of historical change in the self-concept and self-esteem of male and female late adolescents was studied using a time-lag design. Five cohorts of students enrolled in the same university and course, consecutively from 1973 to 1977 (total N=1,141), gave self-ratings to 16 evaluative items relating to traits traditionally associated with sex differences. Mean score across items was the self-esteem index, and the vector of ratings for item content was the self-concept index. Historical continuity in self-esteem was found. Males and females did not differ in mean self-esteem, within or between cohorts, and cohort differences accounted for less than 2% of the variance. Cross-cohort similarity in within-cohort sex differences in self-concept was found also. These differences were minimal, accounting for small proportions of the variance and involving no more than 5 items in any cohort. Late adolescents from recent historical eras thus rated themselves in ways inconsistent with societal stereotypes, and showed minimal differences in their self-appraisals. Results are discussed in relation to (1) theoretical positions with which they are inconsistent and (2) an emerging interactionist view, which they appear to support.A shortened version of this paper was presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Houston, January 1978. The authors thank Stuart A. Karabenick, John R. Knapp, James B. Orlos, and Joyce L. Stuart for collaborating on portions of the project from which the present report is derived.