A Nonparametric Look at Self-Esteem Development by Gender and Socioeconomic Region

Abstract

We examined self-esteem development across the lifespan from ages 10 to 80 using responses to the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale obtained over the World Wide Web between the years of 2011 and 2014. The dataset comprises a large and globally diverse sample of 45,185 individuals (53.2% non-U.S.) representing 171 countries from six continents. Using a nonparametric regression approach, we investigated whether the self-esteem developmental trajectory differed across gender and socioeconomic region.