How relational is self‐evaluation? Self‐esteem and social relationships across life span and family situations Inaugural‐Dissertation in der Philosophischen Fakultät und Fachbereich Theologie der Friedrich‐Alexander‐Universität Erlangen‐Nürnberg vorgelegt von Jenny Wagner aus Leipzig D 29 Tag der mündlichen Prüfung: 28.05.2009 Dekan: Universitätsprofessor Dr. Jens Kulenkampff Erstgutachter: Universitätsprofessor Dr. Frieder R. Lang Zweitgutachter: Universitätsprofessor Dr. Karen L. Fingerman Acknowledgement First of all I would like to thank my supervisor Prof. Dr. Frieder R. Lang for his support and his inspiring scientific expertise that helped greatly to extend my knowledge. His advice was always challenging and improving this dissertation. Secondly, I am very grateful to Prof. Karen L. Fingerman for the opportunity to work in her lab, where she took much time to exchange ideas and discuss my dissertation, opening up new perspectives. This dissertation is part of the project “Personality and Relationship Regulation across Adulthood”. My special thanks go to the German Research Foundation for funding and to Prof. Franz J. Neyer and Dr. Cornelia Wrzus, who never were short of helpful in‐ sights. I deeply appreciate how much effort and thought Cornelia dedicated to this collabora‐ tion. She became a fundamental part of my scientific and personal life. A great many more people have contributed in important ways to this dissertation, and I am very grateful to all of them: my colleagues and the lab of Prof. Fingerman whose suggestions and criticism improved the work’s quality, the students in Halle and Erlangen that helped to collect the data, and Lindsay Pitzer and Florence W. Jones for proofreading the dissertation. Many special thanks go to Margund Rohr, who has always valuable com‐ ments, helps out at all times, and manages to be a scientific sparring‐partner and a friend. Very warm thanks go to my parents and family for their interest in what I do and for sharing their always highly regarded opinions with me; and to Toralf for everything. Table of Contents iv TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................ 1 2 ACTIVE SELF: THE SIGNIFICANCE OF SELF‐ESTEEM ............................................................. 7 2.1 Self‐Evaluation: Maintaining a Positive Appraisal of the Self .......................................... 7 2.2 Self‐Esteem – The Construct .................................................................................................. 8 2.3 Relational Self‐Esteem: Relationship Specific Evaluations of the Self ........................... 15 2.4 Summary ................................................................................................................................ 18 3 SOCIAL TIES AND RELATIONSHIP REGULATION: PERSONAL NETWORKS IN DIFFERENT CONTEXTS ........................................................................................................... 19 3.1 Two Perspectives on Social Relationships ......................................................................... 21 3.2 Integrative Framework of Lifelong Relationship Regulation: Contextual and Relationship Effects ............................................................................................................... 24 3.3 Adult Child‐Parent Ties: Relationship Regulation and Self‐Evaluation in the Family of Origin .................................................................................................................... 35 3.3.1 Closeness and Reciprocity in Adult Child‐Parent Relationships................ 35 3.3.2 Self‐Esteem as Regulatory Relationship Outcome ........................................ 37 3.3.3 Effects of Contextual Characteristics: Family Constancy ............................. 38 3.4 Childless Couples in Middle Adulthood: Relationship Regulation and Self‐ Evaluation in Different Family Situations ......................................................................... 40 3.4.1 Predictors and Differentiation of Fertility Behaviors.................................... 43 3.4.2 Motivated and Involuntary Childlessness: The Two Observed Conditions ........................................................................................................... 45 3.5 Summary ................................................................................................................................ 51 4 SELF‐EVALUATION ACROSS RELATIONAL CONTEXTS: GENERAL SUMMARY AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS .......................................................................................................... 52 Table of Contents v 5 METHOD .................................................................................................................................. 57 5.1 Online Study: Relational Self‐esteem across the Life Span ............................................. 57 5.1.1 Sample Descriptions of Online Study ............................................................. 58 5.1.2 Measures of Online Study ................................................................................ 59 5.2 Family Study: Personality and Social Relationships in the Family Context ................. 69 5.2.1 Target Sample: Description of Individuals and Couples ............................. 71 5.2.2 Measures of Target Sample .............................................................................. 76 5.2.3 Intergenerational Relations: Adult Children and Their Parents ................. 81 5.2.4 Measures on Intergenerational Relationships ............................................... 84 5.3 Procedures and Methods of Statistical Analyses .............................................................. 86 5.3.1 Data Structures ................................................................................................... 87 5.3.2 Statistical Software Packages ........................................................................... 92 6 RESULTS .................................................................................................................................. 93 6.1 Self‐Esteem across Life Span and Family Situations ........................................................ 93 6.1.1 Online Study: Effects of Age on Self‐Esteem ................................................. 93 6.1.2 Family Study: Effects of Family Situations on Self‐Esteem ....................... 103 6.1.3 Summary: Self‐Esteem across Life Span and Family Situations ............... 107 6.2 Social Networks and Relationship Regulation across Life Span and Family Situations .............................................................................................................................. 107 6.2.1 Online Study: Effects of Age on Social Networks and Relationship Regulation ......................................................................................................... 108 6.2.2 Family Study: Effects of Family Situation on Social Relationships .......... 115 6.2.3 Summary: Social Networks and Relationship Regulation across Life Span and Family Situations ............................................................................ 126 6.3 Functionality of Relationships – Relational and Individual Self‐Evaluation .............. 127 6.3.1 Online Study: Relational Self‐Esteem in Social Networks ......................... 127 6.3.2 Family Study: Self‐Evaluation in Adult Child‐Parent Ties ........................ 141 6.3.3 Family Study: Self‐Evaluation in Romantic Partnerships .......................... 154 6.3.4 Summary: Functionality of Relationships – Relational and Individual Self‐Evaluation ................................................................................................. 159 6.4 Summary of Findings in Relation to Hypotheses ........................................................... 161 Table of Contents vi 7 DISCUSSION .......................................................................................................................... 163 7.1 Different Facets of Self‐Evaluation across Life Span and Family Situations .............. 163 7.2 Social Networks and Relationship Regulation Characteristics: Differential Patterns Pertaining to Age Group and Family Situation ............................................... 169 7.3 Social Relationships Differentially Affect Self‐Evaluation across the Life Span and in Specific Relationship Dyads .................................................................................. 175 7.3.1 Calibration of Relational Self‐Esteem ........................................................... 175 7.3.2 Relationship Quality and Relational Self‐Esteem........................................ 176 7.3.3 Effects of Level of Data: Relational and Individual Self‐Esteem. .............. 177 7.3.4 Self‐Evaluation in Specific Dyadic Relationship Contexts ......................... 179 7.4 There Is a Relational Nature to Self‐Evaluation – But That Is Not the Whole Story ...................................................................................................................................... 182 7.5 Motivated and Involuntary Childlessness – Differentiation versus Convergence in Reproduction and Post‐Reproduction Times ............................................................. 184 7.6 Limitations of the Study ..................................................................................................... 187 7.7 Outlook ................................................................................................................................