The Mediating Role of Self-Est [PDF]

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Curr Psychol (2019) 38:1456–1463 DOI 10.1007/s12144-017-9698-1

The Mediating Role of Self-Esteem in the Relationship Between Optimism and Subjective Well-Being Baki Duy 1

&

Mehmet Ali Yıldız 2

Published online: 30 September 2017 # Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2017

Abstract The relationship between self-esteem and wellbeing has been documented well. Nevertheless, the relationships between self-esteem, optimism, and well-being were reported in a limited number of studies. In the current research, thus, the mediating role of self-esteem in the relationship between optimism and subjective well-being is investigated in high school and college students. Three hundred and eightyfour students 229 (55.2%) of whom were high school students and 155 (44.8%) were college students participated in the study. Two hundred and fifty-two of them were female (65.6%) and 132 (34.6%) of them were male with an average age of 18.57, and SD = 3.51. The statistical significance of mediating effect of the tested model was examined through an approach based on Ordinary Least Squares Regression and Bootstrap method. The findings of the study yielded that self-esteem significantly mediated the relationship between optimism and subjective well-being.

Keywords Subjective well-being . Optimism . Self-esteem . Adolescents . Mediation Short summary of the manuscript was verbally presented at the 12th National Congress of Counseling & Guidance in October 2015, Mersin, Turkey. * Baki Duy [email protected]; [email protected] Mehmet Ali Yıldız [email protected] 1

Department of Psychological Counseling & Guidance, Anadolu University, 26470 Yunusemre Kampusü, Eskişehir, Turkey

2

Department of Psychological Counseling & Guidance, Adıyaman University, 02040 Adıyaman, Turkey

Since the ancient Greek times and even earlier, people wondered about the nature of a good life. What makes life attractive? What defines a higher quality of life? A response to these questions contains one’s feelings and thoughts about the type of life one desires, disregarding how one is perceived by others. This is a subjective description of life that allows one the right to decide whether one’s life is valuable. To describe a good life, happiness term in subjective well-being and colloquial language are used (Diener 1984; Diener 2000). Literature relevant to subjective well-being is associated with why and how people positively live their lives including both their cognitive judgments and emotional reactions. Thus, these studies cover all used terms such as happiness, satisfaction, morality, and positive feeling (Diener 2009). Positive well-being is described as the cognitive and emotional evaluation of one’s life. Subjective well-being is a comprehensive concept that includes high satisfaction with life, abundance of desirable feelings, and low levels of negative feelings. As positive experiences, concretized in high subjective well-being, make life worth living, they are considered within a basic concept of positive psychology (Diener 2000; Diener et al. 2002). According to Diener (2000), people experience high levels of subjective well-being when they have more pleasant and less painful experiences, when they are satisfied with life, deal with activities that are interesting to them, and have less unpleasant and more pleasant feelings, and live longer (Diener and Chan 2011). Wilson (1967; as cited in Diener 1984), in his study to determine individuals’ subjective well-being defined several characteristics that a happy person has: Ba happy person, male or female, is a young, healthy, well-educated, with a good income, outgoing, optimistic, worriless, religious, married person, with high self-esteem and a high professional ethics, with humble expectations and a good intelligent^ (p.542). Diener et al. (1999) agreed that happy people

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exhibited characteristics such as optimism and extraversion, as Wilson stated. For sure, there are some controllable and uncontrollable factors that may influence life satisfaction. An individual’s demographic characteristics, life events, culture involved, personal orientations, and personal characteristics are among these factors. Particularly an individual’s personal orientations and characteristics influence the sustainability of satisfaction with life (Diener 2000). Personal characteristics also affect an individual’s adjustment to changing life events. These factors explain the differences in satisfaction levels as well. Particularly individuals’ perception of world, differences in reaching positive and negative information and their accuracy and competency levels in processing positive and negative information influence life satisfaction (Diener et al. 1999). In this respect, optimism level, as a characteristic that influence individuals’ perspective towards current or future possible events, may affect perceived life satisfaction and sustainability of this satisfaction. Hence, the finding (Chen and Page 2016) that one’s life satisfaction gained in time and sustained over a long period of life supports this notion. Optimism is described as a fixed personality characteristic associated with positive expectations about future events. Optimistic people expect positive consequences to happen for them as the pessimistic people expect negative consequences to happen for them (Carver et al. 2010; Scheier and Carver 1985). Optimism has also a cognitive element associated with motivation: optimistic individuals show effort as the pessimistic people avoid shoving effort. Studies about optimism began within the context of health in general in which positive relationships between optimism and the indicators of psychological and physical health were found. Effects of physical health probably work through differences in physiological processes that accompany health-improving behaviors and coping (Carver and Scheier 2014). Carver et al. (2010) stated that optimistic individuals can cope with the problems better and optimism is a source to support a better mental health. They also emphasized that there was a linear correlation between increase in optimism and increase in individual’s subjective well-being. Another concept closely associated with the subjective well-being is self-esteem. Self-esteem is defined as individual’s positive or negative attitudes towards himself or herself. High self-esteem is about individual’s feeling well enough about herself or himself. An individual with high self-esteem just respects himself or herself and feels that she or he is someone valuable. Such a person does not feel obliged to be superior to others. High self-esteem is also regarded as one of the strongest indicators of subjective well-being (Diener 1984). Thus, a positive relationship was reported between high self-esteem, life satisfaction and subjective well-being in numerous studies (Çevik 2010; Doğan and Eryılmaz 2013; Kocayörük and Şimşek 2009; Pu et al. 2017; Rey

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et al. 2011; Türkmen 2012; Yıldız 2010; Yıldız and Baytemir 2016). Thus, several studies were carried out to examine relationships between subjective well-being, optimism and self-esteem. In a study by Eryılmaz and Atak (2011), positive relationships were found between optimism, selfesteem, and subjective well-being. It was also reported that adolescents with a positive expectation of future were found to have higher levels of subjective well-being (Eryılmaz 2011). Furthermore, Gaspar et al. (2014) found that self-esteem and optimism were significant predictors of subjective well-being. Nevin et al. (2005) reported that optimistic adolescents with high levels of self-esteem had higher levels of subjective well-being. It was also reported a moderate level of correlation between self-esteem and optimism (Puskar et al. 2010). Moreover, a positive significant relationship between optimism and self-esteem and a negative significant relationship between optimism and depression was reported earlier (Lemola et al. 2013). Lyubomirsky et al. (2006) in a study that investigated predicting effects of self-esteem and happiness found that happy people were outgoing and optimistic with high self-esteem, and satisfied with their social relationships and lives in general. Additionally, they defined optimism among one of the significant predictors of self-esteem. Researchers within positive psychology field have investigated and wanted to understand the processes and variables that influence individuals’ subjective well-beings. Diener and Diener McGavran (2008) emphasized that understanding the processes that affect subjective well-being was important in terms of putting together proper interventions. Caprara et al. (2009) stated that certain personal characteristics such as selfesteem, optimism, and life satisfaction were basic components of positive mental health and well-being. Although numerous studies investigated the relationships between optimism, selfesteem, and subjective well-being, no research up to date was found that examines mediating relationships between these variables. Thus, the current study mainly aims to investigate mediation role of self-esteem in the relationship between optimism and well-being in high school and university students.

Method Research Design The current research has a correlational research design. Correlational designs are used for investigating relationships between two or more variables (Heppner et al. 2013). Causal relationships among optimism (predicting variable), selfesteem (mediating variable), and subjective well-being (criterion variable) were examined with simple mediation method.

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Participants The participants of the research consisted of 384 students including 155 (44.8%) university students from a midsized state university in Turkey, and 229 (55.2%) high school students. The participants, 252 were females (65.6%) and 132 were males (34.6%) with a mean age of 18.57 (SD = 3.51). Convenience sampling method was used to participate to the study. Convenience sampling method is about selecting conveniently accessible individuals to respond to the instruments in a research (Cohen et al. 2007). Measures Self-Esteem Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) is one of the widely used scale to assess self-esteem of individuals. RSES was developed by Rosenberg (1965) for measuring self-esteem level. RSES actually has ten subscales. The first subscale is used to measure the self-esteem. High scores indicate high level of self-esteem one has. The adaptation studies of RSES into Turkish language were conducted by Çuhadaroğlu (1986). Cronbach alpha was estimated as .71, and test-retest reliability was computed .75. Internal consistency coefficient of the scale in the current study was found as .85. Confirmatory factor analysis of the scale yielded good fit values (Yıldız and Baytemir 2016). Optimism Optimism levels of the participants were assessed by the Life Orientation Test developed by Scheier and Carver (1987) to measure dispositional optimism and pessimism. The scale consists of 12 items four of which are scored positively, and other four are scored negatively. The rest is filler items. The lowest score is 0 and the highest score is 32. An increase of scores means an increase in individuals’ optimism or their positive orientation towards life. The test-retest reliability of the scale examined with 97 university students was found as .77. Criterion reliability of the LOT was tested with Beck Depression Inventory in two separate groups, and correlation coefficients were found as r = −.56 and r = −.45, respectively. The adaptation study of the scale into Turkish language was conducted by Aydın and Tezer (1991). The internal consistency coefficient of the scale in the current research was found as .77. It is advised to use it only for research, not for clinical assessment due to varying alpha levels in clinical sample (Herzberg et al. 2006). Subjective Well-Being Subjective well-being is measured by two measures in the literature: Positive and Negative Affect Scale and Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS). Positive and Negative Affect Scale for Adolescents (PANAS-A) was developed by Laurent et al. (1999). PANAS-A consists of 14 items including 7 positive items and 7 negative items. The adaptation study into Turkish language for PANAS-A was

conducted by Yıldız (2014). The cross-validity (measurement equivalency) of the scale for genders was provided in the adaptation study. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) yielded good fit indices for the scale. Internal consistency coefficients were computed for two groups and found as .89 and .91 for positive affect and .79 for negative affect respectively. Composite reliability (CR) values for positive affect were found as .89 and .91 and for negative affect as .79; and average variance extracted (AVE) values for positive affect were found as .71 and .76 and for negative affect as .46. Test-retest reliability were found as .70 (p < .01) for positive affect dimension and .63 (p < .01) for negative affect dimension. For the convergent validity, significant relationships were found between PANAS-A and satisfaction with life and depressive symptoms for both dimensions. In the current research, the internal consistency coefficient for positive affect was computed as .91, and .82 for negative affect. The Satisfaction with Life Scale, developed by Diener et al. (1985) to measure satisfaction that individuals feel in their lives is a unidimensional scale with 5 items. Köker (1991) adapted the scale into Turkish language. Test-retest reliability was found .85, and item-test correlations varied between .71 and .80. The internal consistency coefficient for the scale in the current research was computed as .82. Confirmatory factor analysis of the SWLS yielded good fit values (Yıldız and Baytemir 2016). Demographics A Personal Information Sheet was also developed by the researchers in order to gather about the participants’ gender, grade level and age. Procedure At the onset of the study, legal permission was obtained from local Board of National Education for the adolescent group, and the ethic committee of the university for the college group. Parental informed consent form was obtained for the high school group. Verbal consent was received from high school participants with parental consent. Data were gathered only from those high school students with individual and parental consent. Data instruments were distributed in groups by the second author and answering them took about 25 min. Data Analyses Subjective well-being level of the participants was determined through adding the scores obtained from PANAS-A to the scores obtained from the SWLS. Statistical significance of mediating effect of the model was examined through the ordinary least squares regression, and bootstrapping method by using the software developed by Hayes (2012, 2013). Gender, grade level, and age variables that were considered to potentially influence relationships in the examined model during

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mediation analysis were set as covariates. Descriptive statistics and correlation coefficients are also provided. Significance level was set as .05. IBM SPSS 22.0 software was used in data analysis.

statistically significant (point estimate = .2151, and 95% BCa CI [.1276, −.3254]).

Discussion Results Pearson correlation analysis was used to examine the relationships among the study variables. Correlations and descriptive statistics are presented in Table 1. The values in Table 1 display positive significant relationships between optimism and self-esteem, optimism and subjective well-being, and selfesteem and subjective well-being. Kurtosis and skewness values regarding the variables evidence that data were normally distributed. To examine the mediating effect of self-esteem on the relationship between optimism and subjective well-being, the least ordinary squares method was employed and the findings are given in Fig. 1. As seen in Fig. 1, total effect of optimism on subjective well-being is (c = .86, SE = .07, t = 12.43, p < .001) significant (step 1). In addition, the direct effect of optimism on selfesteem as a mediating variable is also (B = .35, SE = .03, t = 10.84, p < .001) significant (step 2). The direct effect of self-esteem as the mediating variable on subjective well-being is (B = .61, SE = .10, t = 5.78, p < .001) significant (step 3). When optimism and self-esteem as mediating variables were simultaneously entered into the model (step 4), the relationship between optimism and subjective well-being decreased. However, it did not change the significance level (c’ = .65, SE = .08, t = 8.50, p < .001). These findings evidenced the mediating effect of self-esteem on the relationship between optimism and subjective well-being. Additionally, the model was significant (F(5–378) = 43.34, p < .001), and explained 31% of the total variance in subjective well-being. Values concerning the effects among the variables in the model are given in Table 2. Statistical significance of the indirect effect of the model was examined on 5000 bootstrap samples. Estimates were considered in 95% confidence interval and bias-corrected and accelerated results are provided in Table 2. The indirect effect (the difference between total and direct effects/c-c’) of optimism through self-esteem on subjective well-being was

The current study mainly aimed to investigate the mediating role of self-esteem in the relationship between optimism and life satisfaction. The findings demonstrated that there are positive significant relationships between optimism, self-esteem, and subjective well-being, and self-esteem mediated the relationship between optimism and life satisfaction at a significant level. Findings of the study are supported by numerous studies in the literature. Positive significant relationship between optimism and subjective well-being was reported earlier (Cha 2003; Chang and Sanna 2001; Krok 2015). In a study, Şar and Işıklar (2012) found significant relationships between optimism and subjective well-being. It was also reported that self-esteem and optimism were significant predictors of subjective well-being (Cha 2003). Aspinwall and Taylor (1992) also found a positive relationship between optimism, self-esteem, and positive emotions. Monzani et al. (2014) found positive significant relationships among optimism, self-esteem, positive emotions, and life satisfaction. It was also previously reported that individuals with high level of optimism had high level of subjective well-being (Karademas 2006; Kaya et al. 2014). In another study (Hutz et al. 2014), positive significant relationships were found between hopefulness, optimism, and self-esteem and subjective well-being. It was also shown that optimism explained 59% of the variance in happiness and 60% of the variance in life satisfaction (Sapmaz and Doğan 2012). Yıldız and Karadaş (2015) previously reported that self-esteem had a positive significant effect on satisfaction with life. Finally, it was early documented that hopefulness, self-esteem, and optimism significantly predicted subjective well-being (Vacek et al. 2010). Optimism is characterized as a positive life orientation in individuals (Scheier and Carver 1985). Considering this claim, it can be assumed that individuals with such orientation may be expected to have high level of self-esteem as an evaluation of their attitudes about themselves and to be happy with their lives. That is because, according to Carver et al. (2010), optimistic and pessimistic perspectives have influence on how people feel when they face a problem. Probably, being optimistic will lead to feeling well that will eventually make them

Table 1 Descriptive statistics Variables

M

SD

Kurtosis

Skewness

1 –

2

1. Optimism

39.26

7.29

−.29

−.32

2. Self-esteem

29.90

5.31

.23

−.54

.50**

3. Subjective well-being

46.19

11.70

−.46

−.42

.54**

N = 384, **p < .01.

3

– .47**

–

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1460 Fig. 1 Mediation of self-esteem between optimism and subjective well-being and non-standardized beta values. *p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001

Self-esteem

Ba1 = .35***

Bb1 = .61***

R2

c = .86*** Subjective well-being

Optimism c'= .65***

perceive high self-esteem and high subjective well-being. Furthermore, in a study by Caprara et al. (2009) on maternal and fraternal twins, it was proven that self-esteem, optimism, and life satisfaction were significantly interrelated indicating that these relationships had a genetic factor. It was also previously reported that university students with high levels of optimism were more satisfied with life (Yalçın 2011). Supporting these findings, Di Fabio and Bucci (2015) asserted that individuals’ self-esteem, optimism, and satisfaction with life were inter-related. They also found that self-esteem, optimism, life satisfaction, and psychological well-being levels of individuals with positive affect were high. In another study, Mellor et al. (2008) presented that self-esteem and optimism significantly predicted subjective well-beings. Optimistic people experience low level of depression, an important indicator of negative mental health (Carver et al. 2010; Lemola et al. 2013), and they trust themselves more and show more persistence against various life difficulties (Carver et al. 2010). Based on this, such people are also expected to be less fragile and, therefore, their self-esteem and subjective well-beings are considered to be high. In this respect, Carver et al. (2010) emphasized that pessimistic individuals felt unsafe and uneasy against life difficulties. Brown and Marshall (2006), on the other hand, stated that high levels of self-esteem prevented individuals from feeling bad. Guindon (2010) also stated that individuals with high levels of self-esteem were happier and optimistic about future and that individuals with low self-esteem were unhappy with pessimistic and negative affect. Thus, it is suggested that Table 2 The indirect effects of optimism on subjective wellbeing through self-esteem

optimism positively influences self-esteem and affectivity and, therefore, increases subjective well-being people experience. According to Diener (2000), subjective well-being refers to an individual’s both cognitive and emotional self-evaluation of life. Hence, considering that optimistic individuals have positive perspective of events and situations and evaluate their lives positively, it is assumed that it will be highly possible for such people to preserve and sustain their subjective wellbeing. Self-esteem is regarded as an individual’s feeling well enough (Rosenberg 1979). Optimistic people are considered to have higher levels of self-esteem. Bastianello et al. (2014) showed that increase in optimism led to increase in individuals’ self-esteem levels. Individuals with higher self-esteem may be expected to have more positive and less negative affect and to be more satisfied with life. That is because individuals with high self-esteem may receive more positive feedback from their social environment escalating their subjective well-being. In this respect, Rosenberg (1979) stated that feedback from others, particularly from those significant for the individual was a key factor for the self-esteem development. Brown and Marshall (2006), on the other hand, stated that individuals with low self-esteem had negative evaluations about themselves and their self-esteem decreased even more after receiving negative feedback in their social environment. Individuals with high self-esteem, on the contrary, preserved their own high self-esteem and quickly regained their selfesteem after receiving negative feedback. It is assumed that

Product of Coefficients

Bootstrapping 95% BCa Confidence Interval

Effects

Point Estimate

SE

z

p

Lower

Indirect Effect

.2151

.0507

5.0863

.000***

.1276

.3254

Total Effect Direct Effect

.8651 .6500

.0696 .0765

.7283 .4997

1.0020 .8004

N = 384, k = 5000, Covariates: Gender, grade level, age *p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001 BCa Bias corrected and accelerated, 5000 bootstrap sample.

Upper

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an individual would experience positive feelings and, therefore, increased subjective well-being upon having positive feedback. On the other hand, individuals with increased subjective well-being are expected to have a positive orientation towards and optimistic perspective of life. In other words, optimism and subjective well-being positively keep cyclically increasing each other through self-esteem.

Limitations The current research has some limitations. The first one is about the data collection method. Self-evaluation tools were used to collect data in the current study and this risks the internal consistency. Using multiple data collection methods would remedy this shortfall. Another limitation is about the participants. Participants of the current research were chosen through convenience sampling method, and consisted of students attending two high schools and a university in a smallsize city. Participants from different schools and programs to represent various socio-economic backgrounds would have increased the generalizability of the research findings. The current study was conducted with 9th, 10th, and 11th grade high school students and university students. Thus the whole adolescence period was covered; however, different findings might have been found if high school and university groups had been included separately in the study. In addition to these limitations, a cross-sectional design was used in the current study. In order to overcome this limitation, further studies may use a longitudinal research design. Finally, in the current research, the mediating role of self-esteem in the relationship between optimism and subjective well-being was examined. In future studies, besides self-esteem, mediating role of other variables such as coping, self-efficacy, emotion regulation in this relationship may be investigated through multiple mediation method.

Implications The findings of current research made a significant contribution to gain a better understanding about the relationships between optimism, self-esteem and subjective well-being in adolescents. Analysis yielded a significant mediation effect of self-esteem on the relationship between optimism and subjective well-being. Optimism is considered as a personal disposition and self-esteem is defined as rather stable evaluation about self. Thus, the relationships between these variables and personal traits merit further investigation. Considering high correlation between optimism and subjective well-being, organizing in-class and after-school activities (psycho-education groups, group counseling, in-class experiences, etc.) that will enable students to develop optimistic thinking, starting

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from preschool is thought to be important. Additionally, research on how teachers can improve optimism in students may yield important findings. Hence, rather than experiences that an individual go through, his/her perception of these experiences are more influential in life satisfaction (Diener 2000). Another important finding in the current research is that the mediating role of self-esteem in the relationship between optimism and subjective well-being was significant. Thus, interventions to escalate self-esteem and optimism in students at any grade level would have been valuable. Source of Funding

The study did not get any financial support.

Compliance with Ethical Standards Conflict of Interest Author A declares that he/she has no conflict of interest. Author B declares that he/she has no conflict of interest. Ethical Approval All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Informed Consent Informed consent was obtained from all participants. Parental consent was also obtained for all high school participants.

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