Global Self-Esteem Across the Life Span: A Cross-Sectional Comparison Between Representative and Self-Selected Internet Samples

The cross-sectional trajectory of global self-esteem across the life span was examined administering the Rosenberg and Single-Item Self-Esteem scales to Estonians (N=29,463) who were either randomly selected from the National Census to represent the population or self-recruited through the Internet. The results (a) challenge the recent conclusion of a universal age trajectory of self-esteem, (b) demonstrate that self-recruited Internet data collection method is biased compared to random sampling, and (c) present that different self-esteem items have dissimilar trajectories. A variance component analysis confirmed that age differences in self-esteem are relatively small compared to interindividual differences and measurement error.