What Characterizes Adolescents Struggling With Educational Decision-Making? The Role of Behavioral and Neural Correlates of Self-Concept and Self-Esteem

Educational decision-making is a complex process where individual factors such as how adolescents think about and evaluate themselves could play an important role. In this study, (N = 84), we combined behavioral and neural correlates of self-concept and self-esteem to examine what characterizes adolescents who struggle with educational decision-making. We included 38 adolescents (16-24 years, M = 18.7 years) from the Gap-Year program. This program focuses on personal development for adolescents who have dropped out of higher education or stay undecided after high school. We compared these adolescents prior to the start of the training with 46 peers (17-21 years, M = 19.4 years) who reported to have successfully chosen a major. The results showed that adolescents struggling with educational decision-making reported lower levels of self-esteem and self-concept clarity. Neurally, higher self-esteem was associated with more self-related activity in the medial prefrontal cortex. Together, these results suggest that healthy self-esteem levels are an important condition for the ability to make a well-suited educational choice.