Age and survey-year effects on self-esteem in Japan: A cross-temporal meta-analysis of scores on Rosenberg's self-esteem scale

The present study reports a cross-temporal meta-analysis exploring age and survey-year differences in the average scores obtained on Rosenberg's (1965) Self-Esteem Scale in Japan. An examination of refereed journals published in Japan from 1980 to 2013 resulted in the selection of 256 studies involving 48,927 participants. Multiple regression analysis revealed significant effects of both age level and survey year on the average self-esteem scores. The self-esteem scores of junior high and high school students were lower than those of the other age groups,whereas the adults had higher self-esteem scores than did the other age groups. Survey year had a significant negative effect on the average self-esteem scores. The effects of survey year differed by age level. The average self-esteem scores of the junior high and high school students and the adults decreased linearly with survey year,whereas a curvilinear decrease with survey year was found in the college students' scores. Several translations of Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale are available in Japan. The results of the present study indicated that the number of choices in the scale had an effect on the average self-esteem scores among the junior high, high school,and college students, and also the adults.