Children’s domain-specific self-evaluations and global self-worth: A preregistered cross-cultural meta-analysis

Abstract

Which domain-specific self-evaluations are most central to children’s global self-worth? And does this differ between countries with different levels of collectivism–individualism? We conducted a preregistered cross-cultural meta-analysis to address these questions. We included 141 independent samples (21 countries/regions, 584 cross-sectional effect sizes), totaling 33,120 participants in middle to late childhood, a critical age for self-worth development. Overall, global self-worth was most strongly correlated with self-evaluations in the domain of physical appearance ( r = .64), followed by behavioral conduct, peer relations, academic competence, athletic competence, and parent relations ( rs = .39 to .54). Global self-worth was equally strongly correlated with agentic and communal self-evaluations ( r = .51 and .52, respectively). The strength of these associations did not vary significantly by country-level collectivism–individualism. These findings reveal the robust correlates of self-worth across cultures and raise important new questions about when and how culture shapes the development of children’s global self-worth.