The Family as a Looking Glass: Interpreting Family Influences on Adolescent Self-Esteem from a Symbolic Interaction Perspective

Abstract

This study examined why investigations into the family influences on adolescent self-esteem have either not used data from parents, or, when such data was used, have found very weak correlations. Given symbolic interactionism's postulate that individuals learn who they are by observing how significant others respond to them, it was hypothesized that parents' global appraisals of their adolescents' competency would improve the explanatory power of such models. In a sample of seventh and ninth graders, and their mothers, comparisons were made between the effects of parents' global appraisals and family members' reports of the kinds of interaction they shared (e.g., reports of attachment, family participation, intimacy, and authoritarian control). On the basis of bivariate analysis, it was found that mothers' global appraisals of their early adolescents' competency was a better predictor of adolescent self-esteem than the family interaction measures. Then, using hierarchical regression, it was found that the addition of mothers' global appraisals substantially improved the explanatory power of self-esteem models which relied on family members' perceptions of interaction.