Abstract
A retrospective questionnaire study investigated gender differences in the relations between the self-reported self-esteem of 155 psychiatric adult outpatients and their recalled experience of their parents' behavior toward them as children. There were no significant sex differences in degree of self-esteem. However, it had a higher correlation to parenting variables for the men than for the women, with maternal predictor variables accounting for 36% and paternal predictors accounting for 32% of the variance in the men's self-esteem. Neither combined maternal nor combined paternal variables were significant predictors for women. For men, parental acceptance/autonomy was significantly and positively related and inconsistency negatively related to self-esteem. Paternal rejection but not maternal rejection was significantly associated with low self-esteem only for the women. The greater amount of variance explained by childrearing variables in the men's self-esteem scores was attributed to the earlier ago development and consequent increased individuation in women.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 157-166 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Comprehensive Psychiatry |
Volume | 37 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 1996 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Clinical Psychology
- Psychiatry and Mental health