Culture and Self-Esteem Over Time: A Cross-Temporal Meta-Analysis Among Australians, 1978–2014

Self-esteem is increasing in the United States according to temporal meta-analyses of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. However, it remains unclear whether this trend reflects broad social ecological shifts toward urban, affluent, and technologically advanced or a unique cultural history. A temporal meta-analysis of self-esteem was conducted in Australia. Australia shares social ecological and cultural similarities with the United States. On the other hand, Australian culture is horizontally individualistic and places a stronger emphasis on self-other equality compared to American culture. For this reason, the strengthening norm of positive self-esteem found in the United States may not be evident in Australia. Consistent with this possibility, the findings indicated that self-esteem among Australian high school students, university students, and community participants did not change between 1978 and 2014.