The present study investigated the hypothesis that in addition to perceptions of one's global self-worth as a person, individuals evaluate their self-worth differently across relational contexts. Perceptions of self-worth among adolescents were examined in 4 such contexts: with parents, teachers, male classmates, and female classmates. The factor pattern revealed a clear, 4-factor solution with negligible cross-loadings. Approximately three-fourths of the participants reported differences in self-worth, ranging from small to large, across contexts. To examine the basis for differences and similarities across relationships, self-worth in each context was predicted by the validation support reported by adolescents in that context. Support in a given context was significantly more highly correlated with relational self-worth in the corresponding context than in any of the other contexts. Adolescents could be divided into subgroups based upon the high correlation between self-worth in one particular context and global self-worth. These findings suggest that how an individual evaluates the self in certain relationships is critical to his or her overall sense of worth as a person.

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Adolescence brings with it displays of false self-behavior, including the suppression of opinions. C. Gilligan (1993) argued that lack of "voice" is problematic for girls when they enter adolescence. In the present study, the authors examined level of self-reported voice with parents, teachers, male classmates, female classmates, and close friends among both female and male high school students. Findings revealed no gender differences nor evidence that voice declines in female adolescents. For both genders, perceived support for voice was predictive of level of voice. Moreover, feminine girls reported lower levels of voice than did androgynous girls in public (but not private) relational contexts. Lower levels of voice were associated with more negative evaluations of self-worth. Discussion focused on the need to understand the causes of individual differences in voice within each gender, cautioning against generalizations about either gender as a group.

The present study investigated the hypothesis that in addition to perceptions of one's global self-worth as a person, individuals evaluate their self-worth differently across relational contexts. Perceptions of self-worth among adolescents were examined in 4 such contexts: with parents, teachers, male classmates, and female classmates. The factor pattern revealed a clear, 4-factor solution with negligible cross-loadings. Approximately three-fourths of the participants reported differences in self-worth, ranging from small to large, across contexts.To examine the basis for differences and similarities across relationships, self-worth in each context was predicted by the validation support reported by adolescents in that context. Support in a given context was significantly more highly correlated with relational self-worth in the corresponding context than in any of the other contexts. Adolescents could be divided into subgroups based upon the high correlation between selfworth in one particular context and global self-worth. These findings suggest that how an individual evaluates the self in certain relationships is critical to his or her overall sense of worth as a person.

No abstract