Gender Differences in Self-Esteem: A Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Two analyses were conducted to examine gender differences in global self-esteem. In analysis I, a computerized literature search yielded 216 effect sizes, representing the testing of 97,121 respondents. The overall effect size was 0.21, a small difference favoring males. A significant quadratic effect of age indicated that the largest effect emerged in late adolescence (d = 0.33). In Analysis II, gender differences were examined using 3 large, nationally representative data sets from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). All of the NCES effect sizes, which collectively summarize the responses of approximately 48,000 young Americans, indicated higher male self-esteem (ds ranged from 0.04 to 0.24). Taken together, the 2 analyses provide evidence that males score higher on standard measures of global self-esteem than females, but the difference is small. Potential reasons for the small yet consistent effect size are discussed.

Full text

Psychological
Bulletin
1999, Vol. 125,
No. 4,
470-500
Copyright 1999
by the
American Psychological Association, Inc.
0033-2909/99/53.00
Gender
Differences
in
Self-Esteem:
A
Meta-Analysis
Kristen
C.
Kling,
Janet
Shibley
Hyde,
Carolin
J.
Showers,
and
Brenda
N.
Buswell
University
of
Wisconsin—Madison
Two
analyses were conducted
to
examine gender differences
in
global self-esteem.
In
Analysis
I, a
computerized literature search yielded
216
effect
sizes, representing
the
testing
of
97,121 respondents.
The
overall
effect
size
was
0.21,
a
small difference
favoring
males.
A
significant quadratic
effect
of age
indicated that
the
largest
effect
emerged
in
late
adolescence
(d
=
0.33).
In
Analysis
II,
gender differences
were
examined using
3
large, nationally representative data sets
from
the
National Center
for
Education
Statistics (NCES).
All of the
NCES
effect
sizes, which collectively summarize
the
responses
of
approximately
48,000
young Americans, indicated higher male self-esteem
(ds
ranged
from
0.04
to
0.24).
Taken together,
the 2
analyses provide evidence that males score higher
on
standard measures
of
global self-esteem than females,
but the
difference
is
small.
Potential
reasons
for the
small
yet
consistent
effect
size
are
discussed.
Despite
the
advances
of
feminism, escalating levels
of
sexism
and
violence—from
undervalued intelligence
to
sexual harassment
in el-
ementary
school—cause
girls
to
stifle
their creative spirit
and
natural
impulses,
which ultimately, destroys their self-esteem
(Pipher,
1994,
bodkjacket).
The
above quotation
from
Reviving
Ophelia,
a
book that spent
over
135
weeks
on the New
York
Times paperback bestseller list,
is
characteristic
of the
coverage
of
gender
and
self-esteem
in the
popular press. Other examples abound. Magazines
offer
headlines
such
as
"Teenage
turning point: Does adolescence herald
the
twilight
of
girls'
self-esteem?" (Bower, 1991)
and
"The great teen
Kristen
C.
Kling, Janet Shibley Hyde, Carolin
J.
Showers,
and
Brenda
N.
Buswell, Psychology Department, University
of
Wisconsin—Madison.
Carolin
J.
Showers
is now at the
Psychology Department, Purdue
University.
Portions
of
this research were presented
at the
1996 meeting
of the
American
Psychological Association
in
Toronto
and at the
1997
meeting
of
the
Association
for
Women
in
Psychology
in
Pittsburgh.
We
gratefully acknowledge
the
following undergraduates
for
their help
with
the
enormous task
of
assembling
the
articles
for the
database:
Tara
Dall,
Anne
Garvey,
Dana
Glassburn,
Helena
Rushansky,
Melissa
Kuczyn-
ski,
Nikki
Levine,
Ngu-Mui
Lu, and
Nikki
Onorato.
We
also
thank Larry
Hedges
and
Paul
LePore
for
their assistance
with
the
national data sets;
Craig Rypstat,
the
Psychology Department computer programmer,
for his
help
constructing
the
electronic database; Charles Kling
for his
mathemat-
ical insights;
and Bob
Krueger
for his
comments
on
earlier
drafts
of
this
article. Kristen
C.
Kling would like
to
thank
the
Department
of
Education
for
providing
her
with
the
opportunity
to
participate
in a
week-long training
seminar
on the
National Education Longitudinal Study
of
1988. Finally,
we
wish
to
acknowledge
the
authors
who
sent
us
additional data regarding
their samples
in
response
to
letters
from
us.
Although
we
cannot thank each
of
you
individually
as we
would like,
we
sincerely appreciate your
efforts
and
are
grateful
to you for
making this
a
better
meta-analysis.
Correspondence concerning this article should
be
addressed
to
Kristen
C.
Kling,
who is now at the
Psychology Department, University
of
Min-
nesota—Twin
Cities,
75
East River Rd., Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455,
or
to
Janet Shibley Hyde, Psychology Department, University
of
Wisconsin—
Madison,
1202
W.
Johnson St., Madison, Wisconsin
53706.
Electronic
mail
may be
sent
to
klin0186@tc.umn.edu
or
tojshyde@facstaff.wisc.edu.
girls
self-esteem robbery"
(Larsen,
1992).
The New
York
Times,
in
covering
the
results
of a
study conducted
by the
American Asso-
ciation
of
University Women
(AAUW),
reported that
"Little
girls
lose their self-esteem
on way to
adolescence, study finds" (Daley,
1991).
Books
such
as
School girls:
Young
women,
self-esteem,
and
the
confidence
gap
(Orenstein,
1994)
and
Women
and
self-esteem
(Sanford
&
Donovan, 1985), detailing women's
and
girls'
prob-
lems with self-esteem,
are
published
in the
popular press. Under-
lying
these
claims
is an
assumption that females have substantially
lower self-esteem than males. Does
the
large body
of
scientific
data
on
this question support such
an
assertion?
Although
many researchers have investigated gender
differ-
ences
in
self-esteem, there
is a
pressing need
to
synthesize their
results. Indeed,
a
close inspection
of
individual
studies reveals
contradictory
findings.
For
example,
many
researchers have
found
that
males score higher than females
on
standard measures
of
self-esteem
(Allgood-Merten
&
Stockard,
1991; Feather, 1991;
Fertman
&
Chubb, 1992), whereas others have
found
no
difference
(Greene
&
Wheatley,
1992; Simpson, Gangestad,
&
Lerma,
1990),
and
still others have
found
that females report higher levels
of
self-esteem (Connell, Spencer,
&
Aber, 1994;
Ma &
Leung, 1991).
Meta-analysis,
a
collection
of
statistical
techniques
designed
to
summarize
quantitatively
a
body
of
literature,
is an
appropriate
technique
to
answer
the
question,
"Do
males
and
females
differ
in
their
level
of
self-esteem?"
Two
major
reviews
of
gender
differences
in
self-esteem con-
ducted
prior
to the
advent
of
meta-analysis (Maccoby
&
Jacklin,
1974;
Wylie,
1979) suggested that there
was no
consistent gender
difference,
yet
they
differed
in
their rationale. Whereas Maccoby
and
Jacklin
(1974)
concluded that males
and
females have equiv-
alent levels
of
self-esteem, Wylie (1979) determined that
the
studies
she
reviewed were
too
disparate
to
come
to a
conclusion
about
the
presence
or
absence
of
gender differences. Since
the
publication
of
these reviews, criticisms
of the
traditional,
narrative
review process (for
a
review,
see
Beaman,
1991)
have prompted
researchers
to
develop quantitative methods
for
combining studies.
Recently, researchers have used meta-analysis
to
examine gen-
der
differences
in
self-esteem. Feingold's
(1994)
review
of
gender
470
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