Self-Esteem Among Young Adults: Differences and Similarities Based on Gender, Race, and Cohort (1990–2012)

The major purpose of this study was to examine the joint effects of race and gender on the self-esteem of young adults. Data came from a large sample of undergraduate students (N = 7,552; 2,785 men and 4,767 women) enrolled at a Midwestern U.S. University over the period 1990–2012. Consistent with prior research, we found that men had higher self-esteem than women and that Blacks had higher self-esteem than Whites, Hispanics, and Asians. The analyses, however, revealed that the gender differences in self-esteem were not found among Blacks and that the higher self-esteem of Blacks relative to other races was greater among women than among men. The effects of race and gender did not change controlling for social class and other demographic variables, did not differ across domains of self-esteem, and were not affected by period of time. This study deepens our knowledge of social group differences in self-esteem, providing evidence that the higher self-esteem of men (relative to women) and of Blacks (relative to other races) persisted across the past two decades.