The effect of temperament and self-esteem on resilience of university students Cover Image

Vliv temperamentu a self-esteem na resilienci u vysokoškolských studentů
The effect of temperament and self-esteem on resilience of university students

Author(s): Jan Sebastian Novotný, Klára Seidlová, Adéla Tarinová
Subject(s): Sociology, Higher Education , Educational Psychology, Individual Psychology, Social psychology and group interaction, Comparative Psychology, Personality Psychology, Psychology of Self, Behaviorism, Psychoanalysis, Health and medicine and law
Published by: Spoločenskovedný ústav SAV, Slovenská akadémia vied
Keywords: Temperament; Resilience; Self–esteem; Emerging adulthood; Direct effect; Indirect effect;

Summary/Abstract: The aim of this study was to analyze the direct and indirect effects of temperament personality characteristics on the resilience and the role of self-esteem in the indirect effect. The research sample consisted of 96 university students. The research sample consisted of 96 college students aged 19 to 30 years (M = 21.75, SD = 2.07). Adults Temperament Questionnaire, Resilience Scale for Adults, and Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale were used. The effects were analyzed with a structural model (path analysis). The resulting model showed good fit: χ2 (2, 96) = .3.974, p = .137, CFI = .986, TLI = .930, RMSEA = .102 (90% CI = .000, .250, PCLOSE = .202), SRMR = .045 and power (.98). The results showed a direct and indirect impact of temperament characteristics on resilience. Negative affectivity and extraversion affect self-esteem (β = –.36, p < .001; β = .21, p = .031; R2 = .233). Negative affectivity showed a direct negative effect on perception of self (β = –.46, p < .001) and planned future (β = –.33, p < .001), and the indirect effect through self-esteem (β = –.11, p < .001 and β = .07, p < .01). Extraversion affects the perception of self and planned future only indirectly through self-esteem (β = –.46, p < .001 and β = .06, p < .01). Identified effects of variables (direct and indirect effect of negative affectivity and indirect effect of extraversion) explain the relatively large proportion of the variance of perception of self (R2 = .425) and planned future (R2 = .289). Limitation of the study is the small sample of respondents and its specificity (university students), which does not allow the abstraction on the general adult population. From a practical standpoint, it appears that targeted support of positive self-esteem (especially) in individuals who are characterized by the less desirable structure of temperament (so-called “difficult temperament”) may act as a compensatory mechanism of the temperament’s effect on the ability to adaptively respond to environmental challenges and difficult situations in life. As an ideal combination seems to be the support/development (1) of positive self-esteem and (2) the ability to control/modify (behavioral) manifestations of temperament.

  • Issue Year: 19/2016
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 43-55
  • Page Count: 13
  • Language: Slovak