Writing about identity and values ​​can boost teens’ self-esteem

New psychological research from Cornell University shows that affirming positive aspects of their identity can help teens build their self-esteem over time and ease the transition to high school.

In a study of nearly 400 ninth-graders, students who wrote short essays every few months about identities or values ​​that were important to them reported, on average, stable or even improved self-esteem over the course of the year. Among peers who did not complete the self-affirmation exercises, average self-esteem dropped significantly—a common phenomenon when starting high school.

The findings suggest that, in addition to values-based affirmations, which have been studied more extensively, identity-based affirmations may also be useful at a time when teenagers are developing and becoming more aware of their identities, says Adam Hoffman, assistant professor in the Department of Psychology and the School of Human Ecology.

“Self-esteem is somewhat derived from our social identity, and teenagers are shaped by their social identity during adolescence,” Hoffman said. “If we can encourage explicit socialization of their identity and portray it in a positive light, we can achieve better outcomes in terms of mental health and overall well-being.”

Hoffman is co-author of “The Promise of an Identity-Based Self-Affirmation Intervention in Protecting Against Self-Esteem Declines at the High School Transition,” published in Developmental psychologywith Hannah Schacter, assistant professor of psychology at Wayne State University.

Although strong self-esteem is associated with better health and academic achievement, it stagnates or declines among adolescents entering high school. At this age, Hoffman says, students develop a more complex and nuanced sense of self while building new social relationships and facing frequent opportunities to prove themselves, such as through grades and athletic achievement.

“Adolescents’ social perceptions allow them to have a more realistic perception of themselves and their abilities, and there are many ways to evaluate themselves in comparison to others,” Hoffman said. “We wanted to find ways to mitigate these normative dips in self-esteem.”

Although previous research has focused on how self-affirmations affect academic outcomes, Hoffman said, the new study is one of the first to examine their effects on psychological well-being, particularly self-esteem. Previous research has also mostly looked at more traditional value affirmations.

To test the benefits of an identity-affirming intervention, researchers recruited a diverse sample of 388 students from 38 Michigan schools, averaging 14 years old. Participants completed up to five self-esteem assessments in ninth and 10th grades. Beginning in fall 2020, as ninth graders, they were randomly assigned to one of three groups that completed a series of three writing exercises.

Every few months, participants in one group responded to a prompt about what they liked about an identity. Choices included race/ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, weight, immigration status, language, disability, socioeconomic status, or “other.” Another group focused on a value they thought was important, such as creativity or sense of humor. And a control group wrote about their morning routine for that day.

The results showed that self-esteem remained stable in the first two groups but decreased over time in the control group, suggesting that the interventions had a “large effect” on average. That was particularly notable because the study took place during the COVID-19 pandemic, when students and adults were facing higher levels of stress, although the authors said additional research should be conducted under more normal conditions.

The researchers expected that identity-based affirmations would boost self-esteem the most. However, they found that teens simultaneously develop both identities and values ​​that could protect them from increasing academic demands, difficulties with friends or family, or instances of discrimination.

“Perhaps it is not surprising that repeated opportunities to think positively about things that are important to oneself – whether personal values ​​or social identities – can provide a method of maintaining one’s self-esteem,” the authors write.

Schools, counselors and parents could provide these opportunities with as little disruption as possible to help young people gain better self-esteem as they transition to high school, the researchers say.

“This is something you could do in 10 minutes in English class, a couple times a year, and it’s super simple and relevant for kids,” Hoffman said. “Any kind of affirmation intervention, whether it’s based on their values ​​or their identity, has been shown to help with self-esteem.”