Individual Differences in Self-Esteem Trajectories After Negative Life Events: The Role of the Big Five Personality Traits and Perceived Event Characteristics

Negative life events can trigger changes in self-esteem throughout an individual’slife. However, people differ in how they respond to these events. To better understand theseindividual differences, we examined the self-esteem trajectories of 1,069 participants over 6months following a negative life event. Using latent class analyses, we identified four classeswith distinct self-esteem trajectories and examined how event-related (event type, perceivedcharacteristics) and person-related variables (Big Five personality traits, demographicvariables) predict class membership. Our results revealed three classes with increasing self-esteem in the months after the negative event, suggesting an adaptation to the event over time,and one class with no significant change, indicating a lack of recovery. Regression analysesrevealed that the Big Five personality traits (R2 = 31%) explained the greatest share of variancein class membership, followed by perceived event characteristics (R2 = 8%). Neuroticism wasthe strongest predictor of self-esteem development, positively predicting membership in classescharacterized by less favorable self-esteem trajectories. Our findings highlight the importanceof both event- and person-related factors in shaping self-esteem development followingnegative life events. Furthermore, our findings may guide targeted interventions by helping toidentify people at risk for unfavorable self-esteem trajectories.