Peer attachment and self-esteem: A meta-analytic review Anna Gorrese ⇑ , Ruggero Ruggieri Department of Cultural Heritage, Department of Human, Philosophic, and Education Sciences, University of Salerno, Salerno, Italy article info Article history: Received 18 January 2013 Received in revised form 19 April 2013 Accepted 25 April 2013 Available online 2 June 2013 Keywords: Peer attachment Self-esteem Self-evaluation Meta-analysis abstract Peer attachment might provide individuals with opportunities to build their sense of self-worth. The pur- pose of this paper was to meta-analytically review literature on peer attachment and self-esteem. A total of 22 articles reporting 24 studies documenting correlations between peer attachment and self-esteem in adolescents and emerging adults were included in this meta-analysis. Of these studies, most examined links between global peer attachment and self-esteem, while few studies reported any associations between specific dimensions of peer attachment (i.e., trust, communication, and alienation) and self- esteem. Results showed significant correlations between peer attachment and self-esteem, consistently found both in studies focused on global attachment as well as in studies including specific attachment dimensions. Furthermore, since a significant heterogeneity was found across the studies, the effects of various categorical and continuous moderators related to characteristics of the study samples and designs were tested. Implications of these findings for future research are discussed. Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Individuals strive to form and maintain a positive self-image across the entire life span (James, 1890). In this process, a key role is played by interpersonal relationships. Indeed, close relationships is one of people’s bases of self-esteem that impact how they think and feel about themselves. In fact, individuals derive their self- worth, or self-esteem, from feedbacks they receive from significant others (Cooley, 1902). Feelings of self-worth are not only the result of interactions with others, but also provide a filter through which an individual views and responds to the behavior of others. The first and main important social system that impacts individuals’ self-esteem is represented by the family (Arbona & Power, 2003; Laible, Carlo, & Roesch, 2004; Mattanah, Lopez & Govern, 2011). In fact, first child-parent interactions constitute the basis for development of an early sense of self-worth. When people grow up, people external to the family system start to play a crucial role for self-esteem. In particular, in adoles- cence peers become increasingly important (Harter, Stocker, & Robinson, 1996; Mota & Matos, 2013; Rubin, Bukowski, & Parker, 2006; Thomaes et al., 2010). From middle childhood to adoles- cence, two cognitive advances allow for peer interpersonal influ- ences on self-esteem (Harter, 1999, 2006). First, improved perspective taking skills promote adolescent better understanding of appraisals of others. Second, the newfound ability to form higher order concepts allows adolescents to make global self-evaluations (e.g., ‘‘I am satisfied with myself as a person’’) rather than more concrete and domain-specific self-evaluations (e.g., ‘‘I am good at soccer’’) that are typical for younger children. Longitudinal re- search found that adolescents’ global self-esteem tend to be influ- enced by cumulative peer experiences they have had in the past (e.g., Boivin, Hymel, & Hodges, 2001; Ladd & Tropp-Gordon, 2003). From this period, friendship is thought to serve numerous functions, including the provision of intimacy, security, and trust; instrumental aid (Rubin, Bukowski, & Parker, 2006). Thus, forming and maintaining strong, qualitatively rich friendships becomes of central importance for the self-esteem from adolescence. The growth in the importance of trust and reciprocal self-disclo- sure during adolescence makes friendships more similar to rela- tionships with attachment characteristics. Attachment theory, as proposed by Bowlby (1969, 1988), provides a compelling frame- work for understanding the nature and correlates of close emo- tional ties with others. Specifically, Bowlby proposed that people seek attachment with others to regulate emotional distress as well as experience a sense of ‘‘felt security’’ (Sroufe & Waters, 1977) and the maintenance of closeness, which, in turn is related to more confidence and assertiveness in social situations (Collins & Read, 1990). Furthermore, higher confidence increases willingness to ex- plore one’s environment (Green & Campbell, 2000) and promotes self-disclosure, which facilitates the formation of mutually caring attachment relationships (Mikulincer & Nachshon, 1991). Peer attachment may provide an important relational context for development of self-esteem. Peer attachment styles (or dimensions) represent core, cognitive templates of self and others 0191-8869/$ - see front matter Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2013.04.025 ⇑ Corresponding author. Address: Department of Cultural Heritage, University of Salerno, Post Box: Via Ponte Don Melillo, 84084 Fisciano, Salerno, Italy. Tel.: +39 089 962293; fax: +39 089 962930. E-mail address: agorrese@unisa.it (A. Gorrese). Personality and Individual Differences 55 (2013) 559–568 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Personality and Individual Differences journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/paid