Parental Hostility, Adolescent High Standards, and Self-Esteem.

Studies employing the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-based Cook and Medley (1954) Hostility (Ho) Scale have suggested that Hostility may be a robust psychological disposition with pervasive implications for interpersonal functioning. For example, when compared to individuals who scored low in Ho, high Ho individuals were more suspicious, more anger-prone, and more irritable. This study investigated whether the self esteem (SE) levels of adolescents having high personal standards are more vulnerable to the deleterious effects of parental Ho than are the SE levels of those who do not hold high standards of personal performance. Subjects were 69 college students from intact families and both of their parents. College student subjects completed a global self-esteem questionnaire; a questionnaire measuring high personal standards, and a demographic information sheet. Parents filled out the Ho scale. The results indicated that mothers' and fathers' hostility were inversely related to their adolescents' self-esteem. High standards held by the adolescents for their own behaviors were not related to their self-esteem; however, these high standards had strong cognitive moderating effects, magnifying the deleterious consequences for adolescent self-esteem. (Author/ABL)