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The Mediation Effect of Education on Self-Esteem and Wages

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  • Robert Girtz

Abstract

Research suggests a positive relationship between adolescent self-esteem and adult wages. Drawing data from the 1979 cohort of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, I refine the empirical relationship between self-esteem, wages, and education. The effect of self-esteem on wages is positive and significant when estimating models for the entire sample. This effect, however, becomes statistically insignificant when estimating models for subsamples sorted by educational level. In addition, mediation models suggest that roughly one-third of the total effect of self-esteem on wages is mediated by education. In total, these results indicate that there is a significantly less pronounced direct effect of self-esteem on wages than previously found in the literature. A substantial portion of the effect self-esteem has on wages occurs through its effect on educational attainment. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014

Suggested Citation

  • Robert Girtz, 2014. "The Mediation Effect of Education on Self-Esteem and Wages," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 35(4), pages 358-372, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jlabre:v:35:y:2014:i:4:p:358-372
    DOI: 10.1007/s12122-014-9187-3
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    Cited by:

    1. Botea, Ioana & Donald, Aletheia & Rouanet, Léa, 2021. "In it to win it? Self-esteem and income-earning among couples," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 187(C), pages 488-506.
    2. Linda Kamas & Anne Preston, 2020. "Does Empathy Pay? Evidence on Empathy and Salaries of Recent College Graduates," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 41(1), pages 169-188, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Self-esteem; Personality; Human capital; Education; Mediation; I20; J01; J24; J30;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • J01 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics: General
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J30 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - General

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