Partial Self-assessment as a Resource for the Psychological Well-being of Younger Schoolchildren

This article presents the results of an empirical study of the dynamics of general and partial self-esteem throughout the primary school years. We tested the hypothesis that partial self-esteem can compensate for a decline in general self-esteem in children experiencing external evaluation and comparison with other students for the fi rst time. De Graefe’s method was used to study the dynamics of general self-esteem, and a modifi ed version of J. Nuytten’s method was applied to determine levels of partial self-esteem. The study was longitudinal in nature and involved 75 students in grades 1–3 of a Moscow school. It was shown that general self-esteem in primary school children declines most sharply from fi rst to second grade, while an increase in partial self-esteem serves as a resource for maintaining students’ psychological well-being, compensating for the decline in general self-esteem caused by the evaluative situation of school learning. This article presents a modifi ed version of J. Nuytten’s method for studying partial self-esteem in primary school students.