College students' self-esteem, conflict management style, depression and aggression

Abstract

The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Inventory (Rosenberg, 1965) was used to study college students' self-esteem in relation to age at parents' separation, perceived frequency of interparental conflict, conflict management style, depression, and aggression. One hundred fifty-one undergraduate participants were administered the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument (Kilmann & Thomas, 1977) to measure avoiding, accommodating, competing, compromising and collaborating. Perceived high frequency of interparental conflict was associated with lower self-esteem in females. Results replicated R. F. Hanson's (1991) finding that perceived frequency of interparental conflict combined with conflict management style scores predict self-esteem better than either measure alone.