Who am I? The interactive effect of early family experiences and self-esteem in predicting self-clarity

•We tested the effects of discrepancies between self-esteem and early experiences.•We conceptualized early family experiences as positive/negative social feedback.•Self-esteem, early family experiences, and self-clarity were assessed.•Early experiences inconsistent with self-esteem predicted lower self-clarity.•Early experiences consistent with self-esteem predicted higher self-clarity.

Previous research suggests that inconsistencies between self-esteem and social feedback reduce feelings of coherence. The current research tested effects of discrepancies between people’s self-esteem and feedback they received in the form of chronic early family experiences. In two studies, participants completed measures of global self-esteem, perceived early family experiences, and self-clarity. Early family experiences that were inconsistent with participants’ current self-views (i.e., negative experiences for high self-esteem, positive experiences for low self-esteem) were associated with lower self-clarity; in contrast, consistent experiences were associated with higher self-clarity. These findings have implications for understanding the development of self-clarity and suggest novel consequences of early family experiences.