Does emotion regulation moderate the relationship between self-esteem and social desirability?

Childhood (the period during grades 3 through 5; ages 8–10) and adolescence (the period during grades 6 through 8; ages 11–13) are pivotal periods when emotional and social skills necessary for well-being are developed. Specifically, factors such as self-esteem, social desirability, and emotion regulation can significantly affect the mental health of children and adolescents. Previous research has shown potential relationships and correlations with these variables in adult study populations; however, no research has investigated this relationship in children and adolescents. Therefore, this study explored the moderating effect of emotion regulation on the relationship between self-esteem and social desirability by conducting secondary analyses on a de-identified data set. The original study was the development and refinement of a vignette-based emotion regulation assessment designed for school use. It was conducted between November 2020 and November 2021. Based on the sociometer theory, we hypothesized that emotion regulation would affect the strength or direction of the relationship between self-esteem and social desirability in children and adolescents. Results of this study indicated that children and adolescents with higher levels of self-esteem showed greater levels of social desirability and that emotion regulation did not moderate this relationship, refuting the sociometer theory. The findings of this study emphasize the importance of self-esteem and social desirability among adolescents. Therefore, adults should foster a more supportive environment to help adolescents and children develop better skills for their self-esteem. In addition, these results can be applied through therapeutic interventions to help adolescents improve their self-esteem.