Relationship between Self-Esteem, Self Actualization, and Social Connectedness in Young Adults

The present study examined the relationships among self-esteem, self-actualization, and social connectedness in a sample of young adults residing in Navi Mumbai, India. Drawing on Maslow’s (1954) hierarchy of needs and related theoretical frameworks in humanistic and positive psychology, it was hypothesized that self-esteem would demonstrate statistically significant positive correlations with both self-actualization and social connectedness. A quantitative, correlational, cross-sectional design was employed, and data were collected from 204 participants (102 males, 102 females) aged 18 to 25 years using three validated instruments: the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES; Rosenberg, 1965), the Short Index of Self-Actualization (SISA; Jones & Crandall, 1986), and the Social Connectedness Scale-Revised (SCS-R; Lee & Robbins, 1995). Spearman rank-order correlations revealed weak, non-significant negative associations between self-esteem and self-actualization (rho = -.097, p = .166) and between self-esteem and social connectedness (rho = -.107, p = .128), leading to the retention of both null hypotheses. Independent-samples t-tests indicated no statistically significant gender differences on any of the three measured variables. These results challenge theoretical assumptions derived from humanistic and social psychology regarding the role of self-esteem as a facilitator of personal growth and social belonging. Possible explanations, including ceiling effects, sampling constraints, and the nature of contingent self-esteem, are discussed alongside directions for future research.