Self Esteem

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• Chapter 5
• Self - Esteem

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Self-Esteem

• Overall assessment of ones worth as a person
  evaluative component of the self-concept

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The Importance of Self-Esteem
Low Self-Esteem
Negative expectations
Self-blame
Low effort High Anxiety
Failure
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Low self-esteem

• Not really strong negative views of self
• More confused, self-contradictory, susceptible to
  short-term fluctuations Dont know themselves
  well
• Associated with unpleasant moods, w/ greater ups
  downs
• More likely to report anxiety, depression,
  irritability, aggressiveness, psychosomatic
• Less effective social skills

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Figure 5.6
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Self-Esteem Adjustment

• Self-esteem is strongly and consistently
  connected to happiness.
• People with high self-esteem feel more likeable
  and attractive, have better relationships and
  make better impressions on others.

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Self-Esteem (cont.)

• People with high self-esteem persist longer in
  the face of failure.
• In contrast, people with low self-esteem have
  negative expectations about performance, feel
  worse after poor performances, and suffer further
  decreases in self-esteem.

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Self-Esteem (cont.)

• High self-esteem versus narcissism.
• Feeling too good about oneself is not desirable,
  however.
• Narcissism the tendency to regard oneself as
  grandiosely self-important - is pathological and
  different from high self-esteem, a healthy trait.

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Self-Esteem (cont.)

• High self-esteem versus narcissism. (cont.)
• Narcissistic individuals
• Are preoccupied with fantasies of success.
• Believe they deserve special treatment.
• React aggressively when their view of themselves
  (ego) is threatened.

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Figure 5.8
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The Development of Self-Esteem

• Parents play an important role in shaping
  self-esteem early in life.
• Two dimensions of parenting are important
• Parental acceptance.
• Parental control.
• Four parenting styles
• Authoritative style is associated with the
  highest self-esteem scores.

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The Development of Self-Esteem

• Authoritarian-low acceptance, high control
• Authoritative-high acceptance, high control
• Neglectful- low acceptance, low control
• Permissive- high acceptance, low control

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The Development of Self-Esteem

• Teachers, classmates and close friends also
  influence childrens self-esteem.
• Children with perceived support from significant
  others have the highest self-esteem.
• Children also use reference groups as a basis for
  self-judgments.
• Those who feel competent, relative to others,
  have the highest self-esteem.

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Ethnicity, Gender and Self-Esteem

• Ethnicity and gender interact in complex ways
  with regard to self-esteem.
• White males have higher self-esteem than do white
  females, but minority males have lower
  self-esteem than do minority females.
• Overall, males score slightly higher on
  self-esteem than do females, and white girls have
  lower self-esteem than do minority girls.