Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Self-Esteem
There are different definitions of self-esteem according to different psychologists, such
as:
Self-esteem is the panacea of modern life. It is seen as the key to financial success,
health, and personal fulfillment, and it is regarded as the antidote to underachievement,
crime, and drug abuse (Branden, 1994; Mecca, Smelser, & Vasconcellos, 1989).
Self-esteem is also popular in academic circles. In the fields of personality and social
psychology, it has been implicated in models of conformity (Brockner, 1984)
According to Rosenberg, self-esteem is a favorable or unfavorable attitude toward the self
(Rosenberg, 1965)
Self-esteem is generally considered the evaluative component of the self-concept, a
broader representation of the self that includes cognitive and behavioral aspects as well as
evaluative or affective ones (Blascovich & Tomaka, 1991)
Self is a social product that develops through the experience of interpersonal relation and
is largely dependent on regard from others (Krasner, 2002)
Definition
Self-esteem is a widely used concept both in popular language and in psychology. It
refers to an individual's sense of his or her value or worth, or the extent to which a person
values, approves of, appreciates, prizes, or likes him or herself (Blascovich & Tomaka,
1991). The most broad and frequently cited definition of self-esteem within psychology is
Rosenberg's (1965), who described it as a favorable or unfavorable attitude toward the
self
History
The identification of self-esteem as a distinct psychological construct is thought to have its
origins in the work of philosopher and psychologist, William James (1892). James identified
multiple dimensions of the self. In the mid-1960s, sociologist Morris Rosenberg defined selfesteem as a feeling of self-worth and developed the Rosenberg self-esteem scale (RSES), which
became the most-widely used scale to measure self-esteem in the social sciences.
Measurement
Self-esteem is part of everyday language, and at an intuitive level, everyone seems to
know what self-esteem is. It may surprise you then to know that there is less than
perfect agreement within the psychological literature. Part of the problem is that the term
is used in three different ways.
Types of self-esteem
High self-esteem
The person loves themselves and accepts who they are.
Low self-esteem
The person doesnt love themselves, doesnt accept who they are and doesnt value their
qualities.
Inflated self-esteem
The person loves themselves more than others and they exaggerate their qualities.
Theories of self-esteem
Maslows Hierarchy of Needs
Maslows hierarchy of need is a theory in psychology proposed by Abraham Maslow in
1943. Maslow's hierarchy of needs is often portrayed in the shape of a pyramid with the
largest, most fundamental levels of needs at the bottom and the need for selfactualization and self-transcendence at the top. All humans have a need to feel respected;
this includes the need to have self-esteem and self-respect. Esteem presents the typical
human desire to be accepted and valued by others. Maslow noted two versions of esteem
needs: a "lower" version and a "higher" version. The "lower" version of esteem is the
need for respect from others. This may include a need for status, recognition, fame,
prestige, and attention. The "higher" version manifests itself as the need for self-respect.
For example, the person may have a need for strength, competence, mastery, selfconfidence, independence, and freedom. This "higher" version takes precedence over the
"lower" version because it relies on an inner competence established through experience.
Deprivation of these needs may lead to an inferiority complex, weakness, and
helplessness. In Maslows hierarchy of needs first come self-actualization then selfesteem then love/belongingness then safety and then psychological needs.
TMT has generated empirical research (currently more than 500 studies) examining a
host of other forms of human social behavior, including aggression, stereotyping, needs
for structure and meaning, depression and psychopathology, political preferences,
creativity, sexuality, romantic and interpersonal attachment, self-awareness, unconscious
cognition, martyrdom, religion, group identification, disgust, human-nature relations,
physical health, risk taking, and legal judgments.
In 2015, Greenberg, Pyszczynski and Solomon published The Worm at the Core, which
reviews this vast body of research supporting Beckers central claim that the fear of death
is the mainspring of human activity.
Models of Self-Esteem
Relationship to SES
Perhaps the most famous investigation into the relationship of self-esteem to SES is
Rosenberg and Pearlin's (1978) assessment of social class and self-esteem among
children and adults. In an effort to clarify decades of inconclusive work on what many
thought would be an obvious connection between one's social status or prestige and one's
personal sense of worth, Rosenberg and Pearlin suggested that age was a critical factor in
teasing apart this relationship.
Perhaps the most famous investigation into the relationship of self-esteem to SES is
Rosenberg and Pearlin's (1978) assessment of social class and self-esteem among
children and adults. In an effort to clarify decades of inconclusive work on what many
thought would be an obvious connection between one's social status or prestige and one's
personal sense of worth, Rosenberg and Pearlin suggested that age was a critical factor in
teasing apart this relationship.
Since the work by Rosenberg and Pearlin (1978) and Coopersmith (1967), others have
explored the relationship of self-esteem to SES, especially among adolescents. With some
exceptions, Rosenberg and Pearlin's results have been replicated (though it appears that
more people have studied adolescents than adults).
Relationship to Health
Much of the research about the relationship between self-esteem and health appears to
have been done in terms of the influence of self-esteem on health-related behaviors. Selfesteem has been related to such health practices as the use of birth control (Herold,
Goodwin, & Lero, 1979), doing breast self-exam (Hallal, 1982), and exercise (e.g., LihMei Liao, Hunter, & Weinman, 1995; Vingerhoets, Croon, Jeninga, & Menges, 1990).
Self-efficacy has been related to smoking cessation, pain management, weight control,
and adherence to health prevention programs (Pervin, 1993)..
Importance
Abraham Maslow states that psychological health is not possible unless the essential core
of the person is fundamentally accepted, loved and respected by others and by her or his
self. Self-esteem allows people to face life with more confidence, benevolence and
optimism, and thus easily reach their goals and self-actualize.
Self-esteem may make people convinced they deserve happiness. Understanding this is
fundamental, and universally beneficial, since the development of positive self-esteem
increases the capacity to treat other people with respect, benevolence and goodwill, thus
favoring rich interpersonal relationships and avoiding destructive ones. For Erich Fromm
love of others and love of us are not alternatives. Freud also claimed that the depressive
has suffered "an extraordinary diminution in his self-regard, an impoverishment of his
ego on a grand scale....He has lost his self-respect"
The Yogyakarta Principles, a document on international human rights law addresses the
discriminatory attitude toward LGBT peoples that makes their self-esteem low to be
subject to human rights violation including human trafficking and World Health
Organization recommends in "Preventing Suicide" published in 2000 that strengthening
students' self-esteem is important to protect children and adolescents against mental
distress and despondency, enabling them to cope adequately with difficult and stressful
life situations.
Neuroscience
In a 2014 research conducted by Robert S. Chavez and Todd F. Heatherton, it was found
that self-esteem is related to the connectivity of frontostriatal circuits. Frontostriatal
pathway connects medial prefrontal cortex, which deals with self-knowledge, to
the ventral striatum, which deals with feelings of motivation and reward. Stronger
anatomical pathways correlated with higher long-term self-esteem, while stronger
functional connectivity correlated with higher short-term self-esteem.
Criticism
The American psychologist Albert Ellis criticized on numerous occasions the concept of
self-esteem as essentially self-defeating and ultimately destructive. Although
acknowledging the human propensity and tendency to ego rating as innate, he has
critiqued the philosophy of self-esteem as unrealistic, illogical and self- and socially
destructive often doing more harm than good. Questioning the foundations and
usefulness of generalized ego strength, he has claimed that self-esteem is based on
arbitrary definitional premises, and over-generalized, perfectionistic and grandiose
thinking. Acknowledging that rating and valuing behaviors and characteristics is
functional and even necessary, he sees rating and valuing human beings' totality and total
selves as irrational and unethical. The healthier alternative to self-esteem according to
him is unconditional self-acceptance and unconditional other-acceptance. Rational
Emotive Behavior Therapy is a psychotherapy based on this approach.
"There seem to be only two clearly demonstrated benefits of high self-esteem....First; it
increases initiative, probably because it lends confidence. People with high self-esteem
are more willing to act on their beliefs, to stand up for what they believe in, to approach
others, to risk new undertakings. (This unfortunately includes being extra willing to do
stupid or destructive things, even when everyone else advises against them.)...It can also
lead people to ignore sensible advice as they stubbornly keep wasting time and money on
hopeless causes
Mental Well-being
Mental well-being or mental health is a level of psychological well-being, or an absence
or mental illness. It is the "psychological state of someone who is functioning at a
satisfactory level of emotional and behavioral adjustment"
The World Health Organization defines as:
"Mental health is not just the absence of mental disorder. It is defined as a state of wellbeing in which every individual realizes his or her own potential, can cope with the
normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a
contribution to her or his community."
The WHO further states that the well-being of an individual is encompassed in the
realization of their abilities, coping with normal stresses of life, productive work and
contribution to their community. Cultural differences, subjective assessments, and
competing professional theories all affect how "mental health" is defined. A widely
accepted definition of health by mental health specialists is psychoanalyst Sigmund
Freud's definition: the capacity "to work and to love".
History
In the mid-19th century, William Sweetser was the first to coin the term "mental
hygiene", which can be seen as the precursor to contemporary approaches to work on
promoting positive mental health. Isaac Ray, one of the thirteen founders of
the American Psychiatric Association, further defined mental hygiene as "the art of
preserving the mind against all incidents and influences calculated to deteriorate its
qualities, impair its energies, or derange its movements."
Dorothea Dix (18021887) was an important figure in the development of "mental
hygiene" movement. Dix was a school teacher who endeavored throughout her life to
help people with mental disorders, and to bring to light the deplorable conditions into
which they were put. This was known as the "mental hygiene movement". Before this
movement, it was not uncommon that people affected by mental illness in the 19th
century would be considerably neglected, often left alone in deplorable conditions, barely
even having sufficient clothing.
Emil Kraepelin in 1896 developed the taxonomy mental disorders which have dominated
the field for nearly 80 years. Later the proposed disease model of abnormality was
subjected to analysis and considered normality to be relative to the physical, geographical
and cultural aspects of the defining group.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Clifford Beers founded the Mental Health America National Committee for Mental Hygiene after publication of his accounts from lived
experience in lunatic asylums "A mind that found itself" in 1908 and opened the first
outpatient mental health clinic in the United States
Perspectives
Mental wellness
Mental wellness is generally viewed as a positive attribute, even if the person does not
have any diagnosed mental health condition. This definition of mental health
highlights emotional well-being, the capacity to live a full and creative life, and the
flexibility to deal with life's inevitable challenges. Some discussions are formulated in
terms of contentment or happiness.
An example of a wellness model includes one developed by Myers, Sweeney and
Witmer. It includes five life tasksessence or spirituality, work and leisure, friendship,
love and self-directionand twelve sub taskssense of worth, sense of control, realistic
beliefs, emotional awareness and coping, problem solving and creativity, sense of
humor, nutrition, exercise, self care, stress management, gender identity, and cultural
identitywhich are identified as characteristics of healthy functioning and a major
component of wellness. The components provide a means of responding to the
circumstances of life in a manner that promotes healthy functioning.
Prevention
Mental health is conventionally defined as a hybrid of absence of a mental disorder and
presence of well-being. Focus is increasing on preventing mental disorders. Prevention is
beginning to appear in mental health strategies, including the 2004 WHO report
"Prevention of Mental Disorders", the 2008 EU "Pact for Mental Health" and the 2011
US National Prevention Strategy. Prevention of a disorder at a young age may
significantly decrease the chances that a child will suffer from a disorder later in life, and
shall be the most efficient and effective measure from a public health
perspective. Prevention may require the regular consultation of a physician for at least
twice a year to detect any signs that reveal any mental health concerns.
Minds (19982003) to help reduce stigma. Due to this stigma, responses to a positive
diagnosis may be a display of denialism.
Behavioral theories
"Behavioral psychology, also known as behaviorism, is a theory of learning based upon the
idea that all behaviors are acquired through conditioning. Advocated by famous
psychologists such as John B. Watson and B.F. Skinner, behavioral theories dominated
psychology during the early half of the twentieth century. Today, behavioral techniques are
still widely used in therapeutic settings to help clients learn new skills and behaviors."
(Cherry, 2014) Theorists: Watson, Skinner, Pavlov
Cognitive theories
"Cognitive psychology is the branch of psychology that studies mental processes including
how people think, perceive, remember, and learn. As part of the larger field of cognitive
science, this branch of psychology is related to other disciplines including neuroscience,
philosophy, and linguistics." (Cherry, 2014) Theorists: Tolman, Piaget, Chomsky
Social theories
"Social psychology looks at a wide range of social topics, including group behavior, social
perception, leadership, nonverbal behavior, conformity, aggression, and prejudice. It is
important to note that social psychology is not just about looking at social influences. Social
perception and social interaction are also vital to understanding social behavior." (Cherry,
2014) Theorists: Bandura, Lewin, Festinge
Neurosis
Also known as psychoneuroses, neuroses are minor mental illnesses
like phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorders, and anxiety disorders, among others.
Psychosis
Psychoses are major mental illnesses in which the mental state impairs thoughts,
perception and judgment. Delusions and hallucinations are marked symptoms. This may
require the use of anti-psychotic drugs as well as counseling techniques in order to treat
them.
the issue has to be resolved. "Prevention emphasizes the avoidance of risk factors; promotion
aims to enhance an individual's ability to achieve a positive sense of self-esteem, mastery, wellbeing, and social inclusion." It is very important to improve your emotional mental health by
surrounding yourself with positive relationships. We as humans, feed off companionships and
interaction with other people. Another way to improve your emotional mental health is
participating in activities that can allow you to relax and take time for yourself. Yoga is a great
example of an activity that calms your entire body and nerves. According to a study on wellbeing by Richards, Campania and Muse-Burke, "mindfulness is considered to be a purposeful
state, it may be that those who practice it believe in its importance and value being mindful, so
that valuing of self-care activities may influence the intentional component of mindfulness.