Self-Esteem Week 4 Lecture Slides PDF

Self-Esteem 1 Recap of last week (week 3)... The self is the sense of “who I am” as a distinct being, in relation to attributes, opinions & abilities. In psychology, we refer to Self-Concept, which is the sum total of beliefs that people have about themselves. The Self-concept is co...

Self-Esteem 1 Recap of last week (week 3)... The self is the sense of “who I am” as a distinct being, in relation to attributes, opinions & abilities. In psychology, we refer to Self-Concept, which is the sum total of beliefs that people have about themselves. The Self-concept is composed of self-schemas - systems of beliefs about oneself that guide the processing of self-relevant information. People are motivated to acquire beliefs and knowledge about the self (for accuracy, consistency, and self-enhancement), and they do so via a number of ways. These include introspection, observing their own behaviour, from other people (social comparison, imagining our impression on others), autobiographical memory, and our culture. Ø The Self is a psychological and social construct. Much or our behavior and understanding of the world is orientated around ‘protecting’ the self. 2 This week… Part 1 Self-esteem – the basics ¡ What is it? ¡ Levels of self-esteem & associated personality characteristics ¡ Self-deception strategies Part 2 Studies & methodological issues ¡ Measuring self-esteem ¡ Correlates ¡ What are the benefits of high self esteem? 3 Part 1 Self-Esteem (the basics) See also: Kassin, Fein, & Markus 2011; Baumeister et al. 2003 ATS1262 – week 4 4  Key point from previous weeks Ø Our sense of who we are, and our judgements about ourselves (self-beliefs), our behaviour (attribution), other people and their behaviour (attribution) are often not concerned with accuracy, reason, rationality. Ø Rather, our self-beliefs and our attributional styles are culturally conditioned, and often (mostly?) oriented towards making us feel better and protecting our self of who we are. See the interpersonal and ego-centric functions of attributions. Ø Self-esteem is at the core of this. 5 Why is self-esteem interesting? 6 At an individual level... Because we think it feels good to have high self-esteem! From the perspective of behavioural studies/psychology... ¡ Self-esteem is posited as the basis of vast amounts of social behaviour ¡ Variance in self-esteem is an outcome of social interactions ¡ Theories state that self-esteem is linked to social identity, group membership, and intergroup dynamics. (As we will see next week!) ¡ Many of the popular beliefs about self-esteem are unfounded ¡ E.g. Is self-esteem the cause, or the outcome, of desirable behaviours?  ¡ Self-appraisal: Self-esteem originates from the Latin word aestimare, which means “to estimate or appraise” Defining self- ¡ Refers to our positive and negative evaluations of esteem... ourselves What is it? ¡ It is an affective component of the self (remember affect, behavior, cognition) ¡ It is a perception, not a reality. 7  ¡ Generally, we mean ‘global’ self-esteem: a feeling of overall self worth (e.g. relates to the self-concept, rather than specific self- schemas). Self-esteem is a ¡ However self-esteem can also be conceptualized ‘specific self- esteem.’ This relates to specific contexts and attributes. e.g: multifaceted Academic performance concept ¡ ¡ Body image ¡ We obviously evaluate some aspects of ourselves more favorably than others, and not all aspects carry equal weight in our global self-esteem 8  ¡ We have ups & downs, successes & failures – our global self-esteem can vary over time. ¡ As we move through different contexts, the focus of our self-evaluations change. Self-Esteem is ‘fluid’… ¡ Stability/fluidity of self-esteem also varies between individuals. ¡ Some people have stable self-esteem. Other people’s self-esteem changes depending on experiences (e.g. negative feedback from manager). 9 Levels of self- Secure High Self-Esteem ¡ Positive self-views that are confidently held. esteem ¡ People with secure high S-E feel good about themselves and do not need constant reassurance from others to maintain their high S-E High self-esteem People with high S-E have favorable views about Defensive High Self-Esteem themselves. For example, they may consider ¡ Positive self-views are fragile. themselves to be competent, likeable, attractive ¡ People with defensive high self-esteem and morally good. have unconscious self-doubts and insecurities. They require repeated positive feedback from others.. 10 Levels of self- Low Self-Esteem ¡ Some people have low self-esteem. The most esteem common form of low self-esteem is the absence of strong positive views about the self. Very few people hold extremely negative views about the self. ¡ People with low S-E have conflicted, uncertain ideas about the self: ‘self-concept confusion’ ¡ Focus on self protection, rather than self- enhancement. ¡ More prone to emotional highs and lows ¡ Contrary to previous understandings, people with low self-esteem do not want to fail 11 Self-esteem – common personality characteristics High Self-Esteem Low Self-Esteem Ø Persistent and resilient in the face of failure Ø Vulnerable to impact of everyday events Ø Emotionally stable Ø Wide swings in mood & affect Ø Less flexible & malleable Ø Flexible & malleable Ø Less easily persuaded / influenced Ø Easily persuaded / influenced Ø No conflict between wanting & obtaining Ø Want success & approval, but are skeptical of it success Ø React negatively to a happy or successful life Ø React positively to a happy & successful life Ø Inconsistent and unstable self-concept Ø Thorough & consistent self-concept Ø Motivational orientation: self-protection Ø Motivational orientation: self-enhancement 12 The illusions of high self-esteem…. 13 Self Discrepancy Theory (Revisited) Ideal Self Unhappiness Dissapointment Dissatisfactiom Self-dislike Actual Self discrepancy Ought Self Fear Anxiety Personal inadequacy Alienation 14  15 How do we deal with self discrepancies? - Self-esteem and positive illusions Three positive illusions that are common among well-adjusted, mentally healthy people: 1. People overestimate their good qualities, and underestimate their faults 2. People overestimate their level of control of events 3. People are unrealistically optimistic  Self-deception strategies: mental tricks that people use to help themselves believe things that are false We deceive ourselves to boost our self-esteem Self-esteem and ¡ Self-serving bias (we claim credit for success, but deny blame for failure) self-deception ¡ Being more skeptical of bad feedback strategies ¡ Self-handicapping ¡ Basking in the glory of others ¡ Social comparisons (i.e. downward social comparisons) ¡ Differential assessments of good traits versus faults ¡ Adjusting definitions of what is a good trait. 16 Questions for you! ¡ Do you feel that you have ‘high’, ‘low’ (or somewhere in between) global self-esteem? ¡ Do you have high specific self-esteem? (e.g. relating to specific domains and contexts). ¡ In what ways do you think you might ‘deceive’ yourself, so that you can boost yourself esteem? (Check previous slide...!) 17 Part 2 Measuring, correlates & the benefits of high Self-Esteem See also: Kassin, Fein, & Markus 2011; Baumeister et al. 2003 ATS1262 – week 4 18 How can we actually measure self-esteem? 19  20 The Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem Scale First introduced: ¡ Rosenberg, M. (1965). Society and the adolescent self-image. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. ¡ Almost 50,000 citations! (= very widely adopted in the social sciences) Description A 10-item scale that measures global self-worth by measuring positive or negative feelings about the self. All items are answered using a 4-point Likert scale from strongly agree to strongly disagree. Higher score equals higher self-esteem (5 of the items are reversed scored). Online version: https://wwnorton.com/college/psych/psychsci/media/rosenberg.htm  21 The Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem Scale 1. I feel that I am a person of worth, at least on an equal plane with others. 2. I feel that I have a number of good qualities. 3. All in all, I am inclined to feel that I am a failure. 4. I am able to do things as well as most other people. 5. I feel I do not have much to be proud of. 6. I take a positive attitude toward myself. 7. On the whole, I am satisfied with myself. 8. I wish I could have more respect for myself. 9. I certainly feel useless at times. 10. At times I think I am no good at all.  What does recent research say about the relationship between self- Self-Esteem esteem and other social factors / Correlates personality traits? 22 Self-Esteem & Lifespan Orth et al (2018) Development of self-esteem from age 4 to 94 years: A Meta-Analysis of Longitudinal Studies. Psychological Bulletin 144(10): 1045-80 23 24 Self-Esteem, Gender, Age & Culture Bleidorn et al (2016) Age and gender differences in self-esteem – A cross cultural window. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 111(3): 396-410 25 Self-Esteem, Gender, Age & Culture Bleidorn et al (2016) Age and gender differences in self-esteem – A cross cultural window. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 111(3): 396-410 Key points (from Abstract): Ø Across 48 nations, and consistent with previous research, we found age-related increases in self-esteem from late adolescence to middle adulthood and significant gender gaps, with males consistently reporting higher self-esteem than females. Ø Despite these broad cross-cultural similarities, the cultures differed significantly in the magnitude of gender, age, and gender x age effects on self-esteem. These differences were associated with cultural differences in socio- economic, socio-demographic, gender equality, and cultural value indicators.” 26 27 Self-Esteem & Culture Chen & Graham (2018) Doing better but feeling worse: An attributional account of achievement – self-esteem disparities in Asian American Students. Soc Psychol Educ 21:937-949 28 Self-Esteem & Culture Chen & Graham (2018) Doing better but feeling worse: An attributional account of achievement – self- esteem disparities in Asian American Students. Soc Psychol Educ 21:937-949 Key points (from Abstract): ¡ Asian American students often report lower self-esteem than their peers from other racial groups even though they are doing better academically. ¡ Academic achievement, self-esteem and attributions for academic failures (i.e., low ability and low effort) were examined in an ethnically diverse sample of 3546 White, Black, Latino, and Asian American 8th grade students (Mage = 14.03 years) from California. ¡ Results showed that Asians had the highest-grade point average but the lowest self-esteem among the four major racial/ethnic groups. Asians and Latinos also endorsed more low ability attributions than Whites and Blacks. ¡ The self-esteem gap between Asians and their White and Black peers was partly explained by more endorsement of low-ability attributions.” 29 Self-Esteem & Body Image Hesketh, Wake & Waters (2004) Body Mass Index and parent- reported self-esteem in elementary school children: evidence for a causal relationship. International Journal of Obesity 228:1233- 1237 30 Self-Esteem & Body Image Hesketh, Wake & Waters (2004) Body Mass Index and parent-reported self-esteem in elementary school children: evidence for a causal relationship. International Journal of Obesity 228:1233-1237 Key points (from Abstract): ¡ Objective: Clarify relationships between Body Mass Index (BMI) and self-esteem in young children” ¡ Design: Longitudinal Cohort Study; 1997 & 2000 ¡ Measure: Child Health Questionnaire (parent reported) ¡ Results: “Overweight/obese children had lower median self-esteem scores than nonoverweight children at both time points, especially at follow-up…While nonoverweight children with low baseline self-esteem were more likely to develop overweight/obesity (OR ¼ 2.1, 95% CI ¼ 1.2, 3.6), this accounted for only a small proportion of the incidence of overweight.” ¡ Conclusions: “Our data show an increasingly strong association between lower self-esteem and higher body mass across the elementary school years. Overweight/obesity precedes low self-esteem in many children, suggesting a causal relationship. This indicates that prevention and management strategies for childhood overweight/obesity need to begin early to minimise the impact on self-esteem” 31  Parenting styles ¡ Parents with low self-esteem are more likely to be violent (Ostrowsky, 2010) ¡ Witnessing inter-parental violence negatively impacts children’s self-esteem (Shen 2010) ¡ Childhood psychological abuse linked with low self-esteem More Studies in adults (Briere & Runtz, 1990) Domestic Violence & Self-esteem On Self-Esteem ¡ Physical abuse of women associated with significantly lower self-esteem (Sahin et al 2010) ¡ Both victimization and perpertration of domestic violence associated with lower self-esteem in males (Papadakaki, 2009) Childhood Sexual Abuse (CSA) ¡ Extensive longitudinal study linking CSA to lower self-esteem setting in at around age 30. (Fergusson et al 2013) 32  Sexual Behavior & Sexual performance ¡ Females who had lower self-esteem reported initiating sex earlier and having risky partners. (Ethier et al, 2006: 268) ¡ Men experienced significantly increased self-esteem after receiving treatment for sexual dysfunction (Althof et al 2003) More Studies ¡ In a multivariate model, inadequate sexual performance had the largest impact on male self-esteem (Stimson et al 2010) On Self-Esteem Leadership ¡ People with high self-esteem are confident in their decisions ¡ They do not need leaders for social cues on what to do, thus equipping them to be leaders 33 Correlation Versus Causation High self-esteem correlates with many positive outcomes.... Ø Does high self-esteem result in positive outcomes? Ø...Or do positive outcomes result in high self-esteem? In the past, researchers have been too quick to assume that high self-esteem resulted in positive outcomes. Hence, there has been a lot of focus on improving peoples’ self- esteem For example, we now have good evidence that high self-esteem is the result, not the cause, of good school performance. 34 So… what are the benefits of high self- esteem? “Our 2003 article clashed with conventional wisdom by concluding that high self-esteem has only a couple of benefits, notably high initiative (based on trusting one’s own judgment) and feeling good.” 35 There is a common belief that low self-esteem is associated with poor outcomes (and aggressive & antisocial behaviour) BUT... High self-esteem is not a panacea for societal ills. Pursuit of self-esteem as an end in-itself can have harmful consequences! 36  Narcissism: a disposition that represents the extent to which people have excessive love for themselves and a selfish orientation. Threatened egotism: Disadvantages Of A hostile aggressive response to criticism from others, which High Self-esteem has been linked to narcissism. High self-esteem is also associated with higher prejudice (as we will see when we look at Social Identity Theory). 37 Summary ¡ Self-esteem refers to our positive and negative evaluations of the self. We can distinguish between global and specific self- esteem. Specific personality traits often accompany particular levels of self-esteem. Self-esteem can be fluid. ¡ People often have various self-deception strategies to boost self-esteem. High self-esteem tends to be associated with various illusions about the self. ¡ We have tools for measuring self-esteem, such as the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Measure. This has enabled us to undertake studies that explore various correlations (gender, age, culture etc) ¡ High self-esteem is not a panacea for social ills. It may have less benefits than commonly assumed, and it can be associated with negative personality traits. 38