PSYC 361 Module #9 Self-Esteem

High self-esteem

• Good, capable, worthy of respect, love etc. 

  • “On the whole, I am satisfied with myself”

  • “I feel that I have a number of good qualities" 

  • “I take a positive attitude toward myself”

Low self-esteem

• Useless, inept, unworthy of respect, love etc. 

  • “I feel I do not have much to be proud of”

  • “At times I think I am no good at all”

  • “All in all, I am inclined to feel that I am a failure

Lay Theories of Self-Esteem

General assumptions among the public and in general literature that people want high self-esteem simply because it feels good, make us feel positive about ourselves or promotes competency

The Need to Belong (Social inclusion and acceptance vital for survival)

• bonding with others and being a part of a social group resulted in a greater chance of survival and greater reproductive success

• If a process was adaptive for our ancestors, corresponding genes were more likely to be passed on, become more common

• Thus, we have evolved and innately driven to think, feel, and respond to others in ways that promote social bonding and inclusion

Developmental (The Construct of Self-Esteem)

Psychologists have studied the role of self-esteem in human development

Personality (The Construct of Self-Esteem)

Psychologists have examined individual differences in the trait levels of self-esteem

Social (The Construct of Self-Esteem)

Psychologists have studied behaviours that are thought to maintain and promote self-esteem

Self-Esteem as a Sociomonitor

The argument that self-esteem provides us with important information about our inclusionary status – the degree to which other people value us and want to include and accept us

Self-esteem (Sociomonitor)

Psychological gauge by which we monitor and react to how others appraise and value us/ monitor our likelihood of social inclusion versus social rejection

High self-esteem (Self-Esteem as a Sociomonitor)

signals that people are reacting and appraising us positively.

Low self-esteem (Self-Esteem as a Sociomonitor)

Signals that people are not reacting positively, which in turn indicates we need to change something about ourselves.

Negative affect or low state self-esteem:

1. Alert possibility of social exclusion/rejection

2. Motivate action toward social inclusion

State self-esteem:

Monitors current relational value (inclusion versus exclusion in the immediate context)

Trait self-esteem

Assesses the degree to which one is the sort of person who generally will be valued by desirable groups and relationship partners

Social Ostracism

The act of ignoring a individual or group 

• E.x. the silent treatment, the cold shoulder 

Self-Esteem and Social Ostracism

Threatens four fundamental human needs

• Feeling to belong 

• Sense of control 

• Self-esteem

• Sense of Meaningful Existence 

  • Ostracism takes away that sense of purpose 

  • Giving a feeling of what it would be if you didnt exist

Belonging

Our need to belong adaptively motivates us to think and behave in ways that increase our relational value and avoid rejection.

Restoring Self-Esteem / Belonging

• more likely to conform to ‘new’ group opinion even when know judgment is incorrect

• enhance self-regulation and task performance if task provides opportunity for excluded people to gain social acceptance

• pay more attention and form attitudes more in align with potential friends

• more closely monitor environment, follow the gaze of others, and non-consciously mimic others’ behavior

• more accurate judgments and recall of positive and negative social cues (e.g., facial expressions and vocal tones)

Trait Self-Esteem

• This is what most people think of when they think of self- esteem – indicates the degree to which I generally evaluate myself positively or negative.

• Our global or chronic level of self-worth – so in this sense it is more stable (doesn’t change depending on the environment).

• So, trait self-esteem may be regarded as the resting state of the sociometer in the absence of incoming information relevant to relational value.

Robins, Trzesniewski, Tracy, Gosling & Potter, 2002 (Trajectory of Self-Esteem)

• Generally, the same pattern based on gender, ethnicity, SES, and nationality

DID NOT TRACK THE SAME PEOPLES 

• Later on in life self esteem eventual lowers and dips 

  • Possibly due to losing relationships 

  • The inability to perform cognitive and physical actions

Orth, Robins, & Widaman, 2012 (Trajectory of Self-Esteem)

• Some minor differences based on gender, ethnicity, personality traits

TRACKED THE SAME PEOPLE OVER TIME.

• 5 assessments across a 12-year period.

• Increased from ages 16-51, then Stagnates

• decreased from ages 51-97

Predictors of Trait Self-Esteem

• Internal measure of one’s potential for inclusion in desirable groups and relationships over the long run

• built on experience (social feedback and acceptance)

• based on whatever characteristics those important groups use to include or exclude individuals; competence, likeability, attractiveness, trustworthiness, general moral character

• Also encompasses anticipation of interpersonal outcomes – so a subjective projection of long-term relational value (i.e., will I be accepted in the future?)

Orth, 2018 (Predictors of Trait Self-Esteem)

• Reported on their self-esteem biannually from age 8 to 27 years

• During the participants’ first 6 years of life, biannual assessments of their mothers provided information on the quality of the home environment, quality of parental relationship, presence of father, maternal depression, and poverty status of the family

• Quality of home environment in early childhood is a significant and lasting predictor of self-esteem

  • Quality of parenting (warmth and responsiveness, avoidance of restriction)

  • Cognitive stimulation (stimulation of learning, provision of appropriate play materials)

  • Quality of the physical environment (safe and organized home environment)

Dennisen et al., 2008 (Predictors of Trait Self-Esteem)

• 241 students completed web-based daily diary for 25 days about their interactions with family, friends and romantic partners

• social interaction quantity (hours/mins)

• social interaction quality (e.g., enjoyment, interest, intimacy, calm, respected) – trait self-esteem (Rosenberg SE scale)

• Quality of interactions was associated with higher their general levels of trait self-esteem

• Quantity of interactions not associated with trait self-esteem

Trzesniewski, Donnellan & Robins, 2003 (Stability of Self-Esteem)

Self-esteem stability was low during childhood, increased throughout adolescence and young adulthood and declined during midlife and old age.

• When are those vulnerable periods and when are those stable periods

Impact of Self-Esteem

Thousands of studies have demonstrated that high self-esteem is associated with beneficial outcomes:

• happiness, life satisfaction, stronger relationships, and achievement in school and at work

Low self-esteem, however, is associated with undesirable outcomes:

• depression, alcohol and drug abuse, and victimization

Series of replications with better methodological designs:

• longitudinal studies

• large and representative samples 

• long study periods

• multiple waves of data

• Sophisticated statistical modeling

Provide strong evidence that low self-esteem does in fact cause:

• dissatisfaction in marriage and close relationships 

• smaller social-network size

• ess social support

• worse physical health and mental health

• lower education, unemployment 

• lower job success and satisfaction

• criminal behavior

Perils of Low Self-Esteem

People who experience low self-esteem:

• become acutely attuned to the degree to which they are being accepted or rejected

• greater need for social approval, fear negative evaluation, socially anxious and rejection-sensitive

Onoda et al. (2010) [Self-Esteem: Sensitive to Rejection]

Participants played the Cyberball game whilst undergoing an fMRI brain scan

• Peoples with low self esteem are seen to have more brain activity in parts of the brain regarding

Cameron, Stinson, Gaetz & Balchen, 2010 [Self-Esteem: Sensitive to Rejection]

Individuals with LSE have heightened risk assessment.

• In the high risk condition LSE individuals find the condition super risky of being judged and rejected 

Individuals with LSE even behave differently to protect themselves from rejection.

Unfortunately, observers rate individuals with LSE as less likeable...leading to the outcome that LSE individuals were trying to stop from happening in the first place!

• This avoidance to protect themselves from rejection may lead to others perceiving the LSE individual as cold and distant 

• Compared to HSE individuals who were perceived as warm in the high risk condition

Anthony, Wood & Holmes, 2006 (Self-Esteem: Attuned to Acceptance)

Individuals with LSE prefer social groups that guarantee acceptance.

• They tend to go to groups where acceptance is guaranteed

Self-Fulfilling Processes

• we form certain expectations of people or events

• we behave towards others based on our expectations

• people tend to respond to those cues by adjusting their behaviour to match them

• the result = original expectation becomes true

low self-esteem = feel unworthy (Self-Fulfilling Processes)

• expect others will evaluate them negatively and eventually reject them

• Expectations of rejection lead to biased perception and explanation of others behaviour (vigilant to signs of rejection, and perceive rejection in ambiguous behaviour)

• Overreact emotionally and behaviourally

• Such reactions can become self-fulfilling prophecies because negative actions from individual (e.g., derogation, hostility) produces negative evaluations and real drops in relational value from others

Niveau, New & Beaudoin (2021) [Boosting Self-Esteem]

• Relational insecurity is at the heart of self-esteem (lack of confident that they are worthy)

• Targeting these negative beliefs should foster greater self esteem

• Several different types of therapies exist

  • most with good meta-analytic support

According to recent meta-analyses, which comes first? Self-Esteem or Interpersonal stress?

They have a reciprocal Relationship

Students have demonstrated that low self esteem is associated with undesirable outcomes such as…

ALL OPTIONS

The Cyberball paradigm is used to induce…

Social Ostracism