User:Emilycking

My name is Emily King and I am currently studying psychology at the University of Southampton. I am part of the Self and Identity Task Force, and aim to create a subarticle on the consequences of self-esteem. Below is the provisional page.

Consequences of self esteem
The focus amongst teachers, parents and others is to boost self-esteem on the assumption that high self-esteem causes many positive outcomes and benefits. Some evidence supports this claim; self-esteem is negatively correlated with depression and social anxiety. Furthermore, individuals with high self-esteem take negative feedback less to heart than individuals with low self-esteem. Self-esteem is associated with a more thorough, accurate and extensive self knowledge; people with high self-esteem give themselves more extreme self ratings, have higher certainly about their self knowledge, self ratings fluctuate less over time and show more self serving biases. Furthermore, people with low self-esteem had greater emotional variability, and had less positive and pleasant moods. Self-esteem is also associated with good relationships. High self-esteem predicts longevity of relationships and prompts relationship growth, and those with high self-esteem are more likely to exit troubled relationships.

The California Task Force
The California Task Force to Promote Self-esteem and Personal and Social Responsibility was developed to reframe social problem solving. The aim of the task force was to develop an approach that promotes the well being of the individual and society, rather than reacting to the epidemic of social problems. The task force concluded that self-esteem could be seen as a 'social vaccine'; self-esteem is the primary factor that affects how well an individual functions in society. The task force made the following conclusions:


 * The family is a strong force in the development of self-esteem.
 * High parental self-esteem is crucial to the ability to nurture high self-esteem in children.
 * School environment plays an important role in the development of the self-esteem of students.
 * People who hold themselves in high esteem are less likely to engage in destructive and self-destructive behaviour including child abuse, alcohol and drug abuse, violence and crime.
 * Young girls who possess positive self-esteem are less likely to become pregnant as teenagers.
 * High self-esteem can never be given to a person by another person or society. It must be sought, 'earned' by the individual for him or herself.
 * Though the definition of the concept varies, commonly used terms include: security, connectedness, uniqueness,assertiveness, competence and spirituality.

Self-esteem and antisocial behaviour
The link between self-esteem and antisocial behaviour is controversial. Most psychologists believe a relationship exists; however, the direction of this relationship is highly debated. The traditional view, although its origins are unknown, is that individuals with low self-esteem are prone to externalizing problems such as delinquency and antisocial behaviour. Rosenberg (1965) proposed that low self-esteem lessens ones connection to society; according to social-bonding theory this weaker connection increases delinquency and decreases conformity to social norms (Hirschi, 1969). Furthermore, Tracy and Robins (2003) proposed that individuals protect themselves against feelings of inferiority by blaming their failures on external causes, leading to feelings of hostility and anger toward others. Despite theoretical arguments, empirical evidence to support this relationship has been fairly sparse, although a study by Donellan et. al. (2005) did find a negative correlation between measures of self-esteem and delinquent behaviour. However, other psychologists have disputed this view, believing that instead violence is a result of high self-esteem. Myers (1980)believed people who regard themselves as superior may feel they are entitled to take resources from those perceived inferior to them, and may feel no guilt in acting aggressively towards these people. Baumeister, Smart and Boden (1996) reviewed studies on the relationship between self-esteem and violence. They proposed that the major cause of violence is high self-esteem combined with an ego threat; when highly favourable views of self are disputed by some person or circumstance people may act aggressively, in particular towards the source of that threat. Aggression emerges from a discrepancy between two views of self; a favourable self-appraisal and an external appraisal that is less favourable. Aggression occurs when people receive feedback that contradicts their favourable views of themselves and implies that they should adopt less favourable views. People act aggressively as a way of avoiding a downward adjustment of their self concept.

Self-esteem and health
There seems to be a positive correlation between self-esteem and general health. More specifically, many health-related behaviours have been studied in relation to self-esteem, such as alcohol and drug use and eating disorders.

alcohol and drugs
Some believe increasing self-esteem would prevent alcohol and drug abuse. In this view, people with low self-esteem turn to drugs and alcohol for comfort because they feel bad about themselves, and see these substances as an escape. However, high self-esteem might contribute to drug use too, albeit for different reasons. High self-esteem leads to greater willingness to take physical risk. Individuals with high self-esteem tend to employ a variety of cognitive strategies to convince themselves that bad things will not or cannot happen to them; they distance themselves from the potentially harmful consequences of risky behaviour. This may make people with high self-esteem more prone to drink, take drugs, and engage in other risks. Another explanation for a correlation between high self-esteem and alcohol abuse is the use of alcohol as a social strategy. People use alcohol as a tool for making a good impression on peers therefore in turn resulted in higher self-esteem.

eating disorders
A strong link has been found between low self-esteem and eating disorders.Anorexic and bulimic patients have lower levels of self-esteem than obese dieters, non-obese dieters, and normal controls. The development of bulimic symptoms may be affected indirectly by the interaction of low self-esteem with other factors. Vohs et al. (1999) found that only a combination of low self-esteem, feeling overweight and perfectionism significantly predicted an increase in bulimic symptoms; low self-esteem alone did not. Even if the link is not direct, low self-esteem appears to be closely linked to eating disorders. Eating disorders are usually preceded by chronic dieting and body dissatisfaction, which themselves are related to low self-esteem. Furthermore, women with eating disorders often have other disorders (such as anxiety and depression) which are also related to low self-esteem. There seems to be a complex relationship between self-esteem and eating disorders, nonetheless, it seems likely that low self-esteem is a risk factor for eating disorder symptoms.

Self-esteem and school performance
The general assumption is that increased self-esteem leads to improvements in school performance. There are plausible reasons for this assumption. Children with high self-esteem may set higher aspirations for themselves, and persist rather than give up in the face of failure. High self-esteem may generate the confidence to attempt difficult challenges, and to derive satisfaction from success. However, it cannot be assumed that high self-esteem causes improvements in academic performance. It may be the opposite is true; that high academic performance leads to higher self-esteem. It could also be that there is not a causal relationship at all, and underlying factors are causing both high self esteem and high academic performance. Bachman and O’Malley (1977) found a correlation between self-esteem and school performance, but statistical tests did not point to any causal role for self-esteem. Instead, they concluded that shared factors, including family background, ability, and early school performance, affect self-esteem and later academic performance and were responsible for the correlation between the two. Similarly, Maruyama, Rubin and Kingsbury (1981) found that self-esteem and academic achievement were correlated, but concluded that there is no causal relationship between them. Instead, they argued that IQ and social class are the underlying causal factors that affect the levels of both self-esteem and academic achievement. In summary, a correlation between high self-esteem and higher academic performance seems apparent; however, we cannot assume cause and effect.