Self-esteem

This is a paper I wrote for my introductory Psychology class.
I would like to note that I was one of three working on this paper. Other contributors: Jennifer Smith and Neil Chauhan.

Self-esteem is the realistic impression one has about him/herself; it can be described as self-respect and can manifest in positive and negative ways, either way having a significant impact on that individual’s social behaviours. There has long been debate as to whether the effects of self-esteem on human behaviour are adaptive or maladaptive. A vast amount of research has demonstrated that self-esteem related behaviour is maladaptive. This research provides insight into observations such as elevated aggression, racism, and bullying tendencies in people who have high self-esteem, as well as depression and anxiety expressed by people with low self-esteem.

            Bushman and Baumeister (2002) made a correlation between violence and a positive bias toward the self, contrary to traditional views which formed a contingency between low self-esteem and negative behaviour. Narcissism can be described as the complete and overwhelming positive perception of oneself, and experimental findings provide evidence that violent offenders score higher on narcissism tests than do non-offenders (Bushman & Baumeister, 2002). These findings further demonstrate that those with strong perceptions of self are more likely to exhibit aggression and violence. Additionally, negative social feedback that conflicts with an individual’s own positive views can be attributed as a trigger of aggression (David & Kistner, 2000). There are generally two types of self-esteem, implicit and explicit. Explicit self-esteem is controlled and deliberately reasoned, whereas implicit self-esteem consists of efficient self-evaluations that occur outside of our control (Jordan, Spencer, Zanna; 2003). Jordan, Spencer, and Zanna (2003) demonstrated that individuals with high explicit and low implicit self-esteem are more likely to protect threatened views of self with the use of ethnic discrimination. Collectively, these aspects of high self-esteem correspond to negative interpersonal interactions, thus supporting the overall maladaptive nature of self-esteem related behaviours.     

            Consistent with the aforementioned, low self-esteem also leads to maladaptive behaviour. O’Moore and Kirkham (2001) discussed the incidence of individuals with low self-esteem being victims of peer bullying. Studies have shown that children of various ages who have been victimized by bullying exhibit less self-esteem than those who have not been bullied; furthermore, evidence shows that self-esteem continues to decrease as the frequency of peer bullying incidents increases (O’Moore and Kirkham, 2001). This evidence also suggests that individuals with lower self-esteem are more likely to be victims of peer bullying. Bully victims also tend to see themselves as being more troublesome, having lower intellectual and school status, being less physically attractive, more anxious, less popular, and more unhappy and dissatisfied compared to non-bully victims (O’Moore and Kirkham, 2001).        

            As a social behaviour, self-esteem has been proven to be maladaptive. Observations such as increased aggression and violence in narcissists, racism and bullying tendencies in people who have high self-esteem, as well as depression and anxiety expressed by people with low self-esteem support this claim. Self-esteem related behaviour, when thought of from an individual standpoint, actually does have some positive qualities; much of this behaviour acts in order to make an individual feel better about him/herself (Jordan, Spencer, Zanna, 2003). However, in doing so, it is also generally aggressive, violent, or discriminatory, and therefore cannot be considered adaptive.

Works Cited
Bushman, B. J. & Baumeister, R. F. (2002). Does self-love or self-hate lead to violence?. Journal of Research in Personality, 36, 543-545.

 David, C. F. & Kistner, J. A. (2000). Do Positive Self-Perceptions Have  “Dark Side”? Examination of the Link between Perceptual Bias and Aggression. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 28(4), 327-337.

 Jordan, C.H., Spencer, S.J., Zanna, M.P. (2003) Types of High Self-Esteem and Prejudice: How Implicit Self-Esteem Relates to Ethnic Discrimination Among High Explicit Self-Esteem Individuals. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 693-702.

 

O’Moore, M., Kirkham, C. (2001) “Self-Esteem and Its Relationship to Bullying Behaviour” Aggressive behaviour, 27, 269-283.