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The Meaning of Self-Esteem, Its Development and Consequences

1. Learning Objective 1

Understanding the self from various perspectives is important because who you are and what you think of yourself influence many different facets of your life both on and off the job. A particularly important role is played by  self-esteem , the overall evaluation people make about themselves—whether positive or negative. [1]  A useful distinction is that our self-concept is what we think about ourselves, whereas self-esteem is what we feel about ourselves. [2] People with positive self-esteem have a deep-down, inside-the-self feeling of their own worth. Consequently, they develop a positive self-concept. Before reading further, you are invited to measure your current level of self-esteem by doing the  Human Relations Self-Assessment Quiz 3-1 . We look next at the development of self-esteem and many of its consequences.

Human Relations Self-Assessment Quiz 3-1

1.  

The Self-Esteem Checklist

Indicate whether each of the following statements is mostly true or mostly false as it applies to you.

	Mostly True	Mostly False
1. I am excited about starting each day.
2. Most of any progress I have made in my work or school can be attributed to luck.
3. I often ask myself, “Why can’t I be more successful?”
4. When my manager or team leader gives me a challenging assignment, I usually dive in with confidence.
5. I believe that I am working up to my potential.
6. I am able to set limits to what I will do for others without feeling anxious.
7. I regularly make excuses for my mistakes.
8. Negative feedback crushes me.
9. I care very much how much money other people make, especially when they are working in my field.
10. I feel like a failure when I do not achieve my goals.
11. Hard work gives me an emotional lift.
12. When others compliment me, I doubt their sincerity.
13. Complimenting others makes me feel uncomfortable.
14. I find it comfortable to say, “I’m sorry.”
15. It is difficult for me to face up to my mistakes.
16. My coworkers think I am not worthy of promotion.
17. People who want to become my friends usually do not have much to offer.
18. If my manager praised me, I would have a difficult time believing it was deserved.
19. I’m just an ordinary person.
20. Having to face change really disturbs me.
21. When I make a mistake, I have no fear of owning up to it in public.
22. When I look in the mirror, I typically see someone who is attractive and confident.
23. When I think about the greater purpose in my life, I feel like I am drifting.
24. When I make a mistake, I tend to feel ashamed and embarrassed.
25. When I make a commitment to myself, I usually stick to it with conviction and await the rewards that I believe will come from it.

Scoring and Interpretation:

The answers in that indicate high self-esteem are as follows:

1. Mostly True

2. Mostly False

3. Mostly False

4. Mostly True

5. Mostly True

6. Mostly True

7. Mostly False

8. Mostly False

9. Mostly False

10. Mostly False

11. Mostly True

12. Mostly False

13. Mostly False

14. Mostly True

15. Mostly False

16. Mostly False

17. Mostly False

18. Mostly False

19. Mostly False

20. Mostly False

21. Mostly True

22. Mostly True

23. Mostly False

24. Mostly False

25. Mostly True

· 20–25 You have very high self-esteem. Yet if your score is 25, it could be that you are denying any self-doubts.

· 14–19 Your self-esteem is in the average range. It would probably be worthwhile for you to implement strategies to boost your self-esteem (described in this chapter) so that you can develop a greater feeling of well-being.

· 0–13 Your self-esteem needs bolstering. Talk over your feelings about yourself with a trusted friend or with a mental health professional. At the same time, attempt to implement several of the tactics for boosting self-esteem described in this chapter.

Questions:

1. How does your score on this quiz match your evaluation of your self-esteem?

2. What would it be like being married to somebody who scored 0 on this quiz?

Source: Statements 21–25 are based on information in the National Association for Self-Esteem, “Self-Esteem Self-Guided Tour—Rate Your Self-Esteem,” http://www.self-esteem-nase.org, accessed May 6, 2005, pp. 1–4.

How Self-Esteem Develops

Part of understanding the nature of self-esteem is to know how it develops. Self-esteemdevelops and evolves throughout our lives based on interactions with people, events, and things. [3]  As an adolescent or adult, your self-esteem might be boosted by a key accomplishment. A 44-year-old woman who was studying to become licensed practical nurse (LPN) said that her self-esteem increased when she received an A in a pharmacology course. Self-esteem can also go down in adulthood because of a negative event such as being laid off and not being able to find new employment.

Early life experiences have a major impact on self-esteem. People who were encouraged to feel good about themselves and their accomplishments by family members, friends, and teachers are more likely to enjoy high self-esteem. Early life experiences play a key role in the development of both healthy self-esteem and low self-esteem, according to research synthesized at the Counseling and Mental Health Center of the University of Texas. [4] Childhood experiences that lead to healthy self-esteem include

· being praised,

· being listened to,

· being spoken to respectfully,

· getting attention and hugs, and

· experiencing success in sports or school.

In contrast, childhood experiences that lead to low self-esteem include

· being harshly criticized,

· being yelled at or beaten,

· being ignored, ridiculed, or teased,

· being expected to be “perfect” all the time, 

· experiencing failures in sports or school, and

· often being given messages that failed experiences (losing a game, getting a poor grade, and so forth) were failures of their whole self.

A widespread explanation of self-esteem development is that compliments, praise, and hugs alone build self-esteem. Yet many developmental psychologists seriously question this perspective. Instead, they believe that self-esteem results from accomplishing worthwhile activities and then feeling proud of these accomplishments. Receiving encouragement, however, can help the person accomplish activities that build self-esteem.

Martin Seligman argues that self-esteem is caused by a variety of successes and failures. To develop self-esteem, people need to improve their skills for dealing with the world. [5]  Self-esteem therefore comes about by genuine accomplishments, followed by praise and recognition. Heaping undeserved praise and recognition on people may lead to a temporary high, but it does not produce genuine self-esteem. The child develops self-esteem not from being told he or she can score a goal in soccer, but from scoring that goal.

In attempting to build the self-esteem of children and students, many parents and teachers give children too many undeserved compliments. Researchers suggest that inappropriate compliments are turning too many adults into narcissistic praise junkies. As a result, many young adults feel insecure if they do not receive compliments regularly. [6]

As mentioned previously, experiences in adult life can influence the development of self-esteem. David De Cremer of the Tilburg University (Netherlands) and his associates conducted two studies with Dutch college students about how the behavior of leaders and fair procedures influence self-esteem. The focus of the leader’s behavior was whether he or she motivated the workers/students to reward themselves for a job well done, such as a self-compliment. Procedural fairness was measured in terms of whether the study participants were given a voice in making decisions. Self-esteem was measured by a questionnaire somewhat similar to  the Human Relations Self-Assessment Quiz 3-1  in this chapter. The study questionnaire reflected the self-perceived value that individuals have of themselves as organizational members.

The study found that self-esteem was related to procedural fairness and leadership that encourages self-rewards. When leadership that encouraged rewards was high, procedural fairness was more strongly related to self-esteem. The interpretation given of the findings is that a leader/supervisor can facilitate self-esteem when he or she encourages self-rewards, and uses fair procedures. Furthermore, fair procedures have a stronger impact on self-esteemwhen the leader encourages self-rewards. [7]  A takeaway from this study would be that rewarding yourself for a job well done, even in adult life, can boost your self-esteem a little.

The Consequences of Self-Esteem

Extremely high as well as extremely low self-esteem has many consequences for people, as outlined in  Table 3-1 .

Career Success

A major consequence of having high self-esteem is that you have a better chance of attaining career success, as mentioned at the beginning of this section and supported by long-term research. The study in question was known as the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, involving over 12,000 young men and women. The group was studied over a 25-year period beginning in 1979.  The Human Relations Self-Assessment Quiz 3-2  gives you the opportunity to take the same survey used in the study to measure core self-evaluations.

The components of core self-evaluations include high self-esteem, self-efficacy (an aspect of self-confidence described later in this chapter), beliefs in personal control over events, and emotional stability. Individuals with high core self-evaluations are better motivated, perform better on the job, tend to hold more challenging jobs, and have higher job satisfaction.

Table 3-1 Several Consequences of Extremes in Self-Esteem

Positive Consequences	Negative Consequences
1. Career success including a high income	1. Narcissism
2. Organizational prosperity	2. Envying too many people
3. Good mental health	3. Romance problems
4. Profiting from feedback
5. Serves as a guide for regulating social relationships

Human Relations Self-Assessment Quiz 3-2

1.  

National Longitudinal Survey of Youth Measure of Core Self-Evaluations

No.	True	False
1. I have little control over the things that happen to me.	□	□
2. There is little I can do to change many of the important things in my life.	□	□
3. I feel that I am a person of worth, on an equal basis with others.	□	□
4. I feel that I have a number of good qualities.	□	□
5. All in all, I am inclined to feel that I am a failure.	□	□
6. I feel I do not have much to be proud of.	□	□
7. I wish I could have more respect for myself.	□	□
8. I’ve been depressed.	□	□
9. I’ve felt hopeful about the future.	□	□
10. What happens to me in the future depends on me.	□	□
11. What happens to me is of my own doing.	□	□
12. When I make plans, I am almost certain to make them work.	□	□

Scoring and Interpretation:

The answers that indicate high core self-evaluation are as follows:

1. False

2. False

3. True

4. True

5. False

6. False

7. False

8. False

9. True

10. True

11. True

12. True

Although there are no specific categories for scores, the more statements you answered in the direction of high core self-evaluations, the more likely it is that you have the type of core self-evaluations that will facilitate career success.

Questions:

1. How does your score on this quiz match your evaluation of your self-evaluation?

2. How does your score on this quiz compare to your score on  Self-Assessment Quiz 3-1 ?

3. How can you explain the fact that responses to the preceding statements were found to be related to long-term career success?

Sources: The statements are from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79), a study commissioned and operated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, US Department of Labor. The statements are also reported in Timothy A. Judge and Charlice Hurst, “How the Rich (and Happy) Get Richer (and Happier): Relationship of Core Self-Evaluations to Trajectories in Attaining Work Success,” Journal of Applied Psychology, July 2008, p. 863.

Among the many results of the study were that people with higher core evaluations performed better in their first jobs. Furthermore, over time, those people with high core evaluations increase their career success at a faster pace than those with below-average core evaluations. Over a 25-year span, the career success they have over others doubles. Success was measured in terms of job satisfaction, pay, and holding a higher-status position. [8]  A practical conclusion to take away from this study is that if you have high core self-evaluations, it will pay impressive career dividends.

Later research suggests that people with high core self-evaluations are more likely to have high job performance when they combine positive attitudes toward the self with a concern for the welfare of others. (Consistently good job performance enhances career success.) For example, call-center employees with positive core self-evaluations tended to perform better when they worried about letting other people down. The call-center work involved telemarketing to generate funds to support new jobs at a university. [9]

Organizational Prosperity

The combined effect of workers having high self-esteem helps a company prosper. Self-esteem is a critical source of competitive advantage in an information society. Companies gain the edge when, in addition to having an educated workforce, employees have high self-esteem, as shown by such behaviors as the following:

· Being creative and innovative

· Taking personal responsibility for problems

· Having a feeling of independence (yet still wanting to work cooperatively with others)

· Trusting one’s own capabilities

· Taking the initiative to solve problems [10]

Behaviors such as these help you cope with the challenge of a rapidly changing workplace in which products and ideas become obsolete quickly. Workers with high self-esteem are more likely to be able to cope with new challenges regularly because they are confident that they can master their environments.

Good Mental Health

One of the major consequences of high self-esteem is good mental health. People with high self-esteem feel good about themselves and have a positive outlook on life. One of the links between good mental health and self-esteem is that high self-esteem helps prevent many situations from being stressful. Few negative comments from others are likely to bother you when your self-esteem is high. A person with low self-esteem might crumble if somebody insulted his or her appearance. A person with high self-esteem might shrug off the insult as simply being the other person’s point of view. If faced with an everyday setback, such as losing keys, the high self-esteem person might think, “I have so much going for me, why fall apart over this incident?”

Positive self-esteem also conributes to good mental health because it helps us ward off being troubled by feelings of jealousy and acting aggressively toward others because of our jealousy. Particularly with adolescents, lower self-worth leads to jealousy about friends liking other people better. [11]

Profiting from Negative Feedback

Although people with high self-esteem can readily shrug off undeserved insults, they still profit well from negative feedback. Because they are secure, they can profit from the developmental opportunities suggested by negative feedback. Workers with high self-esteem develop and maintain favorable work attitudes and perform at high levels. These positive consequences take place because such attitudes and behaviors are consistent with the personal belief that they are competent individuals. Mary Kay Ash, the legendary founder of beauty products company Mary Kay, put it this way: “It never occurred to me I couldn’t do it. I always knew that if I worked hard enough, I could.” Furthermore, research has shown that high-self-esteemindividuals value reaching work goals more than do low-self-esteem individuals. [12]

Serves as a Guide for Regulating Social Relationships

Another positive consequence of self-esteem is that you can use it as a guide in regulating social relationships. According to Mark Leary, director of social psychology at Duke University, self-esteem provides a gauge of performance during social interactions: “Self-esteem rises and falls, acting as an internal barometer of how well you’re faring, telling you to fix this problem here, and helping you understand that you don’t have to worry about it there.” [13]

Following this reasoning, fluctuations in self-esteem provide information that is useful in working your way through social relationships. For example, if you are talking and the person you are talking to yawns, your self-esteem drops, signaling you to change the topic. When you tell a joke, and people laugh, your self-esteem climbs rapidly. If we did not feel bad when we bored or offended others, or satisfied when we delighted them, we would not be inclined to change course. [14]

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Potential Negative Consequences

Both high and low self-esteem can sometimes have negative consequences. Three reasons for this problem are described next.

1. Exaggerated levels of self-esteem can lead to narcissism. Self-esteem can elevate to a level whereby the individual becomes self-absorbed to the point of having little concern for others, leading to narcissistic attitudes and behaviors. Narcissism is an extremely positive view of the self, combined with limited empathy for others. Quite often extreme narcissism can hamper success because the narcissist irritates and alienates others in the workplace. A frequent human relations problem with office narcissists is that they are poor listeners because they attempt to dominate conversations by talking about themselves. Yet the right amount and type of narcissism can at times facilitate success because the narcissist appears to be self-confident and charismatic. [15]

2. Envying too many people. A potential negative consequence of low self-esteem is envying too many people. If you perceive that many individuals have much more of what you want and are more worthwhile than you, you will suffer from enormous envy. To decrease pangs of envy, it is best to develop realistic standards of comparison between you and other people in the world.

If high school basketball player Joshua measures his self-esteem in terms of how well he stacks up with basketball superstar and super-millionaire LeBron James, young Joshua will take a lot of blows to his self-esteem. However, if Joshua compares himself to other players on his team and in his league, his self-esteem will be higher because he has chosen a more realistic reference group. For example, Joshua might think that Kent, the starting point guard on his team, has a good chance of winning a basketball scholarship to college, speaks intelligently, and is well groomed. Joshua works hard to develop the same potential and behaviors. When he believes he has succeeded, Joshua will experience a boost in self-esteem.

Kristin Neff, a professor of educational psychology at the University of Texas at Austin, supports the idea that making social comparisons can lead to problems with self-esteem. She explains that in American culture, people tend to acquire a sense of self-worth from feeling special. A musician who compares herself to a musician of less talent will feel superior, and even have a boost in self-esteem. But if she compares herself to a more talented musician, she will feel a decrease in self-esteem even if her talent and skills have not diminished. [16]

3. Poor romantic relationships when self-esteem is low. Low self-esteem can have negative consequences for romantic relationships because people with self-doubts consistently underestimate their partners’ feelings for them. People with low self-respect distance themselves from the relationship—often devaluing their partner—to prepare themselves for what they think will be an inevitable breakup. (Self-respectrefers to how you think and feel about yourself.) John G. Holmes, a psychologist at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, says, “If people think negatively about themselves, they think their partner must think negatively about them—and they’re wrong.” [17]