of our memberships in groups for survival and reproduction, people are particularly sensitive to social inclusion and exclusion. As a consequence of evolutionary pressures, humans have developed a psychological mechanism—the sociometer—that assesses the strength and importance of those relationships—what Leary (2005) calls their relational value. Self-esteem, then, is essentially an index of that relational value: how much you think important others value their relationships with you or accept you (MacDonald, 2007). In other words, how you feel about yourself is closely tied to how you feel others evaluate you. The sociometer hypothesis has been empirically supported both by cross-cultural research (MacDonald, 2007) and studies of brain functioning, in which a specific part of the brain—called the ventral anterior cingulate cortex (vACC)—is uniquely responsive to feedback regarding one’s acceptance or rejection by others (Heatherton, Krendl, Macrae, & Kelley, 2007).
Self-esteem has important implications for how we view and respond to the world—we often see the world through a lens of self-protective mechanisms designed to shield self-esteem from bumps and bruises (more on this later) (Carmichael et al., 2007). In general, people strive to have high self-esteem and to instill it in their children (Crocker & Park, 2004). People assume that high self-esteem a good thing—but is it? Well, it depends on how high. Reasonably—but not excessively—high self-esteem is clearly adaptive and is positively correlated with overall physical and psychological health, especially if it is also stable (Kernis, 2005). People who have high self-esteem tend to demonstrate greater self-reported well-being, life satisfaction, better coping, and more positive affect, and persist longer at completing tasks, including difficult ones (Sedikides & Gregg, 2003). Furthermore, low self-esteem is related to poor health outcomes, signs of psychological distress (including hopelessness, anxiety, and depression), and increased vulnerability to personal failures and setbacks. However, excessively high self-esteem is associated with more aggression, bullying, and exhibitionism (Baumeister, Campbell, Krueger, & Vohs, 2003). Despite the central role of self-esteem in psychological functioning and the enormous quantity of research focused on it, questions remain about how best to measure self-esteem (see Self-Reflection 4.1) (Falk & Heine, 2015; Koole, Dijksterhuis, & van Knippenberg, 2001; Kwan & Mandisodza, 2007; Pelham et al., 2005).
What about gender and ethnic differences in self-esteem? We often hear that men generally have higher self-esteem than women (Williams & Best, 1990). By and large, that is correct, although the difference is not great. Interestingly, the disparities between the sexes tend to be found only for women in the middle and lower classes. This is likely due to the fact that women in these circumstances are less able to obtain desirable occupational positions than men: They are excluded to a greater extent from important domains of life (Major, Barr, Zubek, & Babey, 1999). These gender differences emerge during adolescence and adulthood, after females have been subjected to devaluation and discrimination (Kling, Hyde, Showers, & Buswell, 1999). Moreover, the differences are found primarily between Caucasian men and women: Women and men minorities generally don’t differ in their levels of self-esteem. Lastly, although there is a perception that minorities have lower self-esteem than Caucasians, the picture is more complex. African Americans tend to have higher self-esteem than do Caucasians, but the self-esteem of members of Asian, Hispanic, and Native American groups tends to be lower (Twenge & Crocker, 2002).
What influences our self-esteem? For one thing, individuals with a clearer self-concept—what is called self-concept clarity—have higher self-esteem than those with more ambiguous self-concepts (Campbell, 1990; Usborne & Taylor, 2010). Being more certain about who you are appears to help buffer your self-esteem from the ups and downs of everyday life. In the remainder of the chapter we’ll discuss several other important influences on self-esteem: how we cope with successes and failures, comparisons we make, and how we perceive the way others evaluate us. We will also review some of the strategies that people use to promote and protect their self-esteem.
Self-Esteem: Overall positive or negative evaluation of oneself
Sociometer Hypothesis: Idea that people have a psychological mechanism—the sociometer—that assesses the strength and importance of social relationships and that these relationships strongly influence self-esteem
Self-Enhancement
Given how important it is to feel good about ourselves, it is not surprising that we expend tremendous effort engaging in a variety of self-evaluation and self-enhancement strategies. We continuously monitor how we are doing and adjust our behavior accordingly in an effort to be liked by others, particularly those who are important to us (Church et al., 2014). How do we do this? According to Leon Festinger’s theory of social comparison processes (1954), we first look to unambiguous, objective standards to help determine how we are doing; when such objective measures are unavailable, we resort to subjective social comparison. For instance, if you regularly jog three miles, you can time yourself and track whether or not you are getting faster (or slower!). However, in many important competencies, attributes, and opinions, no objective standards are available. Instead, says Festinger (1954), we will look to others to help with our self-evaluation. Festinger assumed that people are motivated to be accurate in their beliefs and opinions and that social comparison can provide us with critical feedback (Wood, 1996). For example, how do you know what to wear when meeting your partner’s parents for the first time? You ask your partner. Do you think that President Obama is doing a good job? You may have your own thoughts, but it is quite likely that you’ll check around to see what others think—perhaps people in the media, the professor in your history class, your friends—and their opinions will inform your own. You want to hold correct opinions, and social comparison can provide us with important information concerning their accuracy (Mussweiler, Rüter, & Epstude, 2006; Vogel, Rose, Roberts, & Eckles, 2014).
Who are you most likely to compare yourself to? Our general tendency is to compare ourselves with similar others, such as peers or siblings. But if that comparison results in a lowered self-evaluation—like if your little brother is a superior piano player—then you may avoid comparing yourself to him (Lockwood & Matthews, 2007; Nicholls & Stukas, 2011). According to Tesser’s self-evaluation maintenance model (SEM), you’ll typically only make comparisons when they will improve your self-evaluation; if they will make you look or feel good (Nicholls & Stukas, 2011; Tesser, 1988; Wood, Michela, & Giordano, 2000). SEM theory assumes that (a) people are motivated to maintain or enhance positive self-evaluation, and (b) there are two primary ways that people do this: social comparison and reflection (Tesser, 1988).
In the piano player example, if a close friend outperforms us on a dimension that is relevant to our self-concept, then we may attempt to distance ourselves from the friend and not engage in social comparison (Lockwood & Matthews, 2007). Alternatively, we could practice even more to improve our performance, simply avoid the comparison altogether, or give up the piano. To the extent that piano playing is no longer relevant to the self-concept, the reflection process becomes more important than the comparison process. By reflection, Tesser means that we allow the successes of others to reflect on us, thereby helping us to maintain a positive self-image. If your brother is an outstanding piano player, then by more closely associating with him you can enhance your self-esteem, because his success reflects well on you (Tesser, 1988, 2003).
The social comparison and reflection processes are but two of the many strategies people use to manage their self-esteem via self-protection or self-promotion (Hepper, Gramzow, & Sedikides, 2010). Self-protection refers to efforts to maintain or defend one’s positive self-image, whereas self-promotion is focused on enhancing one’s self-image (Alicke & Sedikides, 2009; Higgins, 1997). In the next couple of sections we’ll review some common strategies people use in the service of self-protection and/or self-promotion.
Theory of Social Comparison Processes: Idea that people will evaluate how they are doing using subjective standards when objective standards are not available
Social
