Psychological Centrality

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This principle is basic to the formation of self-esteem because it represents a person's self-values.  The qualities that are psychologically central to a person will determine which of the inputs from others affect his or her self-esteem development; the extent to which one values a certain quality influences one's level of self-esteem.  For example, if committed discipleship is vital to one's feeling of worth, then negative attitudes concerning one's superficial level of commitment may be personally devastating; but if such commitment is seen as irrelevant to one's own pilgrimage, then the individual may lightheartedly acknowledge inadequacy in such matters with scarcely a twinge of discomfort.  What is critical here is the individual's system of self-values.

The principles of reflected appraisal, social comparison, self-attribution, and psychological centrality compose a complex set of processes in which feelings about self-identity are formed.  Such self feelings permeate a person's life, from moments after birth until death.

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Sub-principles

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All three sub-principles are concerned with the role of other people's attitudes in shaping a person's self-esteem.  Though conceptually distinct, all these processes may produce the same positive or negative result.  Consider the example of a person who has cheated on a mate.  If this is met with contempt by others, low self-esteem may be the result of direct reflection.  If, on the other hand, the person infers that others feel contempt (perhaps because of avoidance or refusal to establish eye contact), when in fact they have a product of the perceived self.  Finally, if the person condemns her- or himself (with consequent reduction in self-esteem) because he or she has internalized the value system of significant others, or of society as a whole, then even though others are not directly involved, self attitudes still would be regulated by other people's perspectives, or standpoints.

Social Comparison

The principle of social comparison is basic to self-esteem formation.  Human beings learn about themselves by comparing themselves to others.  This process leads to positive, neutral, or negative self-evaluations.  Two types of social comparison operate in the formation of self-esteem.  The first marks a person as superior or inferior to others, in terms of some criterion of excellence, merit, or virtue.  Brighter or duller, weaker or stronger, more good-looking or uglier - these are comparative labels requiring relative judgments, both about others and about the self.  The other type of social comparison is normative; it refers primarily to conformity or to deviance. The issue here is not whether one is better or worse, but whether one is the same or different.  For example, the adolescent reprimanded in the home for  nonconformity to certain rules or values is praised by his or her peers for the same behavior.  Conformity and deviance do not dwell in the behavior itself, but in its comparison to the norms of a particular social environment.

Self-Attribution
The principle of self-attribution relates to drawing evaluative conclusions about oneself, largely by observing one's own behavior and its outcome.  Persons can judge that they have done something brilliant and conclude they are worthwhile because of it.  An example is the seminarian who consistently does well in preaching and consequently concludes that he is a good preacher.  This conclusion is reached primarily not by consulting his inner experience, but by observing his behavior and its outcome.

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Reflected Appraisal

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Rosenberg has identified four principles that are related to self-concept formation, and which underlie the development of self-esteem, as well.  These principles are associated with interpersonal and social processes.

Reflected Appraisal
This principle holds that people are deeply influenced by the attitudes of others - especially, significant others - toward the self, and that in the course of time, people come to see themselves as they are viewed by others.  The significance of this in relation to the development of self-esteem can scarcely be overestimated.  Classified under this principle are three sub-principles.

The principle of direct reflections holds that self-esteem is influenced largely by the responses of others.  The person who was an unwanted child, never loved by parents, is likely to make a negative self-appraisal.  The communication process obliges such a person to assume the attitudes of other persons toward her- or himself.

The principle of the perceived self relates to one's perception of others' attitudes toward oneself.  The relationship between self-esteem and the perceived self is a strong one.  The point of this principle is that perception is more relevant than reality to the development of self-esteem.  An objective observer may think a parent is hateful and abusive toward a child, but if the child perceives the parent as warm and caring, this perceived attitude will be the one adopted toward the self.  This may explain why children in the same family have different levels of self-esteem, though they are treated in relatively similar ways by parents.

The principle of the generalized other relates to self-esteem that arises out of broad social experience.  The individual's self-esteem is shaped here by the attitudes of others - not as a direct reflection of those attitudes, but by applying to the self the attitudes of society as a whole.  Minority groups illustrate how this principle operates.  A pastor in the Bronx once told me, "Everybody in our neighborhood, black as well as white, sees Puerto Ricans as 'trash' and they treat them as 'trash.'  The worst thing is that the Puerto Ricans, as a result, see themselves as 'trash.'"

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High Self-Esteemers

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High self-esteemers are self-affirmers; through self-validation, they feel basically confident about who they are.  Although they are not critical of themselves, they are realistically aware of both their strengths and their shortcomings.  High self-esteemers know and accept who they are.  They are confident of, happy with, and effective in their uniqueness as individuals.

High self-esteemers tend to be productive, competent persons.  Such individuals often are academically competent, creative, and/or leadership-oriented.  They are not threatened easily by criticism or failure and are able to tolerate frustration.  Far from being intimidated by difficult situations, they welcome the challenge of ambiguity, uncertainty, and complexity.  Such persons are problem solvers.

High esteemers enjoy other people and are eager to become involved wholeheartedly with them.  Rather than being isolated and lonely, they take the initiative in interpersonal relations.  They tend to be warm, assertive, caring, reliable, and trusting toward others.  They exercise a great degree of interpersonal competence in social situations.

These happy, affirming persons have a positive view of life and of God.  They approach daily living with a fundamental attitude of hope, which enables them to extend themselves into the future by establishing remote, not easily attainable, but ultimately highly rewarding goals.  They trust their environment and their ability to cope with its problems.

Their faith perspective affirms a loving, accepting, and caring God.  Faith is joy and celebration, and goes beyond agreement with doctrinal statements to affirm an experienced reality.  Faith is primarily a personal relationship with a caring God.

Such persons often have moral courage and are able to stand up for their convictions.  They are relatively free of the crippling feelings of self-inflicted guilt.  Since their basic orientation is an empathic concern for others, they frequently feel more troubled by an inability to resolve the larger social problems of inequality, suffering, and injustice; to resolve the discrepancy between what is, and what ought to be, than by a burden of unresolved guilt and anxiety over their own behavior.

As these profiles demonstrate, self-esteem has important consequences, which vitally affect the manner in which persons respond to themselves and to the outside world.  To gain further insight into persons, an examination of the way self-esteem is developed should prove helpful.

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Low Self-Esteemers

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These lonely, unhappy people tend to have a negative view of life and of God. They usually  are anxious about the future and bored with life; life is often quite meaningless.  They tend to see God as unloving, rejecting, and vindictive.  Their self-image seems to require a God who punishes, rather than one who loves the sinner.

Middle Self-Esteemers
Middle self-esteemers are self-doubters; they often have questions about their value and feel they must earn the love of others.  Rather than taking venturesome risks, such persons play it safe in order to protect their feelings of self-worth.  To avoid failure they tend to be conformists and are compliant toward others - especially authority figures - because they are quite dependent on interpersonal acceptance to validate their own worthiness.

Middle self-esteemers can be expressive and take some criticism.  They have an average amount of confidence, given their relatively stable, contented self-feelings.  As a result, they have moderate capacities and achievements in academic ability, leadership, and creativity.

Middle self-esteemers use social situations to validate their worth.  They seek recognition and approval from others to erase self-doubt; being uncertain about their ultimate value, the approval of others is the key to personal well-being.  often middle self-esteemers are people-pleasers, at all costs.  They live with a driving ambition to succeed, are status seekers, are never quite satisfied, and continually are playing a role to please others.  When others reject them or criticize them too much, self-doubt sets in.

These uncertain persons have a more optimistic view of life and of God than do the low self-esteemers.  Life is an arena in which they must prove themselves, and as a result,  it is a never-ending pilgrimage of achievement and approval, failure and self-questioning.  Such persons may affirm the forgiving love of God as important to their belief system, but emotionally and behaviorally, they live out their Christian discipleship according to the law of achievement.  Grace is merely a word, rather than a life principle.  Religion is used for status purposes, rather than being a platform for creative, committed discipleship.

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The Importance of Self-Esteem

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Self-esteem is an important factor in the dynamics of preaching because of its fundamental significance in the lives of people.  The importance of self-esteem to the well-being of persons can hardly be over emphasized.

Nathaniel Branden has pointed out that there is no value judgment more basic to persons - no factor more decisive in their psychological development and motivation - than the estimate they place on themselves.  This estimate is ordinarily experienced by individual, not in the form of a conscious, verbalized judgment, but in a feeling that is difficult to isolate and identify because persons experience it constantly; it is a part of all other feelings and is involved in every emotional response.  The nature of this self-evaluation has a profound effect upon a person's thinking processes, emotions, desires, values, and goals.  To understand persons psychologically, one must understand the nature and degree of their self-esteem and the standards by which they judge themselves.

The realization of the way persons value themselves provides a window upon the way they are likely to view others,  and God.  Self-esteem levels influence such matters as the friends persons choose, the degree to which they are productive, the use they make of their abilities and aptitudes, their attitude toward the universe and toward God, and their overall happiness in the midst of life's circumstances and contingencies.

Low Self-Esteemers
Low self-esteemers tend to be self-haters; they are convinced of their inferiority and feel unlovable.  Such persons place unreasonable demands upon themselves, and when they fail, are strongly critical and self-punishing.  Aiming for unrealistic goals only serves to magnify their weaknesses.

Low self-esteemers perceive others as competent, talented, and able, but they do not see such qualities in themselves.  They lack confidence in the abilities they do have.  As a result, they tend to be unproductive, and they lack cognitive skills, leadership ability, and creativity.  Being preoccupied with inner problems, such persons expect to fail in whatever they attempt and thereby adopt a "why try" attitude.  Indeed, much of their energy is channeled into inventing highly creative ways to fail.

Low self-esteemers are fearful of social situations and lack confidence in their interpersonal communicative abilities.  Indeed, such persons tend to be shy, withdrawn, indifferent, undependable, aloof , and distrustful of others.  They often project their self-hatred upon others in prejudicial ways.  Such persons often want the affection of others but are unable to open their lives to others in caring, affirming, trusting ways.

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Underlying Processes

Image by SweeMing YOUNG via FlickrUnderlying Processes

When self-esteem is thought of as self-affection, or self-love, it refers to worth in a moral or existential sense.  A person is regarded not as a means to specific goals, but as an end in him- or herself.  Self-accepting persons are those who have an accurate perception of themselves in terms of strengths and weaknesses.  They have the ability to face the reality that they are not all they would like to be, yet they live happily and creatively with this self-awareness.  Persons with this sense of personal worth do more than accept their strengths and weaknesses; they also reflect patient hope and quiet conviction that they will grow toward greater wholeness.  Though such persons may criticize themselves, it is without judging condemnation; though they may acknowledge personal limitations, it is with minimal feelings of inadequacy.  The principle of acceptance undergirds this perspective.

Descriptions of self-esteem as self-affection point to personal, moral, or existential worth, as opposed to pragmatic, or instrumental, value.  Self-evaluation tends to view the self as an "it," with varying degrees of value, whereas self-love tends to view the self as a "thou," with varying degrees of worth.  One is based upon personal accomplishment and recognition; the other, upon ontological acceptance, or the valuing of one's own being.

These two forms of self-esteem operate in all persons.  persons affectively evaluate what they can do (instrumental achievement).  our culture seems to value the instrumental approach more than the existential approach,  and perhaps this is the reason some writers feel there is an epidemic of self-doubt, despair, and self-hatred in our society.

Dimensions
As a complex value judgment about personhood, self-esteem can be further understood by examining two dimensions related to it - breadth and depth.

Self-esteem has breadth to the extent that persons judge themselves positively in many specific areas of life - preaching, visiting, parenting, swimming, or cooking; it is narrowed when individuals restrict positive evaluations to only one or two aspects of their personhood, and all other areas are viewed negatively.

Self-esteem demonstrates a high degree of depth when it endures in spite of minor or major setbacks - flunking a test or being seriously ill; it is superficial when it gives way to minor, or even imaginary, experiences (e.g., fear of not doing well).

Most persons have a mixture of positive and negative feelings about themselves, growing out of their life experiences.  These feelings have emerged from being recognized or ignored, and cover the whole gamut of self-pictures, in varying degrees of breadth and depth.

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