Self-esteem and the Process of its Reassessment in Multicultural Groups: Renegotiating the Symbolic Social Order

Abstract

Based on the assumption that one dimension of each group is the ongoing struggle for personal recognition, the thesis is made that in groups of multicultural/multinational composition it is possible to study how personal self-esteem reflects on a social order and the own respected place therein. Group members from different social orders (cultures) are confronted with the task to work out the significance/meaning/value of basic dimensions such as gender, social class, religious upbringing, etc. whilst trying to get their personal self-esteem validated by the group. This process takes place in a situation of relative power imbalance between members of the majority culture and those of the minority group, who tend to depreciate each other due to deeply in-rooted stereotypes - the group has to work on dimensions of the foundation matrices in order to establish its dynamic matrix. A model is suggested, why this process implies such a high potential of insecurity, fostering anxiety and aggression with the menace of total breakdown of communication. Different power potentials of the different subgroups are outlined as reflections of a wider scope of power relations in society and the historic dimension of the foundation matrix is emphasized.