Negative Social Attitudes Research Articles

Social attitudes towards smoking in pregnancy in East Surrey: A qualitative study of smokers, former smokers and non-smokers

A qualitative study was undertaken to explore social attitudes towards smoking by pregnant women, mothers of preschool children and their partners based in Merstham and Horley, East Surrey. All respondents felt that smoking in pregnancy was associated with considerable social stigma and negative social attitudes. Non-smokers were particularly negative in their views on smoking in pregnancy feeling that it was socially unacceptable. Women who smoked during pregnancy reported various negative social experiences such as receiving criticism from health professionals and community associates. They reported feeling under pressure to quit to achieve social acceptability as much as for health improvements. Some pregnant smokers denied smoking to health professionals, partners and colleagues and used private smoking places out of public view to reduce the chances of detection. Women who smoked or had a partner who smoked were more accepting of smoking in pregnancy than non-smokers and former smokers. Moreover, residents from the more socio-economically deprived area of Merstham were more tolerant of smoking in pregnancy and parenthood, compared to Horley-based respondents, regardless of their personal smoking status. They gave examples of local women they knew who had smoked in pregnancy without apparent complication. While all respondents were aware of health risks associated with smoking, smokers did not feel the risks were personally relevant to them and were exaggerated in an anti-smoking society. Health professionals need to be aware that pregnant women may not disclose smoking activity due to perceived social stigma and may require more intensive smoking cessation support services in socio-economically deprived areas.

Perspectives of midwives and doctors on adolescent sexuality and abortion care in Vietnam

Vietnam has one of the highest abortion rates in the world and adolescent abortions are thought to constitute at least one-third of all cases. Lack of balanced reproductive health information and services to adolescents and negative social attitudes towards adolescent sexuality are contributing factors to the high abortion rates. Health providers are important in guiding and counselling adolescents on how to protect their reproductive health. There is a lack of studies on health providers' perspectives on their work in adolescent reproductive health care. To explore the perspectives of midwives and doctors on adolescent sexuality and abortion, and what they considered to be quality abortion care for adolescents and the barriers to it, as well as to their own training needs. Observations of care in abortion clinics and focus-group discussions (FGD) were used to collect data. Doctors and midwives from three healthcare facilities in Quang Ninh province in Northern Vietnam participated in a total of eight FGDs. Data were analysed using latent content analysis. Major barriers identified for quality abortion care were of technical and managerial nature. Participants considered that counselling unmarried clients in connection with abortion should focus on warning against the risks and dangers of abortion and pre-marital sexual relations, which they strongly disapproved of. However, they also expressed a pragmatic and caring attitude towards the unmarried girls and couples coming for abortion. Adolescent sexuality and abortion are morally sensitive issues in the Vietnamese culture. The contradictions between cultural norms and the reality facing health providers while counselling unmarried adolescents need to be addressed in education and training programmes.

Extreme Attitudes Toward Organ Transplantation: How Do Supporters and Opponents of This Method of Treatment Differ in Poland?

Background Many medical professionals share the opinion that the negative social attitudes toward transplantation are the basic cause of the deficit of organ from deceased donors. Although public opinion polls in Poland invariably reveal overall acceptance of transplantation, it is extremely difficult to procure organs. The purpose of this study was to compare the attitudes of supporters and opponents of organ transplantation. Materials and methods In social psychology, attitude is defined as a relatively stable inclination toward a positive or negative relation to a person or an object. It was assumed that positive attitudes are favorable as regards transplantation, whereas negative attitudes constitute a social obstacle to this method of treatment. The survey conducted between May and August 2002 included a representative sample of 1000 Poles over 15 years of age. The first part of the survey measured the general attitude toward transplantation on a rating scale ranging from “definitely agree” to “definitely disagree.” Results We distinguished two extreme attitudes, ie, supporters and opponents. Conclusions The attitudes of supporters were mainly cognitive, whereas the attitudes of opponents were dominated by negative emotions associated with fear of death, psychological trauma, and physical injury which led to avoidance behavior, passive resistance, and selective and biased information processing. Opponents often concealed or belittled their standpoints and were reluctant to discuss transplantation issues. Their behavior was more passive, and their familiarity with the medical and legal aspects of transplantation was relatively poor compared with supporters.

Approach and Avoidance Social Motives and Goals

It was predicted that approach social motives and goals would be linked to outcomes characterized by the presence of positive social features, and avoidance social motives and goals would be linked to outcomes characterized by the presence of negative social features and that the link between approach motives and outcomes would be mediated by different processes than the link between avoidance motives and outcomes. These hypotheses were examined in three studies (two of them longitudinal) that measured participants' dispositional social motives, short-term social goals, and social outcomes (e.g., loneliness). Approach motives and goals were reliably associated with less loneliness and more satisfaction with social bonds, whereas avoidance motives and goals were reliably associated with more loneliness, negative social attitudes, and relationship insecurity. Results also suggested that these associations were mediated by different processes. Implications for the conceptualization of close relationships along these two dimensions are discussed.

The Negative Symptoms of Schizophrenia: A Cognitive Perspective

Recent reports of improvement in the negative symptoms of schizophrenia following targeted cognitive interventions have prompted interest in the cognitive underpinnings of these symptoms. This review integrates current experimental research with the phenomenological accounts of patients participating in cognitive therapy for these specific symptoms. We propose that, in addition to the well-established role of neurobiological factors in their development and maintenance, specific cognitive appraisals and beliefs play a role in the expression and persistence of negative symptoms. This cognitive model of negative symptoms is based on a diathesis-stress formulation: a continuum of predispositional traits from the premorbid personality to the full-blown negative symptomatology, the incorporation of negative social and performance attitudes within these traits, and low expectancies for pleasure or success in goal-oriented activities. We suggest that negative symptoms represent, in part, a compensatory pattern of disengagement in response to threatening delusional beliefs, perceived social threat, and anticipated failure in tasks and social activities. A psychological aspect of this motivational and behavioural inertia appears to be the patient's perception of limited psychological resources--a perception that motivates patients to conserve energy by minimizing investment in activities requiring effort.

What We Confront with Employment of People with Epilepsy in Korea

To investigate the current status of employability in people with epilepsy (PWE) in Korea. Data were collected from 543 adult epilepsy patients. Housewives and students were excluded. Information was obtained from self-completed questionnaires. The unemployment rate for Korean PWE was as high as 31%. This figure was five times higher than that of general population. The unemployed PWE had significantly lower quality of life than the employed PWE. the employability of PWE was significantly affected by certain factors: the frequency and severity of seizures; age at onset; interseizure psychosocial disabilities including self-esteem, personality, and problem-solving style; and social discrimination. Actual discriminatory practices in the employment of the PWE were prevalent in Korea. Overall, 24.5% of respondents believed that they had even been treated unfairly at work or when trying to get a job. More than half of those who disclosed their disease to employers reported that they have been refused a job because of epilepsy. About 75% of the patients surveyed said that they have never disclosed their disease in applying for a job. In Korea, PWE have faced many difficulties in employment. The discrimination against PWE and negative social attitudes toward epilepsy may play an important role in the employability of PWE. We need active participation in the "Out of the Shadows" world campaign.

Curiosity and Mental Retardation: Beyond IQ

Too much of the behavior shown by people with mental retardation is attributed to their having subaverage intelligence and not enough to their other human qualities. In an effort to correct this imbalance, Zigler (1971) called for the study of the ‘‘whole person’’ and showed that subaverage IQs do not predict personalities. A decade later, Reiss, Levitan, and Szyszko (1982) called for the study of the mental health of persons with mental retardation. They held that negative social experiences and attitudes, not subaverage intelligence, lead to many of the emotional and behavioral problems shown by people with mental retardation. Recently, researchers have disproved the myth that people with significantly subaverage IQs lack the cognitive capacities needed to self-determine their futures (e.g., Turnbull & Turnbull, 2001; Wehmeyer, Kelchner, & Richards, 1995). Despite these and other past efforts to correct for the misuse of IQs, they are still too powerful a determinant of how we respond to people with mental retardation. Here, we consider another misuse of IQs, namely, the assumption that these scores are strongly predictive of curiosity. Our thesis is that intelligence and curiosity are distinguishable traits, less strongly related to each other than generally assumed. Intelligence refers to one’s ability to learn, whereas curiosity refers to one’s motivation to experience intellectual activity. Intelligent people have the potential to solve difficult problems whether or not they enjoy doing so, whereas curious people have the potential to enjoy thinking about difficult problems whether or not they can solve them. Generally, educators pay too much attention to intelligence and not enough attention to curiosity when planning a student’s future. Consider the standardized tests that educators use to assess students. Although educators often use standardized intelligence tests, they rarely use standardized tests of curiosity. Until recently, there were no widely used standardized tests of curiosity for students with mental retardation or for students generally. The recently published Reiss Profile MR/DD (Reiss & Havercamp, 2001) includes a Curiosity subscale that may be the only standardized measure of this construct specifically validated for use with people who have mental retardation. Past educators could not have formally assessed the curiosity of people with mental retardation even if they had wanted to do so because they lacked appropriate assessment tools.

Why are stereotypes about mentally ill so resistant? Lessons from social psychology

Prejudices and social stigma in mental illness have a long tradition and have hardly been modified by educational programmes on the long term. The question, why these negative social attitudes appear to be considerably resistant to change is analysed with reference to social psychological research on stereotypes. First, a short review of studies on public attitudes towards the mentally ill and media analyses will give evidence to the widespread stereotypical misconceptions and their reproduction by selected media information. Then the dynamics of social stereotyping will be explained in relation to cultural, cognitive and emotional factors focussing on the development and activation of stereotypes within the paradigm of information processing. It is supposed that stereotype activation facilitates the processing of consistent information as well as it inhibits the processing of inconsistent information. Implications for changing negative attitudes about the mentally ill are discussed.

Auditors as Whistleblowers

Auditors are being depicted as whistleblowers, a phenomenon which, given negative social attitudes to whistleblowers and informers more generally, can be harmful to the profession and individual practitioners. A recently published general‐purpose definition of whistleblowing is applied to the audit function, considering internal and external auditing separately. The definition is briefly described. It depicts whistleblowing as a disclosure which expresses accusation and dissent; and entails an ethical dilemma of divided loyalty, the origins of which lie in a prima facie duty to respect an organisations proprietary rights over its information. The case argued here is that internal audit disclosures and those arising from the dominant external statutory audit do not qualify as whistleblowing as defined.Whistleblowing is also examined as an audit metaphor but is discarded as unsuitable mainly on grounds of ambiguity.

GRACED UNDER FIRE: INTERNALIZED HOMONEGATIVITY, SELF-CONCEPT AND IMAGES OF GOD IN GAY AND LESBIAN INDIVIDUALS

This study was designed to investigate how the self-hatred that is internalized by gay and lesbian individuals because of negative social attitudes toward homosexuality relates to their self-concept and images of God. This research integrates and extends such literature by exploring how internalized selfhatred, as it is experienced by gay and lesbian people, relates to self-concept and images of God. Of the 172 men and women, ages 19 to 61, who volunteered to participate in this study, 119 belonged to one of six Jewish and Christian, gay and lesbian affirming faith communities and 53 claimed no faith affiliation. Participants completed the Multi-Axial Gay/Lesbian Inventory, the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale, Gorsuch's Adjective Ratings of God Scale and a demographic questionnaire. Results indicate that as internalized homonegativity increased, self-concept decreased. Findings also indicate that internalized homonegativity interacts with images of God in complex ways. Comparisons between participants belonging to a faith community and those with no faith affiliation demonstrate that those who belong to such a community report lower levels of internalized homonegativity They also have less positive images of God. No differences were found between groups on self-concept and negative images of God.

Women healing from alcoholism: a qualitative study

High relapse rates in treated alcoholics and a lack of adequate research studies with recovering alcoholics suggest we need to know much more about the actual recovery process from alcoholism with both males and females (Leukefeld & Tims, 1989; Fuller, 1989; Langton, 1991). This study describes selected aspects of the recovery process as experienced, understood, and articulated by a of women in various stages of healing from the effects of alcoholism. The study offers phenomenological evidence on the issues of how recovery is initiated, the role of the social support system, the impact of economics on recovery (and vice versa), the use of all-women AA groups, and the influence of shame. Although recent studies have included women in their samples, historically the data base comes from predominantly male treatment studies (Catalano, Howard, Hawkins & Wells, 1988). Questions have been raised as to extent these and other conclusions apply to women (Duckert, 1987). Recent alcohol treatment research has defined women as a population group; that is (like older adults and ethnic minorities), a with unique biological and sociocultural characteristics that require culturally sensitive intervention (Institute of Medicine, 1990). There is some recognition that traditional treatment programs and research studies have not adequately addressed the needs of these populations, and that improved access to treatment and inclusion in more research are needed (NIAAA, Eighth Special Report to the U.S. Congress on Alcohol and Health, 1993). It is the intention of this study to contribute to increasing the knowledge and understanding of women alcoholics and their recovery process. Recent literature on women suggests several important differences between men and women, once serious drinking is initiated. Women develop alcoholism more quickly, experience alcohol-related problems such as liver disease more rapidly, and present for treatment sooner than men (Hill, 1982; Roman, 1988; Institute of Medicine, 1990; Schmidt et al., 1990). Lack of family and social support networks may cause greater conflicts for women substance abusers than their male counterparts (Beckman & Amaro, 1986; Schilit & Gomberg, 1987; Davis & DiNitto, 1996). In the psychological sphere, women alcoholics are more likely to be depressed (Conte et al., 1991), have lower self-esteem (Roman, 1988), attempt suicide more frequently (Corrigan, 1985), and report a high degree of sexual trauma and physical violence (Covington, 1982; Miller et al., 1989). Although there is increasing evidence to suggest gender differences among alcoholics and consequently the need for gender-specific treatment strategies, few controlled studies are available that support specialized services to women in treatment (see Dahlgren & Willander, 1989). The question of what works with women is still developing. Studies using qualitative methods have been helpful in fleshing out the bones on these and other findings about the recovery process of alcoholic women (for example, Lundy, 1985; Maracle, 1989; Holmila, 1991); Woodhouse, 1992; Kaskutas, 1994). These methods are particularly appropriate with special populations about which less is known (Stahler, Cohen, Shipley & Bartelt, 1993; Akins & Beschner, 1980). Women in recovery have been characterized as a discredited group who suffer from the double whammy of societal bias against alcoholics and against women (Kagle, 1987; Holmila, 1991; Leigh, 1995). Such negative social attitudes result in a shame factor that can act as a barrier to accessing information about their lives. Feminist qualitative research recognizes the impact of gender as central to the female experience and aims at correcting the invisibility of and distortions about women's lives (Swindells, 1989; Harding, 1987). This recognition has only recently been evident in the research on women's recovery from alcoholism (Davis & DiNitto, 1994). …

EXPLORING THE PARENTING DIFFICULTIES OF STEPMOTHERS IN HONG KONG: IMPLICATIONS FOR SOCIAL WORKERS AND TEACHERS

The number of divorce cases in Hong Kong is soaring in recent years and the stepfamily is an emerging family structure. This exploratory study is aimed at examining difficulties of parenting in stepfamilies through interviews with stepmothers, social workers and teachers. Reports of these stepmothers reveal that they feel overloaded in the stepfamilies and that their spouses do not give them enough support. They complain that their in-laws and relatives create stress rather than offer help in child management. The findings indicated that there are difficulties in communication between the couples, problems between stepmother-stepchild, and in-law relationships. It is suggested that social workers and teachers should cooperate to deal with cultural stereotyping of stepfamily and change negative social attitudes towards members of stepfamilies. Efforts should also be made by these professionals to identify stepmother-stepchild relationship problems with greater sensitivity, and regularity. 香港近年离婚个案数字飚升，再婚家庭成逐渐涌现的家庭架构。这个研究目的是透过访问继母、社工和教师检视再婚家庭的亲职问题。被访继母感到家务繁重、配偶支持不足，在管教子女方面，她们的翁姑及姻亲没有给予援助反而给她们加添压力。资料显示再婚家庭内的夫妇沟通出现困难，继母和继子女及翁姑姻亲关系亦有问题。社工和教师应携手处理文化上将再婚家庭典型化的问题，改变社会人士对这类家庭的负面态度，醒觉地识别继母和继子女关系的问题予以适切介入。

Stigmatization, discrimination and fear of AIDS in Greece: implications for health policy.

A prospective health-education research project about AIDS knowledge and attitudes towards AIDS was conducted in Athens and nine adjacent municipalities in west Attica, Greece. Socioeconomic and demographic data, AIDS knowledge, and attitudinal information were collected from 1552 respondents and analysed treating the attitudes of stigmatization, discrimination and fear towards AIDS as the dependent variable. Statistically significant correlations were found between each of the three attitudinal variables and the independent ones; specifically, age, place of residence, marital status and level of AIDS knowledge. Our working hypothesis--that the higher the level of AIDS knowledge, the lower the level of discrimination and stigmatization--was supported by our data. The relationship between AIDS knowledge and fear was less clear. Fear probably inhibits a rational approach to screening for HIV, and more empirical research is needed about fear and its interaction with stigmatizing and discriminatory attitudes and behaviours. Such research should be aimed at identifying population groups 'at risk' of expressing high levels of negative social attitudes about AIDS so that educational programmes can be appropriately designed.

Promoting the public health benefits of cycling

The potential health gain from increased levels of cycling in Britain is large. This paperreviews current levels of bicycle ownership and use, and the factors which influence whether or not people choose to cycle in Britain. Cycle ownership is strongly associated with affluence and children. Males cycle more than females. Boys aged 11–15 years cycle the greatest number of miles per person per week, followed by men aged 16–59 years. Cycling to work is weakly associated with affluence. Modelling cycling to work patterns suggests that hilliness, traffic danger, rainfall and longer trip lengths are important deferrents to cycling. Cyclists identify cheapness, health, convenience and enjoyment as reasons for cycling. Non-cyclists identify danger, ‘unpleasantness’ (e.g. traffic fumes, weather), bike security and cycling not appealing as reasons for not cycling. Part of the lack of appeal of cycling reflects negative social attitudes towards cycling. Cycling has tended to be seen as a childhood activity and incompatible with an attractive and sophisticated image. Departments of Public Health Medicine and Health Promotion, in collaboration withother sectors, have an important role to play in promoting increased levels of cycling.

Personal and Familial Adaptation of Women with Severe Physical Disabilities: A Further Validation of the Double ABCX Model

The Double ABCX model, developed by McCubbin and colleagues, served as a theoretical framework for examining the major variables that contribute to the psychosocial adaptation of women. Ninety-four women with severe physical disabilities and 94 healthy women who served as controls completed eight questionnaires dealing with stress, coping resources, and adaptation. The results indicate that a high level of stress and strain and a low level of individual resources contribute to a low personal and familial adaptation. The predicted causal relationships among the models' variables of stress and adaptation were similar in the two research groups, although the magnitude of these relationships differ. The results confirm the applicability of the theoretical model for understanding long-term adaptation of women with severe physical disabilities. In recent years, one of the major areas of interest of researchers and practitioners in social science has been coping and adapting to chronic stressful conditions. The professional literature analyzed stressor characteristics along three main dimensions: normative-nonnormative, acute-chronic, and predictable-unpredictable (Boss, 1987; McCubbin & Figley, 1983: Pearlin, 1989). One of the well-established groups of people who have to face continuous chronic stressful conditions consists of those with chronic disabling illnesses (Moos & Schaefer, 1984; Rolland, 1987; Turner & Noh, 1988). These people face nonnormative, chronic, and unpredictable stressors, stemming from the daily requirements and demands of living with physical disabilities, and they usually have to deal with negative social attitudes and reactions (Wright, 1983). Although a great deal of knowledge about the process of coping and adjustment to physical disability can be found in the professional literature, a careful examination reveals that most of these studies were carried out mainly on male subjects (Asch & Fine, 1988; Crewe & Krause, 1988; Moos b Schaefer, 1984). Both researchers and clinicians acknowledge the fact that much less is known about the special needs and difficulties encountered by women with physical disabilities (Asch & Fine, 1988; Britt, 1988). From the handful of studies conducted in the United States (Asch & Fine, 1988; Britt, 1988; Deegan, 1985), Canada (Ridington, 1989a, 1989b, 1989c), and England (Lonsdale, 1990; Morris, 1989), the following socioeconomic profile emerged: Women with physical disabilities live near or below the poverty line (Mudrick, 1988; Ridington, 1989b; Russo & Jensen, 1988). Fewer women with physical disabilities are married, more are separated and divorced, and if they have children, these women often raise them alone (Asch & Fine, 1988; Harrison & Wayne, 1986). When compared with other women, disabled women have a lower level of education (Asch & Fine, 1988). An extensive review of the literature discussing coping and adjustment of women to their chronic stressful situation revealed the following: (a) Usually research has dealt with a specific physical condition, the most frequent ones being rheumatoid arthritis (Allaire, 1992; Reisine, Goodenow, & Grady, 1987; Smith & Wallston, 1992) and spinal cord injury (Bonwich, 1985; Morris, 1989); (b) some studies examined only specific aspects related to the women functioning as housewives (Hafstrom & Schram, 1984), at work (Allaire, 1992), or as mothers; and (c) only a few studies attempted to assess factors that may contribute to women's adjustment, such as chronic stressors (Turner & Avison, 1992), perceived support provided by husbands (Goodenow, Reisine, & Grady, 1990), and appraisal of the illness' implications and coping (Smith & Wallston, 1992). Therefore, it seems that the picture depicted from these studies provides only partial information on the particular adjustment outcomes of specific groups of women with physical disabilities. …

No pills for heartache: The importance of social support for women who suffer pregnancy loss

Abstract This paper uses part of the data from a randomized controlled trial of social support in pregnancy in order to investigate whether the provision of social support in a subsequent pregnancy for women who have previously undergone pregnancy loss makes an appreciable difference to their physical and emotional health in that subsequent pregnancy. Significant differences in emotional well-being, at 6 weeks and 1 year after delivery, were found between the supported and unsupported groups. Physical health was not affected by the intervention. Qualitative data on the women's experiences of pregnancy loss highlight their need for the recognition of the dead baby as a person and thus for the legitimation of mourning. Isolation after pregnancy loss is exacerbated by negative social attitudes to death, the disappearance of traditional mourning rituals, low levels of intimacy, and gender differences in grieving. By providing non-directive social support, tailored to the individual's needs, the research midwi...

Suicide Among the Elderly:

Suicide rates in the U.S. are highest among the elderly. If the aged make an attempt they usually succeed in killing themselves. This makes it imperative to take all of their threats of suicide seriously. Two cases of suicidal behavior from an outreach program for the elderly are presented as typical examples of self-destructive clients. A consideration of these cases, their relevance to factors and problems cited in the literature on aged suicide, and their implications for prevention are given. General preventive measures for suicide among the elderly are suggested to be dependent upon better case finding and identification, a change in the negative social attitude toward the aged, and the dissemination of information and education on suicide. Without these it is unlikely that declines in elderly suicide rates will be realized to the extent of altering the general tendency for suicide to be predominantly an old age phenomenon.

The Supreme Court V. Retarded Children

What rights do retarded children have not to be institutionalized? What rights do retarded people have to aggressive medical treatment that will help prolong their lives? These are questions that the Supreme Court has been asked to decide in recent years. This article examines how the court has responded to these issues and what these responses mean for public policy toward people with retardation. It concludes that the court may have been guided by negative social attitudes when it considered these issues.

Consequences of Population Density and Size

The classical theory about effects of high residential density is "negative," stating that high density produces negative social attitudes and undesirable behaviors. Yet empirical re search usually finds density only weakly related to individuals' attitudes and behavior. A survey was conducted in Baltimore for three purposes: to test "negative" hypotheses for new dependent variables; to determine if negative density effects appear only when certain "buffers" are weak; and to test hypotheses about "positive" effects of density. Results show that large population size and feelings that an area is overpopulated produce frustrations about the environment. Objective density has some negative and positive effects, but it is less important than population size, subjective appraisal of population, and population composition. Compared to prior research, the special contributions of the Baltimore study are examination of (1) population size, (2) "positive" consequences of high density and large size, and (3) effects in three distinct residential areas.

The coopersmith self-esteem inventory: Analysis and partial validation of a modified adult form

Determined the factor structure of an adult form of the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory (SEI), tested several hypotheses related to its content, and assessed the utility of the five derived scores for differentiating psychiatric outpatients from normals. The modified Self-Esteem Inventory and six other scales were completed by 200 local-government employees. A principal components analysis of correlations among 58 SEI items and two marker variables revealed five factors. The rotated dimensions were labelled (1) anxiety; (2) defensiveness; (3) negative social attitude; (4) rejection of self; and (5) inadequacy of self. Fifty psychiatric outpatients were compared with 100 normals with respect to the five derived factor scores. Tests of significance indicated that the two groups differed significantly on all measures except the defensiveness or lie scale factor. It is concluded that the Coopersmith Inventory is complex and measures several characteristics in addition to self-esteem.