Secure Self-esteem Research Articles

On the Relationship Between Mothers’ and Fathers’ Parenting Behaviors and Children’s Explicit and Implicit Self-Esteem

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to clarify and elaborate the concept of implicit self-esteem by identifying parenting domains that are related to implicit self-esteem as well as by comparing the correlation between parenting behaviors and children’s explicit and implicit self-esteem (ESE & ISE). Furthermore, based on previous studies’ emphasis on the functions of self-esteem discrepancies, 4 groups of self-esteem types were included in the analysis: secure self-esteem, defensive self-esteem, damaged self-esteem and congruent low self-esteem.Methods: Participants were 279 Korean middle school students (114 boys and 165 girls). Children’s ESE and ISE were measured using the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) and the Name-Letter Task (NLT), respectively, and the parenting behavior measure consisted of 8 domains: monitoring, reasoning, inconsistency, over-involvement, over-expectation, neglect, physical abuse, and affection. Considering the effect of gender on the parent-child relationship, analysis was conducted according to gender.Results: Comparison between the correlations revealed that among 32 factors, differences in ESE and ISE were significant in 13 factors and not significant in 19 factors. Further, most of the parenting domains were significantly related to both daughters’ and sons’ ESE, while only a few of father and mother’s parenting domains were related to ISE. Boys’ ISE was negatively related to fathers’ over-involvement and mothers’ reasoning, while girls’ ISE was positively related to both parents’ monitoring and negatively related to neglect. Additionally, the group with secure self-esteem (characterized by high ESE and high ISE) mostly reported high levels of positive parenting behaviors and low levels of negative parenting behaviors, while the group with congruent low self-esteem (characterized by low ESE and low ISE) mostly reported low levels of positive parenting behaviors and high levels of negative parenting behaviors.Conclusion: This study contributes significant findings to the understanding of ISE. Based on the current study’s results, it is plausible to conclude that ISE performs a similar function to ESE, yet weaker. Moreover, the importance of measuring mothers’ and fathers’ parenting behaviors separately could be more emphasized. Further discussions are suggested regarding areas of contention over the formation and the concept of ISE.

Outwardly strong but inwardly weak, pretensions to wealth? Exploring the impact of heterogeneous high self-esteem on materialism in a self-threat situation

<p id="p00010">Self-esteem, as a core individual variable, has a long-standing inverse relationship with materialism. However, some studies have found that people with high self-esteem have higher materialistic orientation than those with low self-esteem, which contradicts previous research. In this connection, researchers need to rethink the relationship between these two variables. The heterogeneity hypothesis of high self-esteem holds that there are secure high self-esteem and fragile high self-esteem in high self-esteem groups, which may guide our understanding of this contradictory relationship. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore whether materialistic orientation was associated with different sub-types of high self-esteem, that is, that high self-esteem is heterogeneous, and to explore whether the relationship would change under self-threat situations. <p id="p00015">The results of study 1 indicated that the relationship between high fragile self-esteem and materialism was positive, while the relationship between high secure self-esteem and materialism was negative. The materialism of people with high fragile self-esteem was significantly higher than those with high secure self-esteem. The results of study 2 suggested that attractiveness threat moderated the relationship between heterogeneous high self-esteem and materialism. Specifically, in the attractive threat scenarios, materialism of secure high self-esteem was low, while materialism of fragile high self-esteem was high. In the non-attractive threat situation, the difference in materialism measures between them was insignificant. This finding was further replicated in study 3 where intellectual threat moderated the relationship between heterogeneous high self-esteem and implicit materialism. Notably, in the context of an intellectual threat, implicit materialism of the secure high self-esteem group was low, while implicit materialism of the fragile high self-esteem group was high. In the non-intellectual threat situation, the difference in implicit materialism scores was not significant. <p id="p00020">Therefore, from the perspective of heterogeneous high self-esteem, this study essentially proved the low materialism level of those with secure high self-esteem and high materialism level of those with fragile high self-esteem. It signifies that the two conclusions of previous studies are reasonable. If there exists a greater number of secure high self-esteem individuals among a population of high self-esteem persons, the relationship between high self-esteem and materialism is negative. On the contrary, if there is a greater number of fragile high self-esteem individuals, the relationship is positive, thereby solving the puzzle of the contradictory relationship between high self-esteem and materialism. Furthermore, this study can urge educators to pay more attention to the cultivation of children's secure high self-esteem rather than unquestioningly cultivating high self-esteem. <p id="p00025">To delve deeper into the impact of high self-esteem on materialism orientation, three studies were conducted. In study 1, 420 college students from 4 universities were surveyed by questionnaire to explore the correlation between heterogeneous high self-esteem and materialism. Study 2 was aimed to verify the causal relationship, and used attractiveness threat to self-esteem to investigate whether the attractiveness threat played a moderating role in the relationship between different types of high self-esteem and materialism where participants with fragile high self-esteem and secure high self-esteem were randomly assigned either to the attractiveness threat group or the control group. They were asked to compare their own attractiveness to the most and the least attractive images of the same sex selected from pre-test, respectively. Study 3 used intellectual threat as a form of self-threat priming and measured materialism at the implicit level where heterogeneous high self-esteem participants were randomly assigned to the intellectual threat group or the control group. The former completed 13 difficult questions from Raven's Progressive Matrices and received negative feedback, while the latter completed 13 simple questions from Raven's Progressive Matrices and received positive feedback.

Reducing contingent self-worth: A defensive response to self-threats

ABSTRACTPrevious research shows that people with high self-esteem cope with threats to the self by reducing the extent to which their self-worth is contingent on the threatened domain (Buckingham, Weber, & Sypher, 2012). The present studies tested the hypothesis that this is a defensive process. In support of this hypothesis, Study 1 (N = 160), showed that self-affirmation attenuates the tendency for people with high self-esteem to reduce their contingencies of self-worth following self-threat. Furthermore, Study 2 (N = 286), showed that this tendency was more prevalent among people with defensive self-esteem than among those with secure self-esteem. The present studies imply that reducing contingent self-worth after self-threat is a defensive process. We discuss implications for theories of contingent self-worth.

Fixated on rejection: Attentional blindness following socially rejecting faces in people with defensive self-esteem

People with defensive self-esteem (high explicit and low implicit self-esteem) respond more negatively to ego threat than do those with secure (high explicit and implicit) self-esteem. We examined whether they would also be more attentive to a cue indicating the presence of such threat–namely, a face signaling social rejection. In a rapid serial visual presentation task, participants with defensive self-esteem made more errors than those with secure self-esteem following a picture of a rejecting face than following either an accepting face or a negative control image. Our findings suggest a possible relationship between defensive self-esteem and rejection sensitivity. Potential negative ramifications of this sensitivity to rejection cues are discussed.

Role of Regulatory Focus under Psychological Threat in Individuals with Secure Self-Esteem vs. Fragile Self-Esteem

Role of Regulatory Focus under Psychological Threat in Individuals with Secure Self-Esteem vs. Fragile Self-Esteem

Relationships between explicit/implicit self-esteem discrepancy and measures of depression, loneliness, and in-group favoritism

The present study focused on the discrepancy between explicit self-esteem and implicit self-esteem, using the Name Letter Task with 86 graduate students. In line with suggestions from previous research, participants high in explicit self-esteem but low implicit self-esteem (called "defensive high self-esteem") showed higher in-group favoritism than participants who had high explicit and implicit self-esteem (called "secure high self-esteem"). Participants with defensive self-esteem reported higher levels of depression than secure self-esteem participants. These results strengthen the generalizability for the conceptualizations of "defensive" and "secure" high self-esteem. However, participants with low self-esteem did not show significant interactions with any variables.

When apologies fail: The moderating effect of implicit and explicit self-esteem on apology and forgiveness

The purpose of this research was to explore whether self-esteem, defined as both an implicit and an explicit evaluation of the self, moderates the apology – forgiveness process. It was predicted that those with defensive or fragile self-esteem (i.e., high explicit and low implicit self-esteem) would focus on and respond to the aspects of the apology that confirmed the harm done by the transgressor, rather than the transgressor's remorse, and thus respond with less forgiveness and more avoidance and revenge than when the transgressor does not apologize. Participants experienced a transgression, after which the transgressor either apologized or not. As predicted, compared to those with secure self-esteem, those with defensive self-esteem were the least forgiving and the most vengeful and avoidant after receiving an apology. These findings suggest that apologies may not have their intended effect when offered to individuals with defensive self-esteem. Potential mechanisms of this relationship were also examined.

COMMENTARIES on "Toward a Conceptualization of Optimal Self-Esteem"

Kernis (this issue) notes that, although researchers have traditionally been concerned with the relevance of self-esteem level, stability of self-esteem also serves a critical role in healthy psychological functioning. Kemis proceeds to synthesize research on self-esteem level and stability to arrive at a description of optimal self-esteem. He defines optimal self-esteem as a secure (rather than fragile or dysfunctional) form of high self-esteem. What are the causal mechanisms that underlie secure self-esteem? We believe that the search for causal and developmental antecedents of self-esteem would benefit greatly from the use of genetically informed designs. Such designs allow for the specification of both genetic and environmental influences on individual differences. Moreover, genetically informed designs provide one method of ensuring that putative environmental effects are indeed environmental rather than heritable (Plomin, 1994). A small body of literature has investigated the genetic and environmental architectures that underlie self-esteem level. Studies of both adults (Kendler, Gardner, & Prescott, 1998; Roy, Neale, & Kendler, 1995) and children (McGuire, Neiderhiser, Reiss, Hetherington, & Plomin, 1994) suggest that genetic influences on self-esteem level explain approximately 30% to 40% of the variance. These studies also suggest that shared environment does not account for variability in self-esteem level. That is, familial variables (e.g., parental warmth, parenting styles), which contribute to similarity of siblings raised in the same household, have rather minimal impact on self-esteem level. On the other hand, nonshared environments (such as differential treatment of siblings by parents or individual self-esteem moments), which contribute to between-sibling differences, do have a substantial influence on self-esteem level (for a review, see Neiss, Sedikides, & Stevenson, 2002). In many ways, the observations we offered in the previous paragraph repeat a standard behavior genetic argument: Genetic and nonshared environmental influences on behavioral traits are often substantial, but shared environmental influences are minimal (Plomin & Daniels, 1987; Turkheimer, 2000). We reignite the argument, however, because it has implications for the origins of optimal self-esteem. Furthermore, behavior genetic findings complement existing hypotheses about causal mechanisms assumed to underlie optimal self-esteem. For example, Kemis suggests that a match between children's intemal states and adult interpretation of children's inner experiences facilitate authenticity (and presumably optimal self-esteem). Stated somewhat differently, a gene (child's disposition) x environment interaction (parental feedback) effect may be a critical causal mechanism underlying optimal self-esteem. Such a hypothesis can be tested within a genetically informed design. In the absence, as yet, of known genetic markers for genes predisposing to high self-esteem level, such a study would have to be undertaken with adopted children. Specifically, the sample would consist of children (a) whose biological parents have high or low self-esteem level, and (b) who are reared by adoptive parents fostering a high or low self-esteem level. Unfortunately, it has been difficult to identify such gene-environment interactions within adoption studies (Plomin, DeFries, & Fulker, 1988). Indeed, the prospect of genetic markers of risk becoming available in the near future is so close (Plomin & Crabbe, 2000) that it might be more sensible for researchers to wait for the availability of such markers rather than attempt to identify possible gene-environment interactions through quantitative genetic methods (e.g., the adoption design). We do not wish, and we are not in a position to, overemphasize the genetic underpinnings of self-esteem level: Research on the heritability of self-esteem level shows that the largest portion of variability in self-esteem is related to nonshared environment-clearly, then, genetic main effects do not tell the whole story. To complicate matters, the pathways linking genes to self-esteem level are unknown. Nevertheless, Cloninger, Svrakic, and Przybeck's (1993) psychobiological model describes one possible pathway between innate temperament and self-concept. These researchers proposed that heritable biases in information processing reflect four basic dimensions of temperament: novelty seeking, harm avoidance, reward dependence, and persistence. Temperament influences self-concept and self-esteem via information processing biases. This model also allows for reciprocal influences between information processing and self-esteem. For example, self-esteem may shape attention to and interpretation of environmental stimuli (Gaertner, Sedikides, Vevea, & Iuzzini, 2002; Gramzow, Gaertner, & Sedikides, 2001; Green & Sedikides, 2001; Sedikides & Skowronski, 1993). Specific genes might be linked to neurochemical substrates associated with the basic temperament dimensions, although attempts to identify such linkages have met with limited success (Herbst, Zonderman, McCrae, & Costa, 2000).

Reactions to threat by defensive and congruent internals and externals: A self-esteem analysis

The hypothesis that vulnerable self-esteem internals and externals would react more defensively to negative intellectual and personality feedback than congruent (more secure self-esteem) internals and externals was investigated in two experiments. The defensive (DE)-congruent (CE) external distinction was strongly confirmed in both cases. In Experiment 1, DEs assumed less personal responsibility for failure than for success, while CEs assumed little personal responsibility for either outcome. Defensive externals performed more poorly than CEs on a task described as an IQ test, suggesting greater anxiety in the face of possible failure. In Experiment 2, DEs rated themselves more favorably and derogated evaluator's competence more than CEs following receipt of negative information regarding their interpersonal skills. Congruent internals (CI) performed more poorly than defensive internals (DI) on the “IQ” task, while male DIs attributed responsibility for outcomes more defensively. It was suggested that a consistently internal view of causation may increase stress in evaluative situations. Implications of these findings for better understanding the relationship between locus of control and maladjustment were discussed, and suggestions for future research were presented.