AUTONOMY IN WORK AND SELF-ESTEEM

The relationship between work experience and self-esteem is an important one for social psychologists interested in how social structure affects personality. Research on this relationship has consistently documented the importance of autonomy in work for self-esteem. This research has failed, however, to closely examine the meaning of autonomy within the workplace culture and, therefore, has also failed to see how this meaning allows autonomy to contribute to self-esteem formation in a variety of ways. Because of these problems the relationship between autonomy in work and self-esteem, though heavily researched, has yet to be adequately described. Based on a theoretical analysis of self-esteem formation and field research in five work organizations, this article attempts to develop a more complete view of the relationship between workplace autonomy and self-esteem.     

The Relationship Between Stepdaughters' Self-Esteem and Perceived Parenting Behavior

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between self-esteem of adolescent females living in stepfamilies and perceived parenting practices. Female adolescents from stepfamilies completed the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and the Parent Behavior Form for each parent (mother, stepfather, and nonresidential father). Results consistent with hypotheses derived from the theory of reflected appraisal suggested that when perceived stepfathers' parenting behavior is compared to that of mothers, the former was more highly related to stepdaughters' self-esteem than is the latter. Moreover, perceived nonresidential fathers' parenting behavior was not related to self-esteem. In light of these findings, suggestions for parenting in stepfamilies were made.     

Indirect Over-Time Relations Between Parenting and Adolescents’ Sexual Behaviors and Emotions Through Global Self-Esteem

The present study examined indirect over-time relations between parenting and adolescent sexuality through global self-esteem. Three waves of online questionnaire data were collected among a community sample of 1,116 Dutch adolescents (M = 13.9 years at baseline). Participants rated the quality of their relationship with parents, their global self-esteem, and their experience with various sexual behaviors. Sexually experienced adolescents (n = 168) evaluated their sexual experiences using six emotions. Path model results showed that a higher-quality relationship with parents at T1 predicted higher levels of self-esteem at T2, which in turn predicted less experience with sexual behaviors and more positive sexual emotions at T3. The indirect over-time path from relationship quality through self-esteem to adolescents’ sexual emotions was significant; the indirect path to adolescents’ experience with sexual behaviors was not significant at the .05 level. No significant age or gender differences were found in the path models. The findings indicate that self-esteem plays an important role in adolescent sexuality and that parents can contribute to positive sexual experiences of adolescents indirectly—through the enhancement of self-esteem—by fostering a high-quality relationship with their children. Implications for theory, future research, and strategies to promote healthy and positive youth sexuality are discussed.     

Identities and Social-Psychological Well-Being among African American College Students

Abstract

This study investigates African American college students to show the impact of role, social, and personal identities on social-psychological well-being, and compares the relationship between identity processes and academic achievement for black and white college students attending a large, urban, predominantly white public university. The findings confirm that student, ethnic, and personal identities influence self-esteem, self-efficacy, and self-authenticity, but that relationships vary both in direction and strength. Turning to our comparison of black and white college students, the findings do not support claims that black students' self-esteem is less dependent than whites' on getting good grades or that black students' academic identity is less important to their self-esteem than it is for white students.     

Multidimensional self-esteem as a mediator of the relationship between sports participation and victimization: a study of African American girls

The purpose of this study that focused on African American high school girls was threefold. First, the relationship of sports participation and victimization was explored. Second, the impact of sports participation on self-esteem was assessed. Third, the role of self-esteem and its disaggregated components (social acceptance, competence, and self-confidence) as mediators of the relationship between sports participation and victimization was examined. In accordance with the sport protection hypothesis, it was hypothesized that sports participation would be related to enhanced self-esteem and reduce victimization. Results suggest that sports participation appears to have some relationship to lower rates of victimization. There was also support for our assertion that sports participation was related to enhanced self-esteem. Finally, overall self-esteem and, specifically, the individual component competence mediated the relationship between sports participation and victimization.     

Adolescent Gambling on a Great Lakes Indian Reservation

SUMMARY

The gambling habits of adolescents and the relationship between gambling, other high-risk behaviors and self-esteem were investigated. One hundred eighty-five American Indian and non-Indian students in grades 7–12 in two schools (one tribal and one public) were surveyed on a Great Lakes Indian Reservation. The seventy-eight item survey replicated a previous study on another reservation. The instrument reported data by age, gender, school, ethnicity, socio-economic status, incidence of high-risk behaviors, self-esteem indicators, and incidence(s) of individual and family gambling. The results indicated statistically significant relationships between gambling habits, parental gambling, other high-risk behaviors, and self-esteem. These findings have implications for American Indian youth and their families, for tribal leaders making policy decisions, and for social workers who provide services to these communities.     

The contribution of social support to children and adolescents' self-perception: The mediating role of bullying victimization

The purpose of this article is to report on a study that explores the linkages among self-perception, perceptions of social support, and bullying involvement among children and youth, with a focus on how bullying victimization mediates the association of social support and self-perception. We employ Harter's multidimensional model of self-esteem (1999; 2012), which highlights the inextricable link of social support to global self-esteem but does not explore the contribution of bullying involvement to this association. Our findings indicate that social support is associated with self-perception, and that traditional victimization mediates the association between social support and self-perception for three self-perception measures: social acceptance, physical appearance, and global self-worth. Contrary to our expectations, cyberbullying victimization was not found to mediate the relationship between social support and self-perception. These findings underscore the importance of exploring both traditional bullying victimization and cyberbullying victimization in relation to social support in order to understand their effect on development and wellbeing. More broadly, this study's finding that social support was a significant buffer to bullying victimization emphasizes the necessity of developing prevention and intervention strategies which are relationship-based and implemented early in young people's lives.     

Parental Attachment Among Korean–American Adolescents

The present study examined the relationship between parental care and control perceived by Korean–American adolescents, and further investigated the relationships between parental attachment styles and mental health measures including self-esteem, depression, and social support. The relationship between parental care and parental control resulted in a significantly negative correlation. Parental care showed significantly positive correlations with self-esteem and social support, and a negative correlation with depression. Parental control showed a significantly negative correlation with self-esteem, and a significantly positive correlation with depression. The analysis demonstrated that optimal parenting showed significantly higher self-esteem, lower depression, and higher social support than the other groups.     

The Interaction Between Role Structures and Self-Conceptions in Fostering Different Types of Self-Esteem in Innovative and Traditional Elementary Schools*

A two-dimensional model of inner and outer self-esteem is discussed wherein inner self-esteem is hypothesized to be an outcome of self-evaluations of performance in prominent role identities. Outer self-esteem is hypothesized to be related to self-evaluations of both prominent and nonprominent role identities. The research context is a comparison of the different processes facilitating self-esteem in innovative schools (emphasis on student-initiated activities and control) and traditional (emphasis on pre-determined curriculum and teacher-administrator control). Data across school type demonstrate a modest correlation between positive self-evaluations of performance in prominent role identities and both types of self-esteem. The data suggest that high evaluation of performance in nonprominent role identities is related to outer self-esteem but not to inner self-esteem. Further empirical clarification of the concepts was established by viewing the relationships within school type. In the innovative schools both types of self-esteem were predominantly related to positive evaluations of prominent role identities, whereas in the traditional schools both types of self-esteem were related to both performance in prominent and nonprominent role identities. Thus the theoretical distinction gained partial support while the process of gaining self-esteem was shown to be essentially different between alternate school structures. Controls for social desirability, race, sex, and father's occupation did not change these findings.     

Substance use and social identity in the lesbian community

Although the study results report discrepancies in the rates of substance abuse in the lesbian community, the general consensus in the field of gay and lesbian studies is that these individuals, as a whole, have a higher rate of substance use. For this study, data were collected via the Internet on the use of drugs and alcohol, level of self-esteem, and degree of social identity in the lesbian community. A correlation analysis was used to determine if negative social identity within the lesbian community leads to low self-esteem that is reflected in higher rates of substance abuse. Though a positive relationship between social identity and self-esteem was determined, no significant correlation between negative social identity, low self-esteem, and substance use was determined. However, it is important to consider that respondents with higher levels of self-esteem reported more frequent use of specific drugs. That outcome in itself is an implication for further investigation.     

A Comparison of the Self-Esteem between Boys Living with Single-Parent Mothers and Single-Parent Fathers

This study investigated the self-esteem of boys between the ages of 9 and 14 as related to the sex and adjustment of the custodial parent, the frequency of visitation of the noncustodial parent, the length of time the child lived in a single-parent home, and the quality of the relationship between the parents. Results revealed no significant difference in self-esteem between boys living with single-parent mothers and boys living with single-parent fathers. No significant correlations were found between self-esteem of boys, the length of time they lived in a single-parent home, and the quality of the parental relationship. The self-esteem of those boys who saw their absent-from-the-home parent once a month or more was significantly higher than the self-esteem of those boys who saw their absent-from-the-home parent less than once a month.     

Understanding Leadership Development in African American Youth

Abstract

This exploratory study assesses factors related to leadership development for African American adolescents participating in a community service program designed to develop young African American leaders (N = 345). Psychometric characteristics of self-reported levels of leadership are explored to determine similarities and differences between gender groups. A multivariate analysis of socioeconomic factors, levels of self-esteem, school grades, and social activities as predictors of leadership development produced mixed findings. The results suggest that higher levels of global and academic self-esteem are related to leadership characteristics in female respondents, but not males. On the other hand, the impact of program participation on leadership was only significant in the area of personal relationship skills as a form of leadership for males. Findings from this investigation point out the need for research on leadership development dynamics among African American children and adolescents.     

Gender and poverty: Self-esteem among elementary school children

Studies of children's perceptions have shown that self-esteem is an important factor in their social and school performance and that over time low self-esteem is at the root of much problematic behavior among adolescents. This study focuses on children in poverty, adding a home domain dimension absent in most self-esteem scales and examining gender differences. The study findings show that a process of discounting exists between home and school domains and self-worth gender comparisons show a significant deficit for girls. These results contradict previous research that place the onset of deterioration of girls' self-esteem at an older age. The praxis implications of this exploratory research on the intersection of poverty, age and gender are discussed.     

Self-esteem,financial knowledge and financial behavior

Financial knowledge is an important but insufficient driver of responsible financial behavior. Having a positive evaluation of oneself may also be essential for individuals to initiate and persist with the daunting process of financial management. In this study, we distinguish subjective financial knowledge from objective financial knowledge, and we propose that self-esteem relates to financial behavior both directly as well as indirectly through subjective financial knowledge. Results based on a nationally representative dataset of U.S. adults suggest that self-esteem significantly relates to individual financial behavior after controlling for financial knowledge and other socioeconomic factors. The association between self-esteem and financial behavior could be both direct and indirect through subjective financial knowledge. These findings highlight the importance of psychological traits such as self-esteem in explaining financial behavior difference. Its implications are discussed.     

Perceived Racial Discrimination and Self-Esteem in African American Youth: Racial Socialization as a Protective Factor

Racial socialization was examined as a protective factor that might buffer African American youth from the negative effects of perceived racial discrimination. Two types of racial socialization were examined: messages about race pride and preparation for bias. One hundred twenty-eight eighth-grade African American students participated in the study. As anticipated, both types of socialization moderated the relationship between discrimination and self-esteem. The negative relationship between perceived discrimination and self-esteem was mitigated for youth who reported more messages about race pride and a moderate amount of preparation for bias from their parents. In contrast, low race pride socialization and both high and low preparation for bias were associated with a negative relationship between perceived discrimination and self-esteem.     

Chronic avoidance helps explain the relationship between severity of childhood sexual abuse and psychological distress in adulthood

Recent studies have found that chronic avoidance of unpleasant internal experiences (e.g., thoughts, emotions, memories) is a maladaptive means of affect regulation often adopted by women with a history of sexual victimization in childhood. The primary aim of this study was to replicate and extend previous findings suggesting that higher levels of experiential avoidance may account for the relationship between childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and psychological distress in adulthood. It was hypothesized that, in a sample of undergraduate females (n = 151), the relationship between severity of CSA (e.g., frequency, nature of victimization) and trauma-related psychological distress would be mediated by avoidance. Results supported this hypothesis. Findings are consistent with previous studies, and further suggest that the general tendency to avoid or escape from unpleasant internal experiences may be a specific factor that exacerbates psychological distress among women with a history of sexual victimization in childhood.     

Internalized homophobia and depression in lesbian women: The protective role of pride

This study sought to examine the association between internalized homophobia and depressive symptoms in lesbian women, and establish whether such a relationship was mediated by collective self-esteem, self-esteem, and self-disclosure. Participants were 225 self-identified lesbian women in the community. Structural equation modeling was used to demonstrate that an underlying construct, labeled pride, reflected participants’ levels of self-esteem, collective self-esteem, and self-disclosure. Internalized homophobia was moderately and negatively predictive of pride, and pride was strongly and negatively predictive of depression. Results highlight the potentially protective role of pride in the prevention of depression among lesbian women.     

Substance Use, Self-Esteem, and Self-Efficacy Among Homeless and Runaway Youth in New Orleans

Each year, nearly 1.7 million children and adolescents in the US run away or are forced out by their caregivers. Although several studies have examined numerous risk and protective factors among homeless and runaway youth (HRY), little is known about this population’s self-efficacy. This cross-sectional study investigates substance use, self-esteem, and self-efficacy in 51 HRY in New Orleans. Results include high rates of substance use disorders, lower self-esteem and self-efficacy compared with that of non-HRY in previous studies, and no significant correlation between substance use and self-esteem or self-efficacy. The authors interpret these findings and discuss their implications for practice and future research.     

When being overpaid makes me feel good about myself: It depends on how the other feels

The present research examined whether the emotions of others (i.e., disappointment versus happiness with respect to a received outcome) influence own self-esteem when being overpaid. Results from two experiments demonstrated that participants reported higher performance self-esteem when the other expressed happiness rather than disappointment. This effect was only found in the condition where one was overpaid relative to the condition where one did not yet know one’s own outcome. In the second experimental study we further found that this interaction between the emotion of the other and the distribution situation only emerged among participants low (relative to high) in personal need for structure. Implications with respect to the relationship between overpayment and self-esteem and the interpersonal effects of emotions in this process are discussed.