Psychology 3260: Personality & Social Development Don Hartmann Spring 2007 Lecture 17b: Social Cognition: Self Esteem

Overview of Social Cognition Lecture—Self-Esteem Overlap with text: Pp. 174-181 Lecture: Introduction Harter’s assessment Developmental changes in self-esteem Correlates of self-esteem Improving self-esteem Next: Lecture #17c: Social Cognition--Identity

Supplementary References Cicchetti, D., & Beeghly, M. (Eds.). The self in transition: Infancy to childhood. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Harter, S. (1999). The construction of the self: A developmental perspective. New York: Guilford.

Additional Self-Related Acquisitions (2) Self‑esteem‑‑affectively tinged self evaluations (Susan Harter, 1999) Harter’s method assessment

How Harter Measures Self-Esteem Scholastic Really true Sort of true Really true Sort of true for me for me for me for me Some kids have BUT Other kids almost trouble figuring out always can figure the answers at out the answers Social Acc. Really true Sort of true Really true Sort of true Some kids find BUT Other kids find it hard to make it easy to make friends friends

Self-Esteem (Harter, 1999) Very young elementary school children have inflated sense of self-worth; perhaps reflects desires rather than genuine self-appraisals Older elementary school children have increasingly differentiated, accurate, and relatively stable sense of self in peer, academic, behavioral, athletic, and physically‑ related senses of self—all of which contribute to an overall sense of self worth

More on Self-Esteem Young adults have still more differentiated sense of self—the social arena is split into subdomains as is the academic Consistency: dips at around teen years--more so for girls—and declines in old age. Temporal stability increases with age.

Other Aspects of Global Self-Esteem The highest correlate of global self-esteem is physical attractiveness (r≈.65) Children who are raised by sensitive, nurturing parents have higher self esteem than those raised by other kinds of parents In reflecting on the determinants of their self esteem, young adults frequently mention experiences with friends and romantic partners.

Enhancing Self-Esteem encouragement to value areas of existing competence identifying areas of importance to the self acquisition of skills in areas deemed important—including coping skills emotional support and social approval from others

Summary of Social Cognition Lecture Introduction Harter’s assessment Developmental changes in self-esteem Correlates of self-esteem Improving self-esteem Next: Lecture #17c: Social Cognition--Identity Go in Peace