What is it about?
The fields of self-esteem, cross-cultural psychology, and humanistic psychology intersect in a way that affects issues within and between all of them. An important one concerns the question of whether self-esteem is a universal human phenomenon that transcends culture in a meaningful way, or if self-esteem is a relative phenomenon largely limited to individualistic rather than collectivistic cultures. Since self-esteem is a core concept in humanistic psychology as seen in Rogers’ and Maslow’s work on self-actualization, this issue is relevant to humanistic psychology in terms of its ability to reach across cultures. The article begins by presenting the two major positions cross-cultural work tends to take about the relationship between self-esteem and culture. Then the focus turns to the relevance of that work for humanistic psychology by first briefly exploring the strengths and weaknesses of each of the three major definitions of self-esteem found in that field. Next, one of them, namely the two-factor definition, is presented as being most able to cross cultural lines. Finally, because this view of self-esteem has roots in early humanistic psychology, the two-factor approach to understanding self-esteem may help humanistic psychology be more relevant to collective cultures.
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Why is it important?
There are over 30,000 articles, chapters, and books on self-esteem and it is said to be the third most commonly written about theme in social psychology after negative affect and gender. Self-esteem is also a central feature of humanistic psychology, almost an axiom concerning human development, actualization, and well-being. Yet the concept of self-esteem is heavily criticized in some sectors of psychology today, including cross-cultural psychology. Understanding that there are three ways of defining self-esteem and how they contribute to these problems is an important step in addressing the question of whether or not self-esteem is important and, if so, how to understand the context of culture.
Perspectives
Writing this article was a pleasure because, in addition to addressing an important issues in the area of humanistic and cross-cultural psychology, the project involved working with a coauthor who is a member of an American Indian tribe. His native culture has no word for self-esteem and yet it is his position that his people still recognize the differences between those with healthy and unhealthy self-esteem, when it is defined as a relationship between competence and worthiness rather than just feeling good about oneself. In addition to helping to affirm this two-factor theory of self-esteem, as it is known in the field, it supports the position that self-esteem is more than just a cultural construct.
Chris Mruk
Bowling Green State University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Is self-esteem absolute, relative, or functional? Implications for cross-cultural and humanistic psychology., The Humanistic Psychologist, December 2017, American Psychological Association (APA),
DOI: 10.1037/hum0000075.
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