Issues of Self in Social Psychology.html

Issues of Self in Social Psychology

“Self-esteem is a person’s overall self-evaluation or sense of self-worth” (Myers, 2008). 

What is self-worth? Is there a way to objectively state you are worth a specific amount? How do you define your worth in terms of U.S. cultural norms? You may define your worth by the money you make or by the things you own. Why would you want a cell phone that can play movies and a 54-inch flat-screen high-definition television to get the movie theater feel? There is some relevance to the old adage "Keeping up with the Jones's," partly because you are defined by the extrinsic values of what you can see, feel, and touch.

See linked document for an example of people’s perceptions of self-worth

Most people relate self-esteem with what they see, feel, or touch. However, self-esteem is not really what can be measured in such a concrete manner. Self-esteem forms a basis of who you are. Although self-esteem can fluctuate, it remains somewhat apart from life stressors. It is only when you are at the either extreme of self-esteem that you may have a dysfunctional reaction to events. For instance, in the movie Fun with Dick and Jane, Dick realized he was losing the material things he enjoyed so much. In such a situation, he should have been in a bleak mood, almost depressed. However, this was not the case. Dick's self-esteem was high to the extent he could adapt (albeit illegally and inappropriately) to his life stressors.

Self-esteem is one part of many factors that determine how an individual will react to a given situation. However, self-esteem may be too abstract a term to be measured or at least defined in objective terms. A better way to examine self-worth is to examine your perceptions of your competency in accomplishing a task. 

See linked documents for information on Self-Efficacy and Locus of Control.

Eden Alternative (2008). Mission, vision, values. Retrieved from http://www.edenalt.org/mission-vision-valuesMyers, D. (2008). Social psychology (9th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill.

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