Download SELF ESTEEM IN ADOLESENCE TURKESSA ROBINSON CHILD

SELF ESTEEM IN ADOLESENCE
TURKESSA ROBINSON
CHILD DEVELOPMENT
PHY. 2710 3/31/12
What Is Self- Esteem and Self-Concept?
Is adolescence a time of decreased self- esteem? Many teens, their teachers, their parents,
and others think so, and many adults recall adolescence as a time of increasingly heightened selfscrutiny and greatly fluctuating self-esteem. But the answer is not entirely clear, as self-esteem is a
subjective state, and therefore is hard to measure. Self-esteem continues to be one of the most
commonly researched concepts in social psychology. (Burke, Cast 2002) Self -Esteem is at its
lowest point during adolescence, presenting developmental theories, defining self-esteem and selfconcept may assist in understanding this process. We all have a mental picture of what we are, how
we look, what we are good at, and what our weaknesses might be. Here we use self-esteem to refer
to a person's global evaluation of the self. (Santrock 2009) For example a child might perceive that
he or she is not merely a person but a good person. We develop this picture over time starting when
adolescents are young children. The term self-concept is used to refer to the domains evaluations of
the self. (Santrock 2006) The term self-image is used to refer to a person's mental picture of his or
herself. A lot of our self-image, self-esteem, and self-concept are based on interactions that we
have with other people and our life experiences. This mental picture (our self-image) contributes to
our self-esteem. Adolescent teenagers, who are undergoing the process of growth between
childhood and maturity or adulthood, are usually between thirteen and nineteen years of age.
During this period of adolescence, biological, emotional, or psychosocial conflicts are
evident. Adolescents are learning to cope with the changes while concerned with self-image, selfesteem, social expectations and academic achievement. They are trying to find out (1) who they are,
separating from their families; (2) what they are all about their interest and personalities; and (3)
where are they going, in order to discover their place in adult life (Santrock 2001). Adolescents are
also confronted with career choices, romantic entanglements and responsibilities that are new
experiences in which they make decisions or adjustments to attain their own identity or success.
They have to make decisions or adjustments to attain their own identity or success. They have to
make choices, be successful in school and manage life to attain a healthy identity at the end of
adolescence.
Development of Self-Concept
Children frequently display a decline of self-concept during elementary school and the
transition to the middle level. This decrease represents an adaptive reaction to the overly positive
self-perceptions that are characteristic of childhood. Young children tend to overestimate their
competence because they lack the cognitive maturity to critically evaluate their abilities and to
integrate information from multiple sources. As children develop, they better understand how others
view their skills and better distinguish between their efforts and their abilities. As a result, their
self- perception becomes increasingly accurate. (Harter 2006). As students transition from the
middle level of childhood to high school their self-concept gradually grows. Increasing freedom
allows adolescent's greater opportunities to participate in activities which they are more competent,
and increased perspective- task taking abilities enable them to garner more support from others by
behaving in more socially acceptable ways. (Harter 2006)
Assessing Self- Esteem
Measuring self-esteem and self-concept hasn't always been easy (Santrock 2009). An
example of a useful measure developed to assess self-evaluations by children is Susan Harter's Self
Perception Profile for Children. It taps general worth plus self-concept for five specific domainsscholastic competence, athletic competence, social acceptance, physical appearance, and behavioral
conduct (Santrock 2009). The Self Perception Profile for Children is designed to be used with third
through sixth grade children. Harter also developed a scale separate form adolescents, The Self
Perception Profile for Adolescents. (Santrock 2009) It asses global self-worth with the five domains
tested for children plus three additional domains close friendship, romantic appeal and job
competence. Harter's measures can separate evaluations in different domains in one's life. Children
have both a general level of self-esteem and varying levels of self-conceptions in particular domains
in their lives. For example a child might have a moderate level of general self-esteem but have these
self-conceptions in specific areas for example high athletic competence, high social acceptance, high
physical appearance, high behavioral conduct, but low in scholastic competence (Harter 2006).
Self -esteem and self-perception have strong ties in one domain in particular: Physical
Appearance. For example researchers have found that adolescents and global self-esteem is
correlated more strongly with perceived physical appearance than with scholastic competence,
social acceptance, behavioral conduct, or athletic competence (Harter 2006). The association
between physical appearance and self-esteem is not confined only to adolescence; it holds across
the life span from early childhood through middle age.
What influences a Person's Self-Esteem?
Some teens struggle with their self-esteem when they begin puberty because the body goes
through many changes. These changes, combined with a natural desire to feel accepted means it can
be tempting for some people to compare themselves to others. Teens may compare themselves with
people around them or with actors and celebrities they see on television, or in magazines. It is
impossible to measure ourselves because the changes that come with puberty are different for
everyone. Some people start to develop early, other are late bloomers. Some adolescents get a
temporary layer of fat to prepare for a growth spurt, others fill our permanently, and others feel like
they stay skinny no matter how much they eat. Puberty all depends on how our genes have
programmed our bodies to act. Pubescent changes that come with puberty can affect how boys and
girls feel about themselves. Some adolescent girls feel uncomfortable or embarrassed about their
maturing bodies. Other adolescent girls might wish they were developing faster. Many girls may feel
pressured to be thin, and adolescent boys might feel like they don't look big or muscular enough.
Gender Differences in Self-Esteem
Studies in a wide range of western countries have determined that adolescent females, on
average, have a lower self-esteem than do adolescent males. For American's, adolescence brings a
dramatically increased emphasis on physical attractiveness for young women, many of whom feel
they are lacking. Boy's self-esteem can be affected by contradictory societal messages- on the one
hand to appear to be strong and on the other to be emotionally expressive.
Gender differences characterize adolescent’s perception of their bodies. In general girls are
less happy with bodies and have more negative body images than boys throughout puberty. As
pubertal changes proceeds, girls become more dissatisfied with their bodies because their body fat
increases. In contrast boy's become more satisfied with their bodies as they go through puberty
because their muscle mass increases. Studies have shown that adolescent boys evaluated their
appearance more positively and who said appearance was very important to them were more likely
to engage in risky sexual behavior, whereas adolescent females who evaluated their appearance
more positively were less likely to engage in risky sexual behavior. Recent studies have found that
12 to 17 year old female patients were more depressed, anxiety prone, and suicidal than same aged
female patients that were less concerned about their body image.
Unrealistic expectations can also affect a person's self-esteem. Adolescents have an image of
who they want to be (or who they think they should be). Everyone's image person is different. For
example, some adolescents admire athletic skills and other adolescents admire academic abilities.
Adolescents who see themselves as having the qualities they admire – such as the ability to make
friends easily usually have high self-esteem.
Ethnicity, Social Class, and Self-esteem
In general, middle-class and upper-class adolescents have higher self-esteem than less
affluent adolescents. This discrepancy increases into older adolescence. One common explanation is
simply the higher socio-economic status youth have greater resources. For example, higher socioeconomic status students generally attend higher quality schools, and/ or perform better in school.
Also, if higher socio-economic status youths have individual difficulties or special needs in their
schools, their parents more often have the resources to assist with those special needs. Resources
can both change individual's skills and alleviate difficulties that would otherwise reduce self-esteem.
Researchers have only recently begun to systematically study the relationship between
ethnicity and self-esteem (Santrock 2009). Much of this research has focused on African American
adolescents (Coskun 2009). Although initial studies suggested that African American children had
low self-esteem, current research suggest that self-esteem is comparable to if not greater than that
of ethnic majority peers (Coskun 2009). Caucasian girls, for example currently appear most
vulnerable to a drop in self-esteem in adolescence, as compared to any other group (Harter 2009).
Studies of African American girls indicate that they do not experience the same decline in body
image as their Caucasian female peers. In other words African American's do not experience a drop
in self -esteem in adolescence. (Santrock 2009).
Increasing Children's Self-Esteem
It is possible to raise children's self-esteem by (1) identifying the domains of competence
important to the child, (2) praising achievement, (3) providing support and social approval, and (4)
encouraging coping (Santrock 2009). Emotional support and social approval also powerfully influence
children's self-esteem (Santrock 2009). Some children with low self-esteem come from conflicted
families or experienced abuse or neglect. Peer approval and peer support continues to be an
important influence on self-esteem through adolescence. Achievement can also improve children's
self-esteem. School staff members can help parents and peers are more effective supporters by
providing suggestions and opportunities for appropriate and positive reinforcement, and they can
help students learn to be more aware of the support they receive.
Why Is Self-Esteem Important
Self-esteem is all about how much people value themselves, the pride we feel within
ourselves, and how worthy we feel. Self-esteem is important because feeling good about ourselves
effects our actions. Studies have shown that higher the self-esteem equals less risky behavior. It is
important that we encourage and praise our adolescents. Puberty can be very challenging therefore;
it is our job as parents and educators that we make the pubertal transition as easy as possible for
adolescents. How we feel about ourselves effects everyone and everything around us. Adolescents
who have high self-esteem tend to feel more likable and lovable. Adolescents also tend to have
better relationships with peers and parents. Adolescents who believe they can accomplish goals and
solve problems are more likely to do well in school and in adulthood.