Question 11

How Central is Self-Esteem to Psychological Functioning and Well-Being?
If Central, why and through what Processes?
If not Central, how can We Explain the Current Preoccupation with it in US Society?

The essays in this section address the degree of self-esteem’s centrality to psychological functioning and well-being. The contributors to this question present a wide range of views that reflect the complexities of the issues involved. The first two essays focus on self-esteem as an individual difference variable and the third focuses on self-esteem processes per se.

Solomon argues in his essay that self-esteem is an essential component of psychological functioning because it allows humans to function without crippling anxiety. Solomon presents the terror management theory (TMT) perspective that self-esteem reflects the belief that one is a person of value in a world of meaning. “All human beings thus require self-esteem, although the manner in which they obtain and maintain it varies a great deal depending upon the standards of value espoused in specific social roles by specific cultures, which often differ quite dramatically.” Solomon offers several reasons for Americans’ current preoccupation with self-esteem, one of which he believes is their increasing difficulty acquiring and maintaining self-esteem.

In her essay, Koch reviews data that link high self-esteem to positive outcomes such as happiness and life satisfaction and low self-esteem to negative outcomes such as suicide and criminal behavior. She then turns to a recent literature review that calls into question the importance of self-esteem to psychological functioning. Koch suggests that “Despite the lack of evidence suggesting that self-esteem plays a central role in functioning and well-being, a popular obsession with self-esteem remains.” She offers several explanations for this obsession, which she concludes is a largely western phenomenon.

In their essay, Tesser and Martin present a process view of self-esteem and argue that the pursuit of self-relevant goals is central to psychological functioning. They suggest that these goals typically involve personal values or self-characteristics, instigate changes in feelings of self-worth, involve certain emotions, and are mutually substitutable. Tesser and Martin argue that failure to obtain self-relevant goals, especially when substitution is not available, will undermine well-being and heighten negative states such as depression and rumination. They present evidence to bolster these assertions.