Self-Esteem: Does It Come From Success, Or Is It The Other Way Around? Sour ce: B a u m e i s t e r, R . F. , C a m p b e l l , J. D. , K r u e g e r, J. I . , & Vo h s, K . D. ( 2 0 0 3 ) . Does high self-esteem cause better performance, interpersonal success, happiness, or heal their lifestyles? Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 4, 1-44.
Goals: Te a c h s t u d e n t s t o define and develop c o u n t e r- e x a m p l e s. Explain the meaning o f s o u r c e b i a s. Te a c h t h e d i f f e r e n c e between opinions and evidence.
Basic Idea: Self-esteem is an often discussed but not wellunderstood p h e n o m e n o n . Pe o p l e typically agree that it is something we should do our best to generate. But what does self-esteem do for us? This lesson investigates whether self-esteem leads to h a p p i n e s s o r s u c c e s s.
C I RC
Gain Attention/Interest:
E v e r y o n e t a l k s a b o u t s e l f - e s t e e m . We h e a r a l o t a b o u t m a k i n g s u r e y o u d o n’t l o w e r s o m e o n e ’s s e l f esteem, or about doing things that will raise a p e r s o n’s s e l f - e s t e e m .
T h i n k & Wr i t e # 1 W hat exactl y is self-esteem and what does it do for us? Have students write their thoughts on self-esteem. I f t h e y s t r u g g l e w i t h w r i t i n g g e n e r a l i d e a s, y o u m a y want to sug gest they write about what self-esteem m e a n s t o t h e m p e r s o n a l l y o r t o s o m e o n e t h e y k n o w. H o w c a n w e d e f i n e s e l f - e s t e e m ? ( S o l i c i t s u g g e s t i o n s. Wo r k t o w a r d s o m e t h i n g a l o n g t h e l i n e s o f : a p o s i t i v e personal evaluation of the self.) Can anyone give examples of any celebrities who m i g h t h a v e h i g h s e l f - e s t e e m ? ( S o l i c i t r e s p o n s e s. ) What do you think makes these people have high self-esteem? E x a m p l e : M a n y p e o p l e wo u l d s a y T i g e r Wo o d s h a s high self-esteem. Why do you think that is? (Solicit r e s p o n s e s. L o o k f o r e x a m p l e s, s u c h a s : h i m b e i n g s u c c e s s f u l , h a s a l o t o f f a n s, i s g o o d a t w h a t h e d o e s, etc.)
www.circ.cornell.edu
C o p y r i g h t © 2 0 0 5 M a t t h e w C . M a k e l & We n d y M . W i l l i a m s . P r i n c i p a l I n v e s t i g a t o r : We n d y M . W i l l i a m s . C o n t e n t : M a t t h e w C . M a k e l & We n d y M . W i l l i a m s . L a y o u t & D e s i g n : P a u l B. P a p i e r n o.
An interesting question scientists study is whether high self-esteem is the result of doing well at things and being successful, or if it is the other way a r o u n d . T h a t i s, d o e s b e i n g s u c c e s s f u l l e a d t o h i g h s e l f - e s t e e m , o r d o e s having high self-esteem and feeling good about oneself lead to success? Does just having high self-esteem lead a person to perfor m better? E x a m p l e : D o e s T i g e r Wo o d s ’s g r e a t s k i l l a t g o l f c a u s e h i m t o h a v e h i g h self-esteem or does his high self-esteem make him g ood at g olf ? I f h a v i n g h i g h s e l f - e s t e e m c a u s e s p e o p l e t o p e r f o r m b e t t e r, w h a t c o u l d t h i s m e a n f o r t h e r e s t o f u s ? ( S o l i c i t i d e a s. L o o k f o r : I f h i g h s e l f - e s t e e m l e a d s t o s u c c e s s, t h e n t h i s wo u l d i m p l y t h a t p e o p l e w h o a r e n’t s u c c e s s f u l m u s t not have high enough self-esteem. Or, that if we want to be successful, we should try to raise our self-esteem). This is a tough question. If we want to find answers we can apply to other p e o p l e , n o t j u s t T i g e r Wo o d s, w e h a v e t o d o s o m e t h i n g m o r e t h a n j u s t a s k h i m o r h i s p a r e n t s w h i c h c a m e f i r s t . We h a v e t o s t u d y s e l f - e s t e e m s c i e n t i f i c a l l y.
Ask: What is Science?
Science is more than what you do in biolog y or c h e m i s t r y c l a s s. S c i e n c e l o o k s a t a q u e s t i o n f r o m m a n y different view points and tries to find out which view point best describes a specific situation. A nonscientist might just look for the first “good” answer that comes a l o n g. B u t i t ’s i m p o r t a n t t o k n o w t h a t t h e f i r s t explanation or even the most popular explanation is not always the correct one. Example: Virtually ever yone, even the smartest people, t h o u g h t t h e wo r l d w a s f l a t f o r h u n d r e d s o f y e a r s.
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Ask: What is Science?
Next, after generating a hypothesis (deciding which answer they are going t o t e s t ) , s c i e n t i s t s d e c i d e o n a w a y t o a s s e s s, o r f i g u r e o u t , i f t h e i r g u e s s i s r i g h t . To a c c o m p l i s h t h i s, s c i e n t i s t s u s e t h e PROOF BY DISPROOF method of proof by disproof. In this method, This process of proof by s c i e n t i s t s t r y t o d i s p r o ve t h e i r h y p o t h e s i s. A t disproof is not as easy as it first this may not make much sense: Why would may sound. Scientists want to be sure what they find is p e o p l e m a k e a g u e s s a t a r i g h t a n s w e r, t h e n t r y t o going to work in many cases, p r o v e t h a t i t i s w r o n g ? S i m p l e. I f t h e y t r y a s n o t j u s t a f e w. T h i s i s w h y hard as they can to disprove something and fail, they challenge themselves with proof by disproof. then they have a lot of support that their answer is correct.
Example: Proof by Disproof S i m p l y a s k i n g T i g e r Wo o d s w h e t h e r h e f i r s t w a s g o o d a t g o l f , o r w h e t h e r h e f i r s t h a d h i g h s e l f - e s t e e m , a n d s t o p p i n g t h e r e , wo u l d n’t work for a scientist, because things might be different for other p e o p l e . T h e w ay T i g e r Wo o d s wo r k s a n d t h e w ay o t h e r p e o p l e w o r k might not be the same.
Define the Problem: See Many Sides B e f o r e w e t r y t o a n s w e r o u r q u e s t i o n , l e t ’s m a k e s u r e w e a r e a l l t h i n k i n g a b o u t t h e s a m e t h i n g. M a k i n g s u r e ever yone knows exactly what we are talking about is e s s e n t i a l t o s c i e n c e . I f w e a r e n’t c l e a r o n o u r definitions from the beginning, different people could b e t h i n k i n g a b o u t d i f f e r e n t t h i n g s. Fo r e x a m p l e , t h i n k o f t h e wo r d “ h o t .” O n e o f y o u c o u l d b e t h i n k i n g about a hot day of 90 degrees while another could be t h i n k i n g a b o u t a h o t o v e n o f 4 0 0 d e g r e e s. S t i l l a n o t h e r person could be thinking about a hot fire that is over 1 0 0 0 d e g r e e s ! H o w e v e r, i f w e c l e a r l y d e f i n e o u r t e r m s from the beginning, this problem can be avoided. In addition to defining all ter ms being used, scientists also have to clearly state the purpose of their research. There are many different aspects of the problem, but w e c a n f o c u s o n l y o n o n e a t a t i m e . To d a y w e w i l l discuss the relationship between self-esteem and s u c c e s s.
2 Define the Problem:
T h i n k & Wr i t e # 2 Have students for m a hypothesis about the r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n s e l f - e s t e e m a n d s u c c e s s. Does one lead to the other? Are they related at all? What support do students have for their hypothesis?
See Many Sides.
Below are some possible ways to think about self-esteem: D o e s s u c c e s s ( e . g. , d o i n g w e l l i n s c h o o l ) c a u s e a p e r s o n t o d e v e l o p h i g h self-esteem? D o e s h a v i n g h i g h s e l f - e s t e e m c a u s e p e o p l e t o b e s u c c e s s f u l ( e . g. , d o b e t t e r in school)? S h o u l d w e e v e n b e wo r r y i n g a b o u t s e l f - e s t e e m ? D o e s i t r e a l l y e x i s t , o r d i d s o m e p e o p l e j u s t m a k e i t u p ? I f t i m e p e r m i t s, o r i f y o u t h i n k i t w o u l d r e l e v a n t / i n t e r e s t i n g t o y o u r c l a s s, d i s c u s s t h e A s i a n / c o l l e c t i v i s t c u l t u r e focus on the group versus the individual. If the group is considered more i m p o r t a n t t h a n t h e i n d i v i d u a l i s, t h e n s e l f - e s t e e m i s n o t e m p h a s i z e d . Can you think of any counter-examples for the above statements? A counter-example is something that offers evidence showing that a p a r t i c u l a r s t a t e m e n t i s n o t a l w ay s t r u e ( e . g. , t h e 2 0 0 4 Wo r l d S e r i e s i s a counter-example to the statement that the Boston Red Sox never win the Wo r l d S e r i e s ) . D i f f e r e n t g r o u p s o f p e o p l e s e e s e l f - e s t e e m i n d i f f e r e n t w a y s. M a l e s a n d f e m a l e s . T h i n k o f y o u r f r i e n d s. D o y o u r m a l e f r i e n d s a n d female friends think about self-esteem in the same way? Do they base it on t h e s a m e t h i n g s ( e . g. , d o e s h a v i n g t h e r i g h t c l o t h e s, t h e r i g h t f r i e n d s, o r being good at sports influence the self-esteem of males and females in the same way)? Pa r e n t s . Pa r e n t s c o u l d s e e s e l f - e s t e e m a s a w a y t h e i r k i d s c a n g e t i n t o college. If their children have high self-esteem, they’ll do well in school and in life. Yo u t h . Yo u t h m a y s e e t h e i r s e l f - e s t e e m i n d i f f e r e n t w ay s d e p e n d i n g o n how well they do in school, or on whether or not they are teased or bullied. Psychologists. Psychologists might view self-esteem as a fragile, everc h a n g i n g t h i n g. P s y c h o l o g i s t s c o n d u c t r e s e a r c h t o s t u d y s e l f - e s t e e m . Psychologists attend four-year colleges and graduate school. M o t i va t i o n a l S p e a k e r. M o t i v a t i o n a l s p e a k e r s t r y t o r a i s e t h e s e l f - e s t e e m o f a u d i e n c e m e m b e r s. T h o u g h t h e y h a v e n o m a n d a t o r y f o r m a l t r a i n i n g , motivational speakers must be fluent public speakers and it can take years of practice to become successful.
Distinguish Fact From Opinion: Learn What Constitutes Scientific Evidence A s w e d i s c u s s e d e a r l i e r, t h e k i n d o f i n f o r m a t i o n u s e d a s e v i d e n c e i s v e r y i m p o r t a n t . A d d i t i o n a l l y, t h e s o u r c e o f t h e i n f o r m a t i o n i s v e r y i m p o r t a n t .
3 Fact Versus Opinion: What Constitutes Evidence?
Example: Source Bias Say you see a TV commercial for a new Chinese restaurant. It tells you the food is great and that ever yone who tries it loves it. Then you ask some of your friends who love Chinese food i f t h e y w a n t t o g o, b u t t h e y s a y t h e y t r i e d t h e place, it ser ves ter rible BIAS f o o d , a n d y o u s h o u l d n’t g o I f t h e m e m b e r s o f a g r o u p there. Whom should you want a particular outcome, they have a bias toward that believe? The restaurant outcome—their has a bias toward interpretation of data is promoting itself; it would slanted to favor that never say its food was bad. conclusion. Scientists want to a v o i d b i a s e s. T h e y w a n t t o figure out what is actually h a p p e n i n g.
The commercial is an example of an opinion, and a biased one at that. An advertisement is not going to s a y t h e f o o d t h e r e i s b a d ; i t ’s g o i n g t o s a y t h i n g s t h a t w i l l s u p p o r t i t s p r o d u c t . I n s c i e n c e , w e w a n t f a c t s, n o t o p i n i o n s, a n d e s p e c i a l l y n o t b i a s e d o p i n i o n s. S o m e t i m e s f a c t s a r e d i f f i c u l t t o f i n d , a n d s o m e t i m e s t h e o n l y difference between fact and opinion is how a person g athers infor mation.
Example: Gathering facts versus opinions Approaching a group of people at the mall and asking them, “What do you think is the most popular sport?” is an example of soliciting an opinion. Collecting data on sporting events with the highest TV ratings and a t t e n d a n c e wo u l d b e a n e x a m p l e o f g a t h e r i n g f a c t s. Which do you think are examples of evidence? After asking ever y student on the honor roll (students who get g ood grades), “Do you have high self-esteem?” I claim that good grades lead to h i g h s e l f - e s t e e m , s i n c e m o s t o f t h e s t u d e n t s I p o l l e d r e p l i e d “ y e s.” Yo u c a n’t c l a i m t h a t g o o d g r a d e s l e a d t o h i g h s e l f - e s t e e m b a s e d o n t h i s example because it cannot be deter mined which came first, the high selfe s t e e m o f t h e s t u d e n t s o r t h e s t u d e n t s g e t t i n g g o o d g r a d e s.
To s e e i f s u c c e s s i n f l u e n c e s s e l f - e s t e e m , y o u m u s t , f o r e x a m p l e , m e a s u r e the self-esteem of soccer players after each soccer match. Then, you must c o m p a r e t h e i r s e l f - e s t e e m a f t e r a w i n t o t h e i r s e l f - e s t e e m a f t e r a l o s s. This is a more scientific method of gathering evidence. If you find a difference in self-esteem using this method, you know that the success (or non-success) came before the self-esteem.
Weigh Evidence and Make Decisions To f i n d o u t h o w t h i n g s wo r k , s c i e n t i s t s u s e s p e c i a l m e t h o d s o r t e c h n i q u e s when investigating a question and when weighing the evidence. In the case of our self-esteem question, scientists could have a group of participants (people who volunteer to work with the scientists) take a test t h a t m e a s u r e s s e l f - e s t e e m b y a s k i n g a s e r i e s o f q u e s t i o n s. T h e n , s c i e n t i s t s could split the participants into two groups: one group being the half with higher self-esteem, and the other group the half with lower self-esteem. A f t e r f o r m i n g t h e t wo g r o u p s, t h e s c i e n t i s t s c o u l d h a v e t h e m e a c h complete a series of challenging tasks to see which group works on the task the longest, and whether they eventually succeed at the task. What kind of challenging tasks could scientists give the two groups? ( S o l i c i t a n s w e r s. ) E x a m p l e s : p u z z l e s, w o r d g a m e s, m a t h p r o b l e m s, r i d d l e s. M a n y s c i e n t i s t s h a v e d o n e s u c h e x p e r i m e n t s o v e r t h e p a s t f e w d e c a d e s. Re c e n t l y, s o m e r e s e a r c h e r s w e n t t h r o u g h t h e s e e x p e r i m e n t s t o r e v i e w t h e f i n d i n g s. A f t e r l o o k i n g a t all the research, they concluded that self-esteem is developed over time and depends on how well a person d o e s o n a l o t o f t h i n g s. B e i n g g o o d a t o n e p a r t i c u l a r thing does not necessarily give someone high selfesteem. Self-esteem can make a person tr y harder, or be more persistent after she/he fails the first time, b u t i t d o e s n o t n e c e s s a r i l y c a u s e g o o d p e r f o r m a n c e. I n t e r e s t i n g l y, r e s e a r c h h a s a l s o s h o w n t h a t t h e o n e thing that is fairly strongly linked to high self-esteem i s h a p p i n e s s. Pe o p l e w i t h h i g h s e l f - e s t e e m r e p o r t being happier than those with low self-esteem. However, the most important finding was that selfesteem was not related to improved general p e r f o r m a n c e . I n o t h e r wo r d s, r a i s i n g s e l f - e s t e e m d i d N O T l e a d t o p e o p l e d o i n g b e t t e r a t t h i n g s. T h i s f i n d i n g i s t h e o p p o s i t e o f m a n y p e o p l e ’s l o n g - h e l d b e l i e f s.
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Weigh Evidence and Make Decisions.
A n o n - s c i e n t i s t c o u l d l o o k a t t h i s i n f o r m a t i o n a n d s t i l l b e l i e ve t h a t r a i s i n g s e l f - e s t e e m c a n m a k e p e o p l e p e r f o r m b e t t e r. W h a t wo u l d a s c i e n t i s t t h i n k ? ( S o l i c i t r e s p o n s e s. ) A s l o n g a s t h e y c a n’t f i n d a n y f l a w s w i t h t h e e v i d e n c e , s c i e n t i s t s f o l l o w t h e d a t a , e v e n i f t h e r e s u l t s a r e s u r p r i s i n g. T h e d a t a a r e f a c t s. W h a t t h e y e x p e c t e d ( e v e n i f t h e y a r e s c i e n t i s t s ) i s j u s t a n o p i n i o n .
T h i n k & Wr i t e # 3 How about now? Now that you’ve heard how scientists define and measure self-esteem, what do you think? Compare your thoughts now to your thoughts from Think & Wr i t e 1 .
Move From Science to Society Now that we have some scientific findings about self-esteem, w h a t d o w e d o ? S i m p l y k n o w i n g i s n’t e n o u g h ; w e n e e d t o d o s o m e t h i n g t o a p p l y i t t o o u r l i v e s. L e t ’s c o n s i d e r t h e m a n y prog rams offered by schools across the countr y that are designed to increase students’ self-esteem. What do you think about the programs now that you have learned the science behind self-esteem? Are they worth the money and the time spent? W hat infor mation would we want school boards to have the next time they are considering sponsoring a self-esteem training program at school?
Revisit, Review, Reflect, and Re-evaluate
6 Revisit, Review, Reflect, and Re-evaluate.
5 Move From Science To Society.
S c i e n c e i s a n o n g o i n g p r o c e s s. I f s c i e n t i s t s simply asked a question, answered it, t h e n m o ve d o n , w e w o u l d n’t h a v e t h e r e s e a r c h w e h a ve t o d a y a b o u t s e l f - e s t e e m . To a vo i d m i s t a k e n l y s t i c k i n g w i t h i n v a l i d a n s w e r s, s c i e n t i s t s c o n s t a n t l y r e v i s i t o l d q u e s t i o n s, r e v i e w p r e v i o u s s o l u t i o n s, a n d r e f l e c t o n h o w r e s e a r c h m i g h t b e improved. As recent research has shown with selfesteem, re-evaluating old infor mation can chang e the d i r e c t i o n o f r e s e a r c h a n d l e a d t o n e w c o n c l u s i o n s.
T h i n k & Wr i t e # 4 W ha t ' s n e x t ? Have students write their thoughts about the direction they think scientists (and other professionals) should take in the future. Should people focus on ways to improve self-esteem? What other questions about self-esteem need to be answered?
K e y Te r m s Discussion Questions 1. If one of your friends has low self-esteem, does that mean that he/she will always have low self-esteem? 2. Should parents/teachers do ever ything they possibly can to make sure ever yone has the highest self-esteem possible? 3 . To a c h i e v e t h i s, s h o u l d t h e y c o m p l i m e n t e ve r y o n e o n e ve r y t h i n g t h e y do? What would happen if they did? 4. Does self-esteem affect all people the same? Might it be the case that some groups of people are influenced by self-esteem differently from other groups?
H o m e wo r k Q u e s t i o n s 1. Self-esteem can often change over time. Ask a parent, or someone else who is older, about their self-esteem when they were your age. Be sure t o d e f i n e s e l f - e s t e e m f o r t h e m , s o y o u a r e t a l k i n g a b o u t t h e s a m e t h i n g. 2. Pretend you are a scientist and design your own experiment to test something related to self-esteem. 3 . B r i n g i n t h r e e e x a m p l e s o f c l a i m s i n w h i c h t h e s o u r c e h a s a b i a s. Explain why the sources are biased.
Cor nell Institute for Research on Children January 3, 2005
Quiz Questions Ve r s i o n A
1. Scientists think it is impor tant to define all ter ms and the problem they are working on. Ye s
No
Sometimes
2 . O p i n i o n s a r e i m p o r t a n t t o s c i e n t i s t s. Ye s
No
Sometimes
3. Scientists seek as much support for their hypotheses as possible. Only once they find enough support can they claim their hypotheses are correct. Ye s
No
Sometimes
Quiz Questions Ve r s i o n B
1 . T h i s l e s s o n d i s c u s s e s c o u n t e r - e x a m p l e s. W h a t i s a c o u n t e r - e x a m p l e ?
2. Give an example of a biased source.
3 . W h i c h i s m o r e i m p o r t a n t t o s c i e n t i s t s, a n o p i n i o n o r a f a c t ? W hy ?
Quiz Questions Ve r s i o n C
1. Why do scientists think it is important to define a specific question a n d a l l r e l e va n t t e r m s w h e n s t u d y i n g a p r o b l e m ?
2. Explain the method of proof by disproof. How does it work?
3. What is a biased source? Give an example.