Hi Ana: Thinking about this issue is going to drive me nuts and keep me
out of my work, but here I go again. You define self -esteem as: 

"In psychological research, self-esteem is typically defined in terms of
how we evaluate ourselves and our characteristics, the personal judgment
of worthiness that is expressed in the attitudes the individual holds
toward himself," in the words of Coopersmith, a pioneering researcher in
the field. It is a fuzzy construct but a certain consensus has
developed. Many seem to agree that self esteem can be differentiated
into global and specific self esteem. Global represents a general
attitude towards oneself, and can be considered a trait self-esteem,
whereas specific self-esteems concern particular areas of people's
lives. "

What I wonder is if this feeling of self-worth is caused by genetics, or
is it caused by certain experiences. It is possible that self esteem is
inherited. If so, then, self esteem reporting, would be similar
regardless of group. However, if the environment has something to do
with self esteem, the question to me would be what factors influence
self-worth. 

If genetics are a predictor of self esteem, and we can identify the gene
that determines self esteem, then there is no reason to work on the self
esteem of the students. It is possible that self esteem can be
associated with dopamine, serotonin activity in the brain and that there
is a gene that influences the presence or absence of these substances.
If such is the case, then, we may be able to prescribe prozac to those
with low self-esteem and, most likely, there is probably something to
this

I assume that most of us believe that there are causes in the
environment that can influence self-worth. For example, there was an in
your face Sprite commercial that used to say "Image is Everything". I
assume that the makers of the commercial believe that people's self
worth has to do with their image and that people would do anything to
improve their image which would lead to an improve self-worth. I am not
sure if this is true or not, but a whole field of advertising has been
developed on this premise. The purpose of advertising is to make people
feel bad about themselves and to feel that they will feel better by
acquiring a given product. In fact, the poor seem to be the biggest
target of predatory type of advertising that banks on their low self
worth. 


>From this I get that while there is not that much direct evidence that

the self worth of the poor is worse than the self worth of the
wealthier, there is indirect evidence. The indirect evidence is the
extent and success of the predatory advertising to make the poor
consumers of things that they do not need, but are marketed as means to
improve their self worth. 

So, if we assume that the environment has something to do with
self-esteem, then I would try to identify the elements in the
environment that influence self esteem. I would hypothesize that self
esteem will increase with the accomplishment of something that I want to
achieve. So, if I achieve something, then I will feel that I fulfill my
goals or I became self actualized, as Maslow articulates. 

I think that the problem rests in the things that will make us feel self
actualized and the difference between what different groups can do to
become self actualized. Ideally, we would have control in the things
that we chose to do. Unfortunately, institutions in the community and
the media shape those choices. In a capitalist community where success
is measured in terms of wealth, the need to show socioeconomic success
has to be important. So, those who determine that they want to succeed
economically will become fulfilled by economic success. Hence, they will
become self-actualized and their perception of themselves, their self
worth will improve. 

At the same time, there are limitations to the things that we can do
that are mediated by economics. If, for example, my kid has a cold, I
may need to take her to the doctor or buy medication. My ability to do
this may very well depend on my economic status. Providing for my child
becomes a way to become self actualized, but the possibility of me
becoming self actualized is tied to my financial situation. The same has
to do with going to school, sending children to school, finding
employment, practicing my art, etc. In our society the means to become
self actualized, even if they are our choices, may be tied to economic
forces. 

Because I don't believe that economic success is an important marker of
self worth, I want to challenge this with my students. But, to do this,
we need to find other makers of success and help them explore these.
These may lead to self actualization and improved self worth. Being a
good mother, helping a friend, writing a story, etc, can be means of
self actualization. However, these models compete with the powerful
advertising and marketing models that plague the lives of most of our
students. But I don't believe that my students' self esteem has been
lowered by society's established markers of self worth and society's
established vehicles for self actualization, then I have no reason to
create alternative models. I think that we all do, and we work on this
which leads to our students becoming self actualized. However, we are
always competing with Walmart. 

There are other issues tied to consciousness of history that Freire
explores that are tied to oppressor/oppressed status, hegemony, etc. I
will not get into them right now. However, I still believe that
self-esteem is something very complex that cannot be looked at as some
isolated independent variable that can be reported. 

Andres 

 

  

 

 

 

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/focusonbasics/attachments/20060926/4e7cb85b/attachment.html