Extending Self-Esteem Theory and Research: Sociological and Psychological Currents

by Edited by Timothy J. Owens , Sheldon Stryker , Norman Goodman

• ISBN13: 9780521028424
• ISBN10: 0521028426
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-11-02
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Self-esteem is an academic and popular phenomenon, vigorously researched and debated, sometimes imbued with magical qualities, other times vilified as the bane of the West's preoccupation with self. Though thousands of articles have been devoted to the topic, and bookshops work to feed the public's appetite for advice on revealing, enhancing and maintaining self-esteem, conflicting claims and findings have placed the field in disarray. In a very real sense, self-esteem is a victim of its own popularity. This book seeks to add clarity to a concept earlier examined by such notable self theorists as Morris Rosenberg but eminently worthy of re-examination and extension. We do this by asking some leading thinkers on self-esteem theory, measurement and application to assess what we know about self-esteem, and link it to important aspects of society and the human experience.

Table of Contents

List of Contributors	ix
SECTION ONE. THE FRAME
1 The Future of Self-Esteem: An Introduction	1	(9)
Timothy J. Owens and Sheldon Stryker
2 The Self as Social Product and Social Force: Morris Rosenberg and the Elaboration of a Deceptively Simple Effect	10	(19)
Gregory C. Elliott
SECTION TWO. CONCEPTUAL AND METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES
3 Theorizing the Relationship Between Self-Esteem and Identity	29	(27)
Laurie H. Ervin and Sheldon Stryker
4 Measuring Self-Esteem: Race, Ethnicity, and Gender Considered	56	(29)
Timothy J. Owens and Adam B. King
5 The Self as a Social Force	85	(16)
Viktor Gecas
6 Self-Certainty and Self-Esteem	101	(34)
Ron Wright
SECTION THREE. SOCIAL AND LIFE COURSE CONTEXTS OF SELF-ESTEEM
7 Self-Esteem of Children and Adolescents	135	(22)
David H. Demo
8 Failure of the Dream: Notes for a Research Program on Self-Esteem and Failed Identity in Adulthood	157	(20)
Norman Goodman
9 Self-Esteem and Work Across the Life Course	177	(21)
Carmi Schooler and Gary Oates
10 Comfort with the Self	198	(25)
Roberta G. Simmons
SECTION FOUR. SELF-ESTEEM AND SOCIAL INEQUALITIES
11 Self-Esteem and Race	223	(32)
Pamela Bra boy Jackson and Sonia P. Lassiter
12 Gender and Self-Esteem: Narrative and Efficacy in the Negotiation of Structural Factors	255	(30)
Anne Statham and Katherine Rhoades
13 Bereavement and the Loss of Mattering	285	(16)
Leonard I. Pearlin and Allen J. LeBlanc
14 Self-Esteem and Social Inequality	301	(29)
L. Edward Wells
15 Self-Evaluation and Stratification Beliefs	330	(21)
Matthew O. Hunt
SECTION FIVE. SELF-ESTEEM AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS
16 The Science and Politics of Self-Esteem: Schools Caught in the Middle	351	(24)
Martin V. Covington
17 Self-Esteem and Deviant Behavior: A Critical Review and Theoretical Integration	375	(25)
Howard B. Kaplan
18 Low Self-Esteem People: A Collective Portrait	400	(37)
Morris Rosenberg and Timothy J. Owens
Index	437