Self-Esteem: a Social History of Truth-Making
Over the last one hundred years the concept of self - esteem has grown from a fragile idea used to ground the newly emerging discipline of psychology to a basic truth about human experience and motivation. Since it first entered the discourse of the human sciences in the late nineteenth century, self - esteem has become one of the more important and prolific concepts in psychological research, psychotherapy, and popular discussions of the self and self - help.
High levels of self - esteem are said to lead to a host of positive attributes, such as good academic performance, well - adjusted children, happy marriages and a healthy sex life.
In contrast, low levels of self - esteem have been linked to such widely varying issues and problems as teenage pregnancy, suicide, firestarting and homicide. For some people, low levels of self - esteem are not only a central cause of various psychological problems, but are also an important contributing factor to a multitude of social problems.
In fact, over the last forty years the discourse on self - esteem has become so widely distributed and encompassing that its role in shaping behavior has become an undeniable truth about human existence and motivation. However, self - esteem, like all concepts and truth - claims, has a history.
This history is essentially a social one: it is only “arrived at, sustained, and recognized through collective action”
Theories of the self have a long history in Western philosophy and the human sciences, particularly since the advent of modernity. Accompanying these theories have been reflections on how the self can improve, enhance, or sustain itself, particularly in the face of the objectifying and, for some, dehumanizing forces of modern society.
While the concept of self - esteem is obviously linked to these historical theories and reflections on the self, it has only been since the early twentieth century that the concept has been employed as a tool for unlocking the inherent secrets of human behavior.
Since this time, self - esteem, or such corollaries as self - efficacy, self - concept, self - evaluation, or self - ideal congruency, have come to be viewed as something that everyone possesses in varying degrees.
By determining the degree of self - esteem possessed by an individual, it becomes possible to access, predict, control, or enhance an individual’s life.
The origins of the concept of self - esteem can be traced to the advent of self - psychology in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. As people experience success in acquiring this basic human need they feel a sense of self - satisfaction which builds their self - appreciation.
Overall, three factors found during the period from the 1940s through the early ’70s were crucial for the expansion of the network of self - esteem and for its growing truthfulness.
First, self - esteem began to become part of the normal knowledge of clinical and experimental psychology. It became retranslated and redirected into the daily practices of those doing psychotherapy and empirical psychology. This move allowed the promoters of the concept to recruit and expand into the vocabulary, cognitive structures, and practices of a new set of allies.
Secondly, the stage is set for the importation of self - esteem into areas outside of psychology.
Finally, during this period self-esteem also became objectified in the scales and inventories of normal psychology.
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