Self-esteem refers to the intensity and stability over time of a persons self-concept

THEORIES Furthermore, the emphasis on the unique nature of the self is much greater in Western societies. Many Eastern cultures stress the importance of a collective self, where a person derives his or her identity in large measure from a social group the West tends to subscribe to an independent understanding of the self, which emphasizes the inherent separateness of each individual. The self-concept summarizes the beliefs a person holds about his own attributes and how he evaluates the self on these qualities. Although your overall self-concept may be positive, there certainly are parts of it you evaluate more positively than others. For example, Lisa feels better about her professional identity than she does about her feminine identity. The self-concept is a very complex structure. We describe attributes of self-concept along such dimensions as content (e.g., facial attractiveness versus mental aptitude), positivity (i.e., self-esteem), intensity and stability over time, and accuracy (i.e., the degree to which one's self-assessment corresponds to reality). 6 Self-esteem refers to the positivity of a person's self-concept. People with low self-esteem expect that they will not perform very well, and they will try to avoid embarrassment, failure, or rejection. When it developed a new line of snack cakes, for example, Sara Lee found that consumers low in self-esteem preferred portion-controlled snack items because they felt they lacked self-control. 8 In contrast, a more recent study found that individuals who are made to feel powerful spend more money on themselves (" because I'm worth it! "), whereas those who experience a feeling of powerlessness spend more on others than on themselves. 9 How do marketers influence self-esteem? Exposure to ads such as the ones Lisa checked out can trigger a process of social comparison , in which the person tries to evaluate her appearance by comparing it to the people depicted in these artificial images. In a study that illustrates the social comparison process, female college students who were exposed to beautiful women in advertisements afterward expressed lowered satisfaction with their own appearance, as compared to other participants who did not view ads with attractive models. A study found that people who were served food by a server who was either fat or thin choose different portion sizes. Many consumers try to bolster their self-esteem as they accumulate evidence of their achievements. The ideal self is a person's conception of how he would like to be, whereas the actual self refers to our more realistic appraisal of the qualities we do and don't have. We choose some products because we think they are consistent with our actual self, while we buy others to help us reach an ideal standard. We also often engage in a process of impression management in which we work hard to " manage " what others think of us; we strategically choose clothing and other products that will show us off to others in a good light. 17 Most people experience a discrepancy between their real and ideal selves, but for some consumers this gap is especially large. These people are especially good targets for marketing communications that employ fantasy appeals. 20 A fantasy or daydream is a self-induced shift in consciousness, which is sometimes a way to compensate for a lack of external stimulation or to escape from problems in the real world. 21 Depending on the situation, we act differently, use different products and services, and even vary in terms of how much we like the aspect of ourselves we put on display.

Abstract

In this paper, we attempt to shed light on the nature of, relevance of, and relationship between global self-esteem and specific self-esteem. We marshal evidence that the two types of self-esteem may have strikingly different consequences, global self-esteem being more relevant to psychological well-being, and specific self-esteem being more relevant to behavior. We use linear structural equation causal modeling to test this hypothesis for the case of global self-esteem (Rosenberg 1979) and specific (academic) self-esteem. Our findings show that, while global self-esteem is more strongly related to measures of psychological well-being, specific (academic) self-esteem is a much better predictor of school performance. Other findings indicate that the degree to which specific academic self-esteem affects global self-esteem, particularly the positive component of global self-esteem, is a function of how highly academic performance is personally valued.

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The official flagship journal of the American Sociological Association (ASA), American Sociological Review (ASR) publishes works of interest to the discipline in general, new theoretical developments, results of research that advance our understanding of fundamental social processes, and important methodological innovations. All areas of sociology are welcome. Emphasis is on exceptional quality and general interest. Published bi-monthly in February, April, June, August, October, and December. Information about subscriptions, article submissions, and advertising rates: http://www.asanet.org/journals/asr/

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