Self-Esteem
Self-Esteem and its Correlation with Parenting Styles
Grace Li
University of Phoenix
Introduction
The topics to be explored are: definition of self-esteem; a comprehensible interpretation of self-esteem that a counselor would convey to his/her young clients; the four major parenting styles, and the impact that each parenting style would have on a child’s sense of self esteem.
Definition of Self-esteem
In the dictionary, self-esteem is simply defined as “a confidence and satisfaction in oneself”. The definition of self-esteem in the developmental psychology field varies - psychodynamic focused researchers believe self-esteem is a development phenomenon; behavioral theorists argue it is an acquired trait; humanistic view it as an individual’s ability to live to honor and accept his view of himself; and other researchers would define it from their theoretic perspectives.
The author would like to introduce only two definitions of self-esteem in this paper. One of the definitions describes self-esteem as “an individual’s overall and specific positive and negative self-evaluation” (Feldman, 2008); and the other definition was well explained by Mruk in his book titled “Self-esteem Research, Theory, and Practice” in 1999.
According to Mruk, “self-esteem is the lived status of one’s competence at dealing with the challenges of living in a worthy way over time” (Mruk, 1999). Competence is “an individual’s particular set of physical, cognitive, and social skills or abilities as well as weaknesses in these areas” and worthiness is “value dimension of self-esteem”. Without the value of worthiness, competence alone might not necessary boost one’s self-esteem (Mruk).
A Working Definition for Children
While Mruk’s two-factor approach helps readers master a better understanding of self-esteem in the development psychology field, it is a challenge to convey the idea to a child. So how would a counselor formulate an easy-to-grasp explanation to introduce
Grace Li
University of Phoenix
Introduction
The topics to be explored are: definition of self-esteem; a comprehensible interpretation of self-esteem that a counselor would convey to his/her young clients; the four major parenting styles, and the impact that each parenting style would have on a child’s sense of self esteem.
Definition of Self-esteem
In the dictionary, self-esteem is simply defined as “a confidence and satisfaction in oneself”. The definition of self-esteem in the developmental psychology field varies - psychodynamic focused researchers believe self-esteem is a development phenomenon; behavioral theorists argue it is an acquired trait; humanistic view it as an individual’s ability to live to honor and accept his view of himself; and other researchers would define it from their theoretic perspectives.
The author would like to introduce only two definitions of self-esteem in this paper. One of the definitions describes self-esteem as “an individual’s overall and specific positive and negative self-evaluation” (Feldman, 2008); and the other definition was well explained by Mruk in his book titled “Self-esteem Research, Theory, and Practice” in 1999.
According to Mruk, “self-esteem is the lived status of one’s competence at dealing with the challenges of living in a worthy way over time” (Mruk, 1999). Competence is “an individual’s particular set of physical, cognitive, and social skills or abilities as well as weaknesses in these areas” and worthiness is “value dimension of self-esteem”. Without the value of worthiness, competence alone might not necessary boost one’s self-esteem (Mruk).
A Working Definition for Children
While Mruk’s two-factor approach helps readers master a better understanding of self-esteem in the development psychology field, it is a challenge to convey the idea to a child. So how would a counselor formulate an easy-to-grasp explanation to introduce