Self Esteem, A vital human need for healthy development, seen here in Maslow's hierarchy of needs pyramid. Maslow,A.H (1943) initially stated that individuals must satisfy lower level deficit needs before progressing on to meet higher level growth needs.
Maslow divided the self esteem tier into two categories:
1) Esteem for yourself (How you see yourself: beliefs, self respect, achievement, independence) 2) Esteem from others (How others to see you: respect, status).
Interestingly, Maslow indicated that the need for respect or reputation is most important for children and adolescents and precedes real self-esteem or dignity. McLeod, S. A. (2017)
Although I agree that self esteem is a vital need for healthy human development, I question the tier in which self esteem is on. Maslow studied people he deemed to be ‘self actualized’ from a sample of highly educated, successful individuals, not considering humanity in general. McLeod, S. A. (2017)
Low self esteem has been linked with depression and anxiety Mruk, C. J. (2013) the symptoms may include: Loss of interest or hobbies or activities, including sex, low appetite, overeating, feelings of worthlessness and helplessness. (Anxiety and Depression Association of America, 2017) How can one move up the hierarchy when self esteem levels affect the ability to achieve the lower two levels?
This would argue that the hierarchy of needs could be rearranged or at least conceptualised as fluid, that we could be striving to fulfil multiple needs as they fluctuate throughout our lifetime.
We now know that self esteem is important, but how do you develop self esteem? Or more importantly for outdoor educators, how do we facilitate the development of self esteem in others?
Bunyan, P. (2005) Includes a model of self esteem by William James (1980) that provides an understanding of how self esteem might be enhanced:
Self Esteem = Success
Pretensions
Self Esteem = Success
Pretensions
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| Fig.1 |
The model suggests that self esteem is the result of the dissonance or lack of agreement between achievements and aspirations.
The smaller or acceptable difference between what one aspires to and actually achieves, the higher their self esteem will be.
Therefore, if one sets realistic and achievable goals suitable for their ability it is likely their self esteem will improve.
Therefore, if one sets realistic and achievable goals suitable for their ability it is likely their self esteem will improve.
This provides an example on where and how outdoor educators can work with participants on improving self esteem. By facilitating the steps in achieving an individual's goal,(Fig.1 Harley street psychologist 2015) we could potentially provide a ‘self esteem moment’
Self esteem moments, are two types of experiences:
1) A situation capable of generating success or failure in areas of life that are important to a given person. 2) Experiences that involve being accepted or being rejected by others, both of which seem to relate to one’s sense of worth as a person. Mruk, C. J. (2013) This is explained in further detail below.
With reference to Maslow’s earlier statement on young people’s priority of need for respect and reputation, and the results of research conducted by Rosenberg (1965) that persons deemed ‘valued’ to the individual (friends, peers etc) or those thought to have similar ‘expertise’ had effect on the growth and threat to one’s self esteem. We need to be mindful of this when programming adventurous activities for peer groups.
Perhaps we should not be claiming to improve self esteem but offer ‘building blocks of self esteem’ or ‘self esteem moments’ This could also be applied to the more recent ‘Hierarchical model of Self Esteem’ Fox (1990)
This model represents entire global self esteem at the apex that is successively divided into categories that influence self esteem depending on the value of importance one places on these lower categories. It is unlikely that we can influence an individual's global self esteem, however we can potentially facilitate the enhancement of self esteem in the lower domains.
For example, while facilitating an abseiling session with a group of youths, it is often easy to notice ‘friendly competition’ (person’s of value). If one sees the person/s of value complete the task then they themselves do not, this essentially could affect their self esteem in the social and physical domains. Keeping in mind William James (1980) model for building self esteem to set a realistic and achievable goal in order to facilitate a ‘self esteem moment’ Mruk, C. J. (2013) We need to be looking at creating an environment that is suitable for facilitating this, perhaps by modifying the task or breaking it down into more digestible and appropriate goals.
Bunyan, P. (2005) suggests that as adventure educators we should be mindful when handling participants failures and successes. We should be proactive in helping individuals associate success internally to have the greatest benefit and to refer failure externally in order reduce negative impact on self esteem.
If growth in self esteem is an intended outcome of our adventure programmes, facilitators must consider the demographic characteristics of the group they are engaging with,
greater their understanding of how self esteem is built and be mindful of the threats to mitigate against them.
Further reading:
Mruk, C. J. (2013). Self-esteem and positive psychology. New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company.
Dack, C.M. & Ward, W.C. (2009) The Life Effectiveness of Wilderness Adventure Leaders, Association of Outdoor Recreation & Education Conference Proceedings, p.28-31
References
Bunyan, P. (2005). Towards the Measurement of Social Self-Esteem in the Adventure Environment. Ph. D. University of Southampton.
Confidence and self esteem counseling, (Harley street psychologist)(2015) Available:http://www.harleystreet-psychologist.co.uk/confidence-self-esteem-counselling/ Accessed:24 November 2017
McLeod, S. A. (2017). Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Available: www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html Accessed: 24 November 2017
Mruk, C. J. (2013). Self-esteem and positive psychology. New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company.
Symptoms (Anxiety and Depression Association of America), (2017) Available at: https://adaa.org/understanding-anxiety/depression/symptoms. Accessed: 23 November 2017
Warren, M. (2013) Self Esteem-Principles of learning and teaching Available: https://michellekellywarren.wordpress.com Accessed 24 November 2017
Maslow, A. H. (1943). A Theory of Human Motivation . Psychological Review, 50(4), 370-96
Maslow, A. H. (1987). Motivation and Personality (3rd ed.). Delhi, India: Pearson Education.
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