The Rise, Fall, and Resurgence of "Self-Esteem": A Critique, Reconceptualization, and Recommendations

For nearly half a century, self-esteem (1) has been viewed as the psychologist's "... Holy Grail: a psychological trait that would soothe most of individuals' and societies' woes. We thought that high selfesteem would impart not only success, health, happiness, and prosperity to the people who possessed it, but also stronger marriages, higher employment, and greater educational attainment in the communities that supported it" (Baumeister, 2005, p. 34). One of the oldest concepts in psychology, "self-esteem" appears to rank among the top three covariates occurring in personality and social psychology research (Rhodewalt & Tragakis, 2003). As of 2003, it was the subject of more than 18,000 published studies and, by 2017 that number had increased to more than 24,000 publications (based on the current researchers' database searches). Yet, despite the profusion of studies, self-esteem has proved to be an elusive and surprisingly porous vessel, rife with a plethora of conceptual and methodological fissures. As a consequence, this review seeks to critically analyze the literature on self-esteem, to propose a new model for conceptualizing the construct, and to provide a series of specific recommendations for both clinical and research settings. THE RISE: HISTORY AND CONCEPTUALIZATIONS OF SELF-ESTEEM The term "self-esteem" can be traced to 1890 and the work of William James, who is generally regarded as the father of modern psychology. Not only was it the first recorded definition, James' definition is supported by a considerable amount of research (Harter, 1999). James defined self-esteem as: successes divided by pretensions (2) (James, 1983). According to James, "Our self-feeling in this world depends entirely on what we back ourselves to be and do. It is determined by the ratio of our actualities to our supposed potentialities: a fraction of which our pretensions are the denominator and the numerator our success: thus, Self-Esteem = Successes/Pretensions Such a fraction may be increased as well by diminishing the denominator as by increasing the numerator" (James, 1983, p. 296). In other words, James (1983) described self-esteem as a ratio or relationship between our achievements and our aspirations. Based on this definition, the more success we have and the lower our expectations, the higher our self-esteem. Said another way, one can raise self-esteem by either lowering expectations or increasing achievements. Although fluctuations of self-esteem might occur based on daily encounters, there is an average tone that develops over time and that one's self-esteem seems to return to (Bednar & Peterson, 1995). Martin Seligman, a long-time proponent of James' definition, maintained that James' work on self-esteem was largely ignored for 75 years as a result of both academic and socioeconomic factors. Economic depression and world wars did not create an environment characterized by a focus on how people felt about themselves. Moreover, schools of thought such as Freudianism and behaviorism dominated the field of psychology, both of which essentially shared the common belief that individuals' lives are determined largely by forces outside of their control --either as internal unconscious forces (as per Freudianism) or as external forces (behaviorism). A shift occurred in the 1960s, with the rise of wealth and consumerism. Along with these social and economic changes came the individual's ability to see himself or herself at the center of his or her own destiny (Seligman, Reivich, Jaycox, & Gillham, 2007). As the focus shifted to concepts such as self-determination, the power of free will, and human potential, humanistic psychology gained popularity and, subsequently, self-esteem arose as an important and popular idea. Carl Rogers, perhaps the most renowned figure associated with humanistic psychology, believed that the self-concept is comprised of three different components: (a) self-image (the view one has about himself or herself), (b) the ideal self (what one wishes to be), and (c) selfesteem or self-worth (how much value one places on himself or herself). …