Self-Esteem

The term self-esteem is attributed to William James, who defined it as feelings about the self [Page 732]resulting from comparisons of the actual self to the ideal self. More recently, self-esteem has come to reflect an individual's evaluation of his or her self-worth. With regard to intergroup relations and group processes, the following issues are of primary importance: (a) types of self-esteem, (b) self-esteem as an outcome or a predictor of intergroup discrimination, (c) the impact of experiencing discrimination on self-esteem, (d) implicit self-esteem, (e) the role of self-esteem in terror management, (f) the differentiation of self-esteem from group identification and group status, and (g) contingencies of self-worth. The relationship of self-esteem to intergroup phenomena is the primary focus of this entry. However, a discussion ...