Self-Esteem Research, Theory, and Practice Toward a Positive ...

Major Self-Esteem Research Findings 101relationships more quickly than is otherwise likely. Fortunately, theseskills may be acquired at any age (Alberti & Emmons, 1982). However,the process is not simple: The research on assertiveness training indicatesthat a good program involves several weeks of training, mainly becauseeach skill must be practiced, as well as demonstrated (Rakos, 1990). Evenso, this kind of investment seems well worth the effort, especially forpeople who consistently end up in self-esteem trouble because of deficienciesin this area.Increasing Self-Esteem through ModelingIt has been more than a century since William James suggested that successesand failures are crucial factors in determining self-esteem.Psychology has learned a good deal about helping people tip the scale tothe favorable side since those early days (Bednar, Wells & Peterson, 1989;Pope, McHale & Craighead, 1988; Sappington, 1989). Modern learningtheorists, for example, talk about self-efficacy (Bandura, 1997; Maddux& Gosselin, 2003), which concerns a person’s beliefs about how he orshe is likely to do in a given situation based on a number of variables,such as past performance on similar tasks. The general idea is to helppeople increase their sense of self-efficacy by learning to become moresuccessful which, in turn, increases self-esteem. Modeling behavior is onestandard way of reaching this goal.In addition to general research on modeling as a therapeutic tool, thebest evidence for increasing self-esteem this way comes from Coopersmith(1967) and Bednar, Wells, and Peterson (1989). “Showing by doing”seems to be helpful for two reasons: First, modeling is often useful whentrying to learn complex activities. We cannot help but to model our parents,older siblings, peer groups, and teachers, and we learn all kinds ofthings in doing so. Second, modeling occurs in clinical situations as well.For example, a good facilitator or therapist will demonstrate techniquesfor handling conflict or other difficult situations in ways that promoteself-esteem, that is by attempting to do so in ways that are both competentand worthy or authentic. Many clients with low self-esteem have hadfew opportunities to model a person who is reasonably competent andworthy, so the clinician becomes especially important as a model. Indeed,clients probably learn more from the clinician in this way than the clinicianever realizes.Enhancing Self-Esteem by Increasing Problem-Solving SkillsMost self-esteem enhancement programs include the idea that self-esteemhelps us to cope more effectively with life’s challenges, both small and