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

112 SELF-ESTEEM RESEARCH, THEORY, AND PRACTICENext, he built on the findings that children with high self-esteemtend to have families that set clear limits and expectations. Therefore,Coopersmith suggested that structured therapeutic situations might bemore effective in increasing self-esteem than unstructured techniques.Finally, he strongly advocated modeling as a central therapeutic device.A third implication is that the patient may benefit quite markedly bymodeling his behavior after an effective, assured, and competent individual.The exact behavior that an individual may require or seek tofollow undoubtedly varies with each person, but it may be that thestyle of response is more critical than the particular action. Thus theindividual may observe how an effective individual deals with anxiety,resolves ambiguities, and makes decisions. (1967, p. 263)Although Coopersmith did not investigate the efficacy of thesemodes of intervention, they are clear extensions of social learning theoryand practice.Whether conceived of socially or psychologically, the social learningapproach to self-esteem emphasizes defining it in terms of worth or worthiness;researching self-esteem empirically instead of just talking aboutit; and changing self-esteem through altering various social practicessuch as those concerning childrearing or education as well as by workingin the clinical setting. On the positive side of the ledger, these qualitiesgive the social learning perspective on self-esteem considerableappeal because it implies that we can and should do something aboutraising self-esteem. Thus, in retrospect, it is no surprise that thisapproach underlies much of the self-esteem movement of the 1980s and1990s with its focus on enhancing self-esteem in the educational setting.As we saw earlier, however, defining self-esteem largely in terms of worthinessalso leads to problems, such as weak results, poor statisticalstrength, and considerable backlash against the entire field from whichit is now just recovering.The Humanistic TraditionSelf-esteem has been an important theme in the humanistic approach tounderstanding human behavior from its beginnings. Indeed, bothAbraham Maslow and Carl Rogers regarded self-esteem as a basic humanneed that plays a key role in both development and behavior. For example,Maslow placed self-esteem among the most basic human needs in hisfamous hierarchy (1954). Rogers (1961) talked about self-esteem inregard to self-acceptance and congruence, both of which are seen as necessaryfor healthy human functioning.