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

122 SELF-ESTEEM RESEARCH, THEORY, AND PRACTICEAt the same time, these standards act as the pathway to self-esteem:They are, in fact, the contingencies for self-worth. The social standardsconcerning what is good, desirable, and worthy act as an internal measurefor how one is faring in his or her journey toward immortality. The morethat a particular individual regulates his or her behavior in accordancewith a given religious or cultural belief system, the more meaningful theperson’s life becomes and the better they feel about themselves, both ofwhich push the terror of death farther away from consciousness.Of course, if self-esteem is useful in regulating pro-social, desirable,or worthy behavior in this way, it is also useful in controlling negativeforms of behavior, especially those that might disrupt the order. Whenindividuals behave in ways that threaten the worldview of a particulargroup or culture, existential anxiety resurfaces and lowers self-esteem.This anxiety may be reduced by the restoration of self-esteem, which isdone through re-engaging in socially sanctioned, worthy behaviors. Thus,culture provides protection against the terror of death by showing ushow to transcend it and self-esteem helps to regulate behavior in a waythat sustains such worldviews. The result of these two forces, belief andregulation, is a self-sustaining process that carries the individual andgroup into the future in a meaningful way. As TMT states,TMT proposes that people need self-esteem because self-esteem providesa shield against a deeply rooted fear of death inherent in thehuman condition. . . . When self-esteem is strong, this anxiety is mitigatedand the person is able to go about his or her daily affairs and acteffectively in the world. When self-esteem is weak or challenged, thisthreatens a “leakage” of this core anxiety, which instigates variousforms of defensive behavior aimed at shoring up whatever aspect ofone’s worldview or self-evaluation has come under threat or at moregenerally bolstering self-worth through compensatory efforts.(Pyszczynski et al., 2004a, p. 437)The authors of TMT and others have conducted or reviewed dozensof studies concerning this “anxiety-buffering” function of self-esteem.Typically, they show how increasing an individual’s awareness of mortalityalso increases the person’s anxiety in ways that the theory predicts,thereby generating considerable empirical support (Pyszczynski et al.,2004a).However, adherents also acknowledge that there are biologicallybased motives and drives in many organisms that contradict the need toreduce tension, anxiety, or terror, especially in human beings. Thesedrives are manifested though such behavior as curiosity, exploration,experimentation, risk taking, and the like. Such motives cannot be dismissedbecause they have survival value. For example, they sometimes