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

Major Self-Esteem Theories and Programs 123result in important discoveries, play a key role in creativity, and may evenbe instrumental in the development of new ideas, skills, and so forth, allof which may give an individual or group an adaptational advantage.Yet, some motivations, such as risk taking or exploration, actually takeus into closer proximity to the possibility of dying, which seems to contradictthe entire theory.TMT attempts to solve this problem by offering a “dual role” orfunction of self-esteem:From an evolutionary perspective, an organismic growth/enrichmentmotivational system makes a great deal of sense. In order to survivelong enough to reproduce and pass on its genes, an animal must bedriven to explore, take in new information, and integrate that informationwith its existing conception of the world. . . . Thus, it seemslikely that a superordinate drive toward growth and enrichment wouldbe just as important and basic as a drive toward self-preservationthrough defensive processes. (Greenberg et al., 1995, pp. 82–83)In some sense, this modification of the theory may be seen as contradictingit (Ryan & Deci, 2004). After all, if the function of self-esteemis to avoid death, then how could it encourage individuals to risk theirlives for new and exciting possibilities? For TMT, the key lies in the ideathat both motives and needs are biologically based. Growth and enrichmentmotives do not necessarily contradict the need for security and survival,providing that the risk-taking behavior results in the acquisition ofskills and behaviors that affirm or enrich the individual or the culture. Inaddition to playing a role in helping the individual to master the basictasks of human development, such a motivation can also lead to new discoveriesor skills not seen before. If they happen to be valuable for a particularsociety at a particular time, then they increase the likelihood ofsurvival for the entire group. The individual, of course, is also rewardedthrough material gain or status, which boosts self-esteem in ways that aremeaningful, too. Thus, in the end, TMT goes on to conclude that, “Thepursuit of self-esteem is thus neither a good thing nor a bad thing butrather, a part of the system that human beings use to both regulate theirbehavior and to cope with their existential situation” (Pyszczynski et al.,2004b, p. 464).The Evolutionary Approach: Sociometer TheoryEvolutionary work in the social sciences has become quite popular in thepast decade. Although TMT may certainly be characterized in that fashion,its existential tone distinguishes it from another, strictly evolutionaryapproach to self-esteem that is becoming significant called