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

Major Self-Esteem Theories and Programs 125while we drive an automobile: We listen to the words, but our ears arestill attuned to the sound around us, such as traffic noise, and they alertus to them when necessary. Next, when threat is detected the module istied to enough other brain-based processing agencies and modules toevoke a strong sympathetic nervous system or affective response such assuddenly being alarmed by a siren. Finally, the detection of threateningstimuli and a strong response to it leads to changes in behavior designedto deal with the emergency effectively: In this example, stopping conversationto look for the emergency vehicle and becoming prepared to moveto the side of the road if necessary.In brief, people appear to possess a psychological mechanism(a sociometer) that monitors their interpersonal worlds for informationrelevant to relational value, alerts them through unpleasant emotionsand lowered state self-esteem when their relationship value is lowerthan desired or declining, and motivates behavior that helps to enhancerelational value (and, hence, self-esteem). (Leary, 2004a, p. 379)Thus, the sociometer “scans” the environment for signs of troubleand alerts us to possible threats or opportunities by evoking our feelingsabout ourselves in pleasant or unpleasant ways. When self-esteem isthreatened or drops, it motivates the individual to regulate behavior sothat it does not result in rejection or so that it may even increase chancesof affiliation. In this way, self-esteem helps to avoid behavior that is likelyto get us into trouble and enhances socially desirable behavior that couldimprove our chances of getting important needs met, even such basicones as food and the opportunity to pass along genes.Unlike other theories, then, self-esteem is not a free-standing motivethat gives rise to its own needs or that is intrinsic to our nature. Rather,Sociometer Theory contends that “most behaviors that have been attributedto the need to maintain self-esteem may be parsimoniously explainedin terms of the motive to avoid social exclusion” (Leary & Downs, 1995,p. 129). Because it is a module that is carried with us, the sociometer mayeven regulate behavior in the absence of other people. For example, in situationswhere others are not present, the sociometer becomes generalizedenough for us to consider what others would do if they saw our behaviorsat these times, which in turn, helps us regulate our behaviors insocially acceptable ways.So far, this understanding of self-esteem may seem largely directed atself-esteem as a state rather than as a trait because it is designed to be sensitiveto current situations in any number of domains of social life.However, the theory compares the sociometer with a gauge to illustratehow it also functions as a trait.