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

184 SELF-ESTEEM RESEARCH, THEORY, AND PRACTICEof checks and balances described earlier and represented by the Self-Esteem Meaning Matrix in Figure 5.1. As life is explored during adolescence,self-esteem matures to the point that it begins to take on thecharacter of one of the basic types and levels of self-esteem (see Figure 5.2).From that point on, self-esteem emerges as a distinct phenomenon that istied to identity. As the individual becomes increasingly capable of independentdecision making by late adolescence or early adulthood, he orshe becomes increasingly responsible for managing their own self-esteem,which can be done well or poorly. This development brings us to the presentand the section of Figure 5.5 that represents the here and now.Once an individual reaches this level, life’s challenges take on newimportance for self-esteem because they create opportunities called selfesteemmoments. It is at these times that self-esteem becomes extremelyactive as a “variable” because it co-constitutes the structure of the situation,which means that it both influences and is influenced by what everhappens there. If one really wanted to measure self-esteem to assess itssignificance as a variable, these would be the times to do it! At any rate,through the complex process described earlier in this chapter, the individualresolves the situation authentically or inauthentically. When thechallenge is handled in a competent and worthy fashion, it leads to ahigher or positive meaning, which would be located in the upper, righthandquadrant of the matrix. If self-esteem is already secure, then it ismaintained at that level because the level was reaffirmed. If the type orlevel was not especially secure, then an increase in self-esteem actuallyoccurs because it moves the matrix in a more balanced, which is to saysecure, positive, healthy direction.Unfortunately, however, things do not always go as well. On thedownside of the ledger, if competence should occur without worthiness,then the outcome has little importance for self-esteem: Each of us is competentat many things that have little bearing on our self-esteem becausethey are not important to us in this way. If the action or failure to act isunworthy of a person, then self-esteem is actually lowered. Similarly, ifworthiness is felt without earning it through exhibiting appropriate formsof competent behavior, then dissonance is generated in another way, onethat can only affect self-esteem negatively. Of course, if the challenge ishandled inauthentically, which is to say without competence and worthinesswhen they are required and possible, the outcome is certain to be aloss of self-esteem.Finally, the last part of Figure 5.5 as we move from left to right islabeled “Future,” because whatever effect the outcome of a current challengeof living has on self-esteem is meaningfully added to the matrix,which is carried into the future as a co-constitutive process along withmany other psychosocial dynamics. That life never stops bringing with it