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

12 SELF-ESTEEM RESEARCH, THEORY, AND PRACTICEAt first glance, it might seem as though identifying major definitions,significant findings, or leading theories of self-esteem is an arbitraryprocess. However, using time as a criterion to “measure” such things isone of the most useful and accepted ways of identifying importantthemes. Time is helpful in this task because the field is old enough to haveundergone several scientific “shake outs.” In other words, once a definition,finding, theory, or technique is formed, other researchers tend tocome along and re-examine such work. In doing so, the particular itemin question is confirmed, modified, or discarded, on the basis of currentevidence or understanding. Those that withstand scrutiny over a longperiod of time and yet remain relatively intact may at least be consideredto be persistent or reliable enough to be useful, although certainly notnecessarily valid. Another test offered by time concerns breadth ratherthan duration. Definitions, findings, theories, or techniques that are ableto stimulate meaningful research and give rise to entire schools ofthought over time demonstrate another valuable characteristic, namelysignificance. Of course, items of scientific discourse that are both persistent(i.e., enduring) and significant (i.e., generative) are likely to warrantthe status of existing as a “standard” in the field. Three suchdefinitions appear to occur in the psychology of self-esteem (Mruk,1999, 2006). In this section, then, I present each of these major, classical,or standard definitions in some detail, offer what I hope to be sufficientevidence that each approach generates a significant line of work inself-esteem so as to constitute its major schools, and conclude each presentationwith a critique of its strengths and limitations. This procedurehelps us reach the first part of determining whether one definition issuperior to others and why.Self-Esteem as CompetenceTime and history are good places to begin when looking at previouswork, so it seems most appropriate to start with the oldest definition,which was developed by William James more than a century ago.So our self-feeling in this world depends entirely on what we back ourselvesto be and do. It is determined by the ratio of our actualities toour supposed potentialities; a fraction of which our pretensions are thedenominator and the numerator our success: thus,Self-esteem = Successes .PretensionsSuch a fraction may be increased as well by diminishing the denominatoras by increasing the numerator. (James, 1890/1983, p. 296)