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

30 SELF-ESTEEM RESEARCH, THEORY, AND PRACTICEdevelop a stable form of self-esteem because, in the largest sense, it is theresult of a developmental process. Rather than being born with selfesteem,when it is defined this way self-esteem emerges in the space createdby competence and worthiness as they stand in relationship to eachother over time. Second, time is also that which carries us into the future,which is to say toward self-esteem moments that have yet to come to usas adolescents, adults, and as older people. This aspect of the relationshipbetween time and self-esteem means that time is both an adversary andfriend when it comes to self-esteem. The bad news is that when we fail toact in ways that are competent and worthy, we suffer a loss of self-esteemand experience corresponding pain. The good news is that at other timeswe have the opportunity to demonstrate higher levels of competence andto thereby affirm, regain, or even to increase our sense of worth as humanbeings by our own hands. In either case, time is important to the fundamentalstructure of self-esteem because it shows us that it is somethingthat deserves our attention throughout the entire cycle of life.By now it should be clear that there are ways in which defining selfesteemin terms of a relationship between competence and worth or worthinessis more comprehensive than basing it on either competence orworthiness alone. Similarly, it should seem plausible that defining selfesteemin terms of at least two factors (three, if one counts the relationshipas a factor) is also more accurate at the lived level, which is the basicsource of data for understanding human behavior. In the following chapters,we see that understanding self-esteem in terms of competence andworthiness together help us to deal more effectively with other problemsin the field as well.