Discuss the concept of "relational self-worth" and Harter's multidimensional hierarchical model of self-esteem

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Susan Harter proposed a hierarchical model of childhood self-esteem. To test her model, she asked children to complete a self-perception scale on which they evaluated themselves in five domains: scholastic competence, social acceptance, physical appearance, athletic competence, and behavioral conduct. Children made self-appraisals by indicating the extent to which statements such as, "Some kids are good at figuring out answers at school" (scholastic competence) and "Some kids are always chosen for games" (athletic competence) are true of themselves.

Harter also found that children differ in terms of the importance they assign to the various competency domains assessed by her scale. What's more, children who rate themselves as very competent in the areas that they see as most important tend to be highest in overall self-worth. So it seems that older children's feelings of self-esteem depend both on how they think others evaluate them (i.e., the social looking glass) and on how they choose to evaluate themselves.

By early adolescence, one's perceptions of self-worth become increasingly centered on interpersonal relationships. Harter and her colleagues coined the term relational self-worth to describe their finding that adolescents often begin to perceive their self-worth somewhat differently in different relational contexts (e.g., with parents, with teachers, with male classmates, and with female classmates).