Two contemporary theoretical explanations of adolescent self-esteem, symbolic interaction and social learning, were investigated and compared. Special attention focused on the relative effect of selected variables, representing each explanation, on four dimensions of self-esteem. A stratified random sample of 184 families with adolescents provided self-report data. Multiple regression and bivariate analysis resulted in evidence for the general conclusions that: (1) adolescent self-esteem was more a function of the reflected appraisal of the parents than it was of adolescents modeling their parents' self-esteem; and (2) female adolescents were more likely to be influenced by their parents than were male adolescents. In addition, the study suggests that when researchers investigate adolescent self-esteem, it is essential that they take into account its various dimensions, as well as the sex of the parent and the-adolescent.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Bachman, J. G.
(1970). Youth in transition: The impact of family background and intelligence on tenth-grade boys. Vol. 2 Ann Arbor: Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research.
2.
Bahr, S. J.
, Browerman, C. & Gecas, V. (1974). Adolescent Perceptions of Conjugal Power, Social Forces, 52357-367.
3.
Bandura, A.
(1969). Principles of behavior modification. New York: Holt, Rhinehart & Winston.
4.
Bandura, A.
(1977). Social learning theory. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.
5.
Bandura, A.
& Huston, A. (1961). Identification as Process of Incidental Learning, Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 63, 311-318.
6.
Bandura, A.
& Kupers, C. J. (1964). The transition of patterns of self-reinforcement through modeling, Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 69, 1-9.
7.
Bandura, A.
& Walters, R. H. (1963). Social learning and personality development. New York: Holt, Rhinehart and Winston.
8.
Baumrind, D.
(1971). Current Patterns of Parental Authority, Developmental Psychology Monographs, 4, 1-102.
9.
Becker, W. C.
(1964). Consequences of Different Kinds of Parental Discipline, In M. L. Hoffman & L. W. Hoffman (Eds.), Review of Child Development Research, Vol. I. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
10.
Cook, T. D.
& Campbell, D. T. (1979). Quasi-experimentation: design and analysis for field settings. Chicago: Rand McNally.
11.
Coppersmith, S.
(1967). The antecedents of self-esteem, San Francisco: W. H. Freeman.
12.
Couch, C.
(1958). Self-attitude and Degree of Agreement with Immediate Others. American Journal of Sociology, 63, 491-496.
13.
Dusek, J. B.
& Flaherty, J. F. (1981). The development of the self-concept during the adolescent years. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 46, 1-67.
14.
Ellis, J. E.
, Thomas. D. L. & Rollins, B. C. (1976). Measuring parental support: The interrelationship of three measures, Journal of Marriage and the Family, 38, 713-722.
15.
Fitts, W. H.
(1972). The self-concept and performance. Research Monograph No. 5, Tennessee: Dede Wallace Center.
16.
Freedman, J. L.
, Carlsmith, J. M., & Sears, D. O. (1970). Social psychology. New York: Prentice Hall.
17.
French, J. R. P., Jr.
, & Raven, B. H.The bases of social power. In D. Cartwright & A. Zander, (Eds.). (1962) Group dynamics, Chicago: Row, Peterson.
18.
French, J. R. P., Jr.
, & Raven, B. H. (1959). The bases of social power. In D. Cartwright (Ed.). Studies in social power, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
19.
Gecas, V.
(1971). Parental behavior and adolescent self-evaluation. Sociometry, 34, 466-482.
20.
Gecas, V.
(1972). Parental behavior and contextual variations in adolescent self-esteem, Sociometry, 35, 332-345.
21.
Gecas, V.
(1982). The self-concept. Annual Review of Sociology, 8, 1-33.
22.
Gecas, V.
, Calonico, J. M., & Thomas, D. L. (1974). The development of self-concept in the child: Mirror theory versus model theory, Journal of Social Psychology, 92, 67-76.
23.
Gecas, V.
& Schwalbe, M. (1983). Beyond the looking-glass self: Social structure and efficacy-based self-esteem. Social Psychology Quarterly, 46, 77-88.
24.
Goshen-Gottstein, E. R.
(1975). Potentially harmful childrearing practices. Israel Annals of Psychiatry and Related Disciplines, 13, 85-104.
25.
Heilbrun, A. B.
& Walters, N. A. (1968). Maternal child-rearing experiences and self-reinforcement effectiveness. Developmental Psychology, 3, 81-87.
26.
Kemper, T. D.
(1966). Self-conceptions and the expectations of significant others. Sociological Quarterly, 7, 323-343.
27.
Maccoby, E. E.
(1968). The development of moral values and behavior in childhood. In J. A. Clausen, (Ed.). Socialization and society, Boston: Little Brown.
28.
Maccoby, E. E.
& Jacklin, C. (1974). The psychology of sex differences. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
29.
McDonald, G. W.
(1977). Parental identification by the adolescent: A social power approach. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 39, 705-707 19.
30.
Mead, G. H.
(1934). Mind, self, society, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
31.
Miller, B. C.
, Rollins, B. C. & Thomas, D. L. (1982). On methods of studying marriages and families. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 44, 851-873.
32.
Mussen, P. H.
, & Rutherford, E. (1963). Parent-child relations and parental responsibility in relation to young children's sex-role preferences. Child Development, 34, 589-607.
33.
Nie, N. H.
, Hull, C. H., Jenkins, J. G., Steinbrenner, K. & Bent, D. H. (1975). Statistical package for the social sciences. New York: McGraw-Hill.
34.
Openshaw, D. K.
, Thomas, D. L., & Rollins, B. C. (1981) Adolescent self-esteem: A multidimensional perspective. Journal of Early Adolescence, 1, 273-282.
35.
Openshaw, D. K.
, Thomas, D. L., & Rollins, B. C. (1983). Socialization and adolescent self-esteem: Symbolic interaction and social learning explanations. Adolescence, 18, 317-329.
36.
Osgood, C. E.
, Suci. G. J., & Tannenbaum, P. H. (1973). In J. W. Pfeiffer, R. Heslin & J. E. Jones (Eds.). Instrumentation in human relations training, California: University Associates, Inc.
37.
Rollins, B. C.
& Thomas, D. L. (1979). Parental support, power and control techniques in the socialization of children. In W. R. Burr, R. Hill, I. Nye & I. L. Reiss (Eds.). Contemporary theories about the family, Vol. I. New York: Free Press.
38.
Rosenberg, M.
(1965). Society and the adolescent self-image. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
39.
Rosenberg, M.
(1979). Conceiving the self. New York: Basic Books.
40.
Schaefer, E. S.
(1965). A configuration analysis of children's report of parental behavior. Journal of Consulting Psychology, 29, 552-557.
41.
Smith, T. E.
(1970). Foundations of parental influence upon adolescents: An application of social power theory, American Sociological Review, 35, 860-873.
42.
Streissguth, A. P.
& Bee, H. L.Mother-child interactions and cognitive development in children. In W. Hartup (Ed.) Research on young children. Washington, D. C: National Association for the Education of Young Children.
43.
Thomas, D. L.
, Gecas, V., Weigert, A., & Rooney, E. (1974). Family socialization and the adolescent. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.
44.
Wylie, R.
(1961). The self-concept, Volume 1. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
45.
Zeller, R. A.
& Carmines, E. G. (1980). Measurement in social sciences: The link between theory and data. New York: Cambridge University Press.
