Factors influencing racial comparisons of self-esteem: A quantitative review.

Gray-Little, Bernadette; Hafdahl, Adam R.

doi:10.1037/0033-2909.126.1.26

Cited by 323 publications

(299 citation statements)

References 189 publications

(244 reference statements)

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“…Blacks had the highest self-esteem, followed by Latinos, Middle Easterners, Asians, and Whites. The magnitude of these effects is comparable to that reported in previous research on gender (Kling et al, 1999;Major et al, 1999;Robins, Hendin, et al, 2001) and ethnicity (Gray-Little & Hafdahl, 2000;Twenge & Crocker, 2002).…”

Section: Descriptive Statisticssupporting

confidence: 88%

Stability of self-esteem across the life span.

Trzesniewski

Donnellan

Robins

2003

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

647

479

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This study provides a comprehensive picture of age differences in self-esteem from age 9 to 90 years using cross-sectional data collected from 326,641 individuals over the Internet. Self-esteem levels were high in childhood, dropped during adolescence, rose gradually throughout adulthood, and declined sharply in old age. This trajectory generally held across gender, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and nationality (U.S. citizens vs. non-U.S. citizens). Overall, these findings support previous research, help clarify inconsistencies in the literature, and document new trends that require further investigation.

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Section: Descriptive Statisticssupporting

confidence: 88%

Stability of self-esteem across the life span.

Trzesniewski

Donnellan

Robins

2003

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

647

479

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Similarly, and in presenting these findings in several talks, an audience member invariably raises the question of the validity of Blacks' responses to the items on the positive mental health questionnaire. This response mirrors the debate that has surrounded the findings of the Black advantage in self-esteem (Crocker & Major, 1989;Gray-Little & Hafdahl, 2000), because self-esteem has been positively correlated with narcissism (Watson, Hickman, & Morris,…”

Section: What Might Explain the Resilience In The Black Community?mentioning

confidence: 92%

The Black–White Paradox in Health: Flourishing in the Face of Social Inequality and Discrimination

Keyes

2009

Journal of Personality

292

245

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This paper reviews published research and presents new analyses from the 1995 nationally representative sample from the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) study to investigate whether there is support for the paradox of race and health in the United States. Findings reveal that Blacks have lower rates of several common mental disorders, but Blacks also have higher rates of flourishing than Whites. Blacks are mentally resilient in the face of greater social inequality and exposure to discrimination as well as high rates of physical morbidity-all of which are distinctive risk factors for mental distress and mental illness in the general population. Findings also show that controlling for perceived discrimination increases the Black advantage in 12 of the 13 signs of flourishing, suggesting that Blacks would have even better mental health were it not for discrimination. This paper concludes by considering what mechanisms-both adaptive and maladaptive-might explain this particular example of resilience in the Black population.

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“…Collective action becomes more likely when discrimination against the in-group is perceived as an attack against the individual self (Foster & Matheson, 1999). In a similar vein, minority groups (e.g., African Americans) appear to increase strategically the strength of their group identification as a response to threats to the individual self (Gray- Little & Hafdahl, 2000).…”

Section: Individual Self and Collective Selfmentioning

confidence: 99%

The "I," the "we," and the "when": A meta-analysis of motivational primacy in self-definition.

Gaertner¹,

Sedikides²,

Vevea³

et al. 2002

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

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What is the primary motivational basis of self-definition? The authors meta-analytically assessed 3 hypotheses: (a) The individual self is motivationally primary, (b) the collective self is motivationally primary, and (c) neither self is inherently primary; instead, motivational primacy depends on which self becomes accessible through contextual features. Results identified the individual self as the primary motivational basis of self-definition. People react more strongly to threat and enhancement of the individual than the collective self. Additionally, people more readily deny threatening information and more readily accept enhancing information when it pertains to the individual rather than the collective self, regardless of contextual influences. The individual self is the psychological home base, a stable system that can react flexibly to contextual influences.The right of nature . . . is the liberty each man hath to use his own power, as he will himself, for the preservation of his own nature; that is to say, of his own life.-Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.-Nathan Hale, spoken at his deathThe self is in a continual process of construction, it cannot be adequately made up excepting in terms of the content which it supplies for the situation in which the agent has to act. -John Dewey, Lectures on Psychological and Political EthicsThis article is concerned with a fundamental issue in psychology, education, social sciences, and humanities: Does the self-concept have a motivational hierarchy? Do all selves (i.e., self-definitions) have equal motivational potential? Which selfdefinition is motivationally primary?We distinguish among three theoretical approaches to the issue. The first approach, one example of which is Hobbes's statement, posits that the individual self is motivationally primary. The second approach, exemplified by Hale's proclamation, maintains that the collective self is motivationally primary. The third approach advocates that neither self is inherently primary. Instead, the self that is more accessible through situational or contextual influences is motivationally primary-a proposition that is in spirit with Dewey's thinking.We articulate the three theoretical approaches and review relevant research. We argue that, when considered alone, each approach appears to be supported. However, independent tests, per se, tell only part of the story. Comparative tests provide a more refined solution to the problem. We report a meta-analysis of empirical studies relevant to the issue of relative motivational status.

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Factors influencing racial comparisons of self-esteem: A quantitative review.

Cited by 323 publications

References 189 publications

Stability of self-esteem across the life span.

Stability of self-esteem across the life span.

The Black–White Paradox in Health: Flourishing in the Face of Social Inequality and Discrimination

The "I," the "we," and the "when": A meta-analysis of motivational primacy in self-definition.

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