Comparison of Terror Theory Management and Sociometer Theory - Essay Example

Running Head: TWO THEORIES OF SELF-ESTEEM Two theories of self-esteem Name Institution Date Two theories of self-esteem Introduction Self esteem is a psychological term used to show how an individual evaluates or judges his or her worthiness. The person is in a position to identify his capabilities and disabilities and this can be portrayed through the behaviour of a person like confidence, assertiveness and shyness or through emotional feelings such as shame, pride or despair. Self esteem is looked at into two types: low self esteem which is considered to be a poor image and high self esteem from the strong image and provides a right attitude to succeed. A high self esteem is essential as it acts as cornerstone to positive attitudes of positive living. It highly influences how one thinks, acts or interacts with others hence live a life of potential. There are many different theories which explain the existence or the nature of self esteem; terror management theory and sociometer theory are some of the good examples explaining it. People are highly terrorised by the thoughts or imagination of death since no one knows the reality behind it, were it not for the assumption of cultural beliefs of various groups of people no one can withstand the mention of death. These theories explain some of the assumptions that people have concerning the existence of self esteem (Leary, 2004). Terror management theory This is a psychological theory which focuses on the implied emotional reactions of the individuals when they have psychological terror of death. It resulted from the assumption that ability of individual reflection and the consciousness of the mortality could be considered as continuous basis of existential anguish. Life is finite so people are keen to preserve it by coming up with organizational and meaningful assumptions of the continuity of lives. The cultural values bring about a feeling of high self esteem so long as the individual lives in accordance to the expectations of a particular cultural norm. Believing the rightness of values of certain cultures acts as a guide towards positive living since it provides the necessary conviction of reasonably living. The high self esteem helps one to perceive the world as a good place to base their hopes on immortality symbols such as children or legacies of fortune or wealth or literal immortality like life after death. This is a symbolic protector of the real life and the predictability of death and thus all people try to fight for their cultures to be accepted by the others hence having the esteem of the community. Overtaking of a certain world’s perception by another endangers self respect of the individuals resulting to either conflict between the thinkers followers of these views or individuals having a low opinion towards life or low self esteem (Leary, 1999). Sociometer theory This theory argues that people are enhanced to protect individual self esteem or improve it by their thoughts and actions. The sociometer weighs the desires of a person to others influenced by the degree of self esteem, it measures the traits one has depending on their acceptance to the society and how they interact with it. Everybody has a need for interpersonal relationship for the benefit from each other such as reproduction. This theory suggests that self esteem watches over the social acceptance of an individual and helps to avoid societal rejection and devaluation hence it supports other theories which states that survival depends on social acceptance due to reasons like protection of each other, reproduction or mutual behaviours. Thus controlling of a person’s acceptance through self esteem is important so as to access the benefits of social interactions and survive in the competition for the social benefits (Pyszczynski et al, 2000). Comparison between terror management theory and sociometer theory Both theories try to explain the existence and the importance of self esteem to the society. They argue that there are forces which determine the level of self esteem of an individual or the attitudes they have towards life and the activities that takes place. Their ideas are related in that they are based on the social group of people or their cultural beliefs which determine their attitude towards life for example, reproduction or a feeling of protection facilitates the positive attitudes of living or leads to high self esteem. The need for the cultural norms and individuals to perceive themselves as members of the social groups and an understanding that examination of the behaviour of every individual in a given social group has a role in the maintenance of self esteem are features of both theories. The focus on the negative part of the self esteem rather and not the positive. Both theories are based on evolution and argue that self esteem has advantages to the individuals. Both look at human relationship and control of human behaviour as necessary features as they enhance develop of high self esteem hence people are able to have a positive attitude towards life and are not psychologically terrorized by the fear of death. The different groups of people come up with the ideas of life after death or as afterworld life. This can either be through resurrection, living as spirits or reproduction whereby their spirits live in the children. Another comparison between the two theories is that none of them can provide actual evidence as main explanation for the responsibility and function of self esteem (Pyszczynski et al, 2000). Both of the theories try to argue the need for self esteem in the lives of people but none of them is able prove beyond doubt the actual function of self esteem apart from that individual and group conduct derived by either of the theories. The contrasts between the two theories Although the two theories are considered to be related whereby terror management theory is considered to be the complex version of the other, there are some factors which outline their differences. The new version suggests that self esteem is a mechanism which is culturally based and works to minimize the psychological terrorism caused by the thoughts and imaginations of death. The vice versa sees it as an internal gauge which claims that every individual should belong to a certain social group or should have people to interact with. The explanation of the terror management theory disagrees with that of sociometer from the view point of the social group barring and suggests that both cultural views and self esteem are societal constructs needing external justification. The sociometer theory argues that the self esteem of an individual is evaluated based on the negative and positive interpersonal relationships and the capabilities of a given social group compared to the other groups. The performance of a certain social group can bring down that of another since members will be discouraged from having faith in their beliefs hence their self esteem will be lowered resulting to psychological terrorism (Fiske et al, 2010). Neither of the terror management nor sociometer theory is able to explain the actual realities concerning the functions of self esteem although the outcome of the explanations from both sides shows that they have differing view points. The terror management theory shows that self esteem helps in the individual perception of the world hence creating the attitude towards death while socio theory assumes that the relationship between the individuals or the social groups creates mood for the self esteem of the individuals or the members of a social. Although the arguments of the theoretical view points of these theories tries to show the differences, from the general point of view both of them suggests that the main function of self esteem is to regulate the behaviour of people with the intention of promoting pro-social behaviour. The sociometer argues that each human being has a sociometer to control the surrounding for pressure to social inclusion. This means that people are enhanced to protect individual self esteem or improve it by their thoughts and actions which enable them to interact with others or enhance interpersonal relationship. Thus the degree of self esteem is evaluated by how much an individual is able to relate with others. The contrary suggests that self esteem acts to reduce the psychological terrorism of death by creating a positive attitude toward life when one belief on the cultural beliefs like about life after death or reproducing and having the spirits of people live in their children (Leary & Tangney, 2005). Conclusion Self esteem is a necessary mechanism in the life of an individual since it helps them to live through assumptions and beliefs. No one knows the reality behind death yet there are many different versions of stories which are told concerning it thus many people mention it as if it is something obvious. Self esteem enables a person to come up with beliefs which enhances his or her positive attitudes towards life and all what happens in it. Many cultural groups have different beliefs towards death like resting after completion of the accorded duties or dying so as to give their children a chance to live; these beliefs helps them to accept it. Some theories have come up to explain the existence and function of self esteem although none of them has come up with an actual reason for the phenomenon but they all conclude that self esteem acts to enhance acceptance of the individual worthiness or group so as to reduce the psychological terrorism of death. The sociometer and terror management theory are related in their argument although from the theoretical point of view they are different. The sociometer theory argues that the individual have a sociometer which controls their behaviour and social interaction with the other members of the society. Terror management is interested in the effect of fear of death thus either an individual or a group of people have a belief whose existence is determined by the degree of self esteem. References Leary, M. (1999). Making Sense of Self-Esteem. Current Directions in Psychological Science (Wiley-Blackwell), 8(1), 32-35. Retrieved from Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection database. Leary, M. (2004). The Function of Self-Esteem in Terror Management Theory and Sociometer Theory: Comment on Pyszczynski et al. (2004). Psychological Bulletin, 130(3), 478-482. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.130.3.478. Hansen, J., Winzeler, S., & Topolinski, S. (2010). When the death makes you smoke: A terror management perspective on the effectiveness of cigarette on-pack warnings. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 46 (1), 226-228. Goldenberg, J.L.; Pyszczynski, T., Greenberg, J., & Solomon, S. (2000). "Fleeing the body: A terror management perspective on the problem of human corporeality". Personality & Social Psychology Review 4 (3), 200–218. Fiske, T., Daniel, T. & Lindzey, G. (2010). Handbook of Social Psychology: Handbook of Social Psychology, 5(2), 123-143. Leary, R. & Tangney, J. (2005). Handbook of self and identity: Handbook of Social Psychology, 2(1), 543-567. Read More

The high self esteem helps one to perceive the world as a good place to base their hopes on immortality symbols such as children or legacies of fortune or wealth or literal immortality like life after death. This is a symbolic protector of the real life and the predictability of death and thus all people try to fight for their cultures to be accepted by the others hence having the esteem of the community. Overtaking of a certain world’s perception by another endangers self respect of the individuals resulting to either conflict between the thinkers followers of these views or individuals having a low opinion towards life or low self esteem (Leary, 1999).

Sociometer theory This theory argues that people are enhanced to protect individual self esteem or improve it by their thoughts and actions. The sociometer weighs the desires of a person to others influenced by the degree of self esteem, it measures the traits one has depending on their acceptance to the society and how they interact with it. Everybody has a need for interpersonal relationship for the benefit from each other such as reproduction. This theory suggests that self esteem watches over the social acceptance of an individual and helps to avoid societal rejection and devaluation hence it supports other theories which states that survival depends on social acceptance due to reasons like protection of each other, reproduction or mutual behaviours.

Thus controlling of a person’s acceptance through self esteem is important so as to access the benefits of social interactions and survive in the competition for the social benefits (Pyszczynski et al, 2000). Comparison between terror management theory and sociometer theory Both theories try to explain the existence and the importance of self esteem to the society. They argue that there are forces which determine the level of self esteem of an individual or the attitudes they have towards life and the activities that takes place.

Their ideas are related in that they are based on the social group of people or their cultural beliefs which determine their attitude towards life for example, reproduction or a feeling of protection facilitates the positive attitudes of living or leads to high self esteem. The need for the cultural norms and individuals to perceive themselves as members of the social groups and an understanding that examination of the behaviour of every individual in a given social group has a role in the maintenance of self esteem are features of both theories.

The focus on the negative part of the self esteem rather and not the positive. Both theories are based on evolution and argue that self esteem has advantages to the individuals. Both look at human relationship and control of human behaviour as necessary features as they enhance develop of high self esteem hence people are able to have a positive attitude towards life and are not psychologically terrorized by the fear of death. The different groups of people come up with the ideas of life after death or as afterworld life.

This can either be through resurrection, living as spirits or reproduction whereby their spirits live in the children. Another comparison between the two theories is that none of them can provide actual evidence as main explanation for the responsibility and function of self esteem (Pyszczynski et al, 2000). Both of the theories try to argue the need for self esteem in the lives of people but none of them is able prove beyond doubt the actual function of self esteem apart from that individual and group conduct derived by either of the theories.

The contrasts between the two theories Although the two theories are considered to be related whereby terror management theory is considered to be the complex version of the other, there are some factors which outline their differences. The new version suggests that self esteem is a mechanism which is culturally based and works to minimize the psychological terrorism caused by the thoughts and imaginations of death.

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