Self-Esteem and Conformity - Research Paper Example

Self-Esteem and Conformity Self-esteem is the way that an individual perceives self physically, emotionally and socially. Self esteem is an integral part of an individual’s identity and it determines the development of personality and character. Self esteem is influenced by various aspects in people’s daily lives and they all contribute in part, to the development of an individual’s perception about self. Self esteem is built around people’s abilities, strengths and weaknesses, which all culminate to determine the how a person is perceived by self and others around them in society. Factors that directly or indirectly influence ability have impacts whether positive or negative on these features, and affect the self esteem of a person. People are known to protect their self esteem by avoiding situations and circumstances that challenge or try to diminish their self esteem. Conformity is the act of changing or accepting other ideas, principles and behavior that are not original part of self. This is in the sense that a person is forced or willingly adapts to other ideals, principles and behaviors that were originally not a part of their identity. Conformity is associated to identity, and to self esteem to some extent. There have been various research studies that have been conducted to investigate self esteem and conformity as separate entities or as complementary features of each other. This paper seeks to highlight the significant role of each aspect on each other. Solomon Asch is famous researcher who first conducted what is now commonly referred to as the “Solomon Asch Experiment” (Chou et al, 2013). In this experiment, he was able to demonstrate that conformity took place at all levels of existence. His experiment involved testing how individuals in separate groups perceived different lines of varying length and thickness. The experiment showed that the experimental group changed their earlier perceptions in line with the control group. This showed that people were open to manipulation with regard to their perceptions if the right influence and motivators were used. With regard to self esteem, conformity can be construed to be a major factor that affects the way that people perceive self and others in society. Self esteem is based on personal belief systems that help individuals define who they are to self and others around them in society. Conformity on the other hand delves into factors that lead to changes that play a crucial factor in determining a person’s identity and character. Conformity poses a threat to self esteem because it involves changing an individual’s belief systems. When a person’s belief systems are exposed to factors that have the potential to change them in either the positive or negative, a person’s psyche is programed to resist these changes. Conformity is an influential force that has an effect on self esteem depending on whether this influence is high, low or medium. Self esteem is also regarded in terms of high, medium or low, and each category has its effects on both the individual and the society. For the purposes of determining whether self esteem has a direct effect on conformity, a research study was designed to test this hypothesis. This was because after a review of previous research studies that have been previously conducted, the research team found a gap in the explanation why there existed conformers and non-conformers (Chou et al, 2013). To better understand the relationship between self esteem and conformity a research study was formulated to investigate the relationship between conformity and self esteem. It was discovered that there is a lot of practical experience and knowledge that could be gained form this experiment. The information garnered from this experiment can be applied in all areas of everyday life. Self esteem is significantly affected by the way things are presented to a person, and the way they deal with the situation. Success or failure when coping with a situation has a huge impact on an individual’s self esteem. People with low self esteem are more likely to conform than people with high self esteem. This can be explained by looking at the way that these people perceive themselves. People with high self esteem have strong belief systems that are characterized by entrenched ideologies that are hard to corrupt or manipulate. On the other hand, people with low self esteem have weak belief systems that are easily corrupted. People with low self esteem are shy in public and they do not like public display which might expose their vulnerability. This research was designed to investigate how self esteem affects conformity in a controlled sample experiment. Method. Participants: The participants were picked from a psychology beginner’s class, which included 23 female and male participants. The participants were informed about the nature of the experiment, the risks involved and they were informed that participation was voluntary (Chou et al, 2013). They were made aware of the confidential nature of the experiment for purposes of future publication of the findings. The willing participants were made to sign confidentiality and consent documents. As a motivator, they were told that their participation was going to be rewarded with five extra marks in their total scores for that term. Experimental Design: This research study was based on an experimental design that used the within-participants strategy or approach. This experimental approach is characterized by exposing all the research subjects to all the conditions or treatments and factors under investigation. These treatments are construed as the independent variables (IV) and dependent variables (DV). The within-subjects approach was chosen because it does not require a lot of participants to execute the experiment. Procedure and Materials: The research study was conducted by issuing of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale is a scale used by social scientists in research (Stangor, 2013). It was developed by Dr. Morris Rosenberg that uses the ten item Linker type scale where items are answered in a four point scale. The ten items are designed to have five positively worded statements and the other five are negatively worded. It uses the current feelings of the test taker to measure their self esteem. Theses scales were in the form of questionnaires that were handed to all the research study participants. Fig.1. Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale (Sample). Strongly Strongly Agree. Agree. Disagree. Disagree. 1.On the whole I am satisfied with myself. 1 2 3 4 2. At times I think that I am no good at all. 1 2 3 4 3. I feel that I have a number of good qualities. 1 2 3 4 A manipulation check on self esteem was also applied in this research study which was used to investigate the extent to which self perception with regard to failure would affect the overall results. Fig.2. Manipulation Check. Not At All A Little Bit Somewhat Very Much Extremely 1. I feel confident about my abilities. 1 2 3 4 5 2. I feel worried about whether I am regarded as a success or failure. 1 2 3 4 5 3. I feel frustrated or rattled about my performance. 1 2 3 4 5 The Autobiographical Recall (failure) was also used in this study where the participants were asked to describe in detail a moment in their lives when they had experienced great failure. This test was meant to act as a self esteem manipulation check. The ten point Likert scale was used where the participants were to rate four female faces for attractiveness. These two tests were meant to act as self esteem manipulators, which also served as controls in the experiment. Results. The results were calculated by analyzing the Rosenberg scale and median split by looking at the higher score in higher trait self esteem condition. A lower score in lower trait self esteem condition on the scale of 0-3. Conformity was calculated by looking at other student’s higher than subject initial rating and assigning it as high conformity which was denoted as peer high PH. The given rating of other student’s lower than subject initial rating meant low conformity peer low (PL). Then the subject’s initial rating subtracted from the subject’s second rating. All PH and PL items are averaged and the PL is reversed (-1*PL). The PH is then averaged with reversed PL which gives the final value for conformity, with a higher number illustrating high conformity. Discussion. The indications illustrated by the results showed that people who scored high on the conformity scale had high self esteem. On the other hand, people who scored high on the self esteem scale had low conformity scores (Leary & Tangeny, 2005). The results also illustrated that low self esteem people, from an overall point of view; conformed less but were significantly affected by manipulations. Manipulations made low self esteem people increase in conformity in failure condition. The study presented some confounding indications with regard o the high self esteem group and their levels of conformity. This is because the findings went against the hypothesis on the part of the high self esteem group. This is in the sense that people with high self esteem conformed more overall than those with low self esteem, but the findings were not significant. Failure did lead to higher degrees of conformity in the low self esteem group, but not to a significant extent. In view of interaction, the findings were able to support the notion of people with low self esteem dramatically increasing their conformity in failure conditions. The only significance that able to be established in this research study was that the manipulation check was effective in reflecting the effects of confounding variables that are present in natural conditions. This is in support of earlier stated postulates that claimed people with low self esteem were prone to corruption of their belief systems. On the other hand, people with high self esteem were less likely to conform to other people’s ideas or notions. Self esteem is a key component of an individual’s identity, and when that identity is not formed or based on a strong foundation, it is prone to weaknesses. These weaknesses in are the source of a low self esteem because they expose someone to inconsistencies in their personality, which when exposed, can be negatively exploited by other people. This research was able to establish the fact that variations in self esteem had a significant influence on the way that people perceived different things in life. The use of autobiographical recall test was for the purposes of manipulating the participants in an effort to test the effect of confounding variables that were not accounted for in the experiment. The Likert scale used in rating the faces from the internet was instrumental in determining the effect of outside influences on self esteem. These manipulators were meant to help the research team investigate the effect of positive and negative attitude towards failure and success with regard to self esteem. For the purposes of this study, negative attitude prompted by failure in the past was elicited to illustrate how this had an effect on the self esteem of the participants. Subjects with low self esteem exhibited vulnerability to the effects of reliving their past failures through the autobiographical recall test than participants with high self esteem. This experiment was focused on self esteem as the IV because it determined the level of conformity in different individuals depending on their self esteem levels. People with a low self esteem are likely to act or behave in ways that are meant to please those they deem more superior to them. According to Cardwell and Flanagan, this is especially true in group situations because in a separate one on one encounter the low self esteem individual is likely to avoid contact. This is a characteristic of a mode of conformity referred to as compliance. On the other hand, acceptance is yielding to social pressure and at the same time agreeing that the prescribed code of conduct is right (Cleary & Flanagan, 2005). The manipulations used may have led to demand characteristics which can be avoided by using failure feedback tasks in the future. The limited sample size also acted as slight limitation because of the use of between subjects design. The instructions about re-rating to the study participants could have been confusing, and they could be improved by stating the instructions orally. The generality of the research study’s findings leaves this field open and wanting thus, necessitating the need for further research into different groups of people. These groups can be classified into young children, adolescents and teenagers, young adults and old people to determine how age affects conformity with regard to self esteem. Although this research study provides generalized results regarding conformity and self esteem, it is an encouragement for future research in this area. There is a lot of practical knowledge that can be garnered from studies in this line of query which can be applied in various areas of psychology. References. Cardwell, M. & Flanagan, C. (2005). Psychology AS. 3rd Illustrated Edition. London: Nelson Thornes. Chou, T. J., Chang, E. C., Dai, Q., & Wong, V. (2013). Replacement between Conformity and Counter-Conformity in Consumption Decisions 1, 2. Psychological reports, 112(1), 125- 150. Leary, M. R. & Tangeny, J. P. (2005). Handbook of Self And Identity. Illustrated Reprint Edition. London: Guildford Press. Stangor, C. (2013). Social Groups in Action and Interaction. Atlanta: Psychology Press. Read More