People with low self-esteem (LSEs) often have doubts about how much their romantic partners love and value them. These doubts, which undermine their relationships, are difficult to overcome because LSEs tend to downplay the meaning of positive behaviour and resist positive feedback from their partners. In Study 1, I provided evidence for the notion that LSEs’ “insensitivity” to acceptance is a form of motivated self-protection, rather than a pervasive negative bias. In Studies 2-4, I investigated whether LSEs could be induced to take their partners’ kind words to heart by manipulating how abstractly they described a recent compliment. LSEs felt more positively about the compliments, themselves, and their relationships – as positively as HSEs felt – when they were encouraged to describe the meaning and significance of the compliments. The positive effects of this abstract reframing intervention were still evident two weeks later, in both participants’ self-reported thoughts and feelings about their relationships and in partners’ reports of participants’ behaviour towards them. Study 5 demonstrated that the abstract reframing intervention prevented LSEs from taking a relationship threat to heart and lashing out at their partners. Taken together, the present studies show that when prompted to reframe affirmations from their partners, LSEs feel just as secure and satisfied with their romantic relationships and behave as positively towards their partners as HSEs do.

People with low self-esteem (LSEs) often have doubts about how much their romantic partners love and value them. These doubts, which undermine their relationships, are difficult to overcome because LSEs tend to downplay the meaning of positive behaviour and resist positive feedback from their partners. In Study 1, I provided evidence for the notion that LSEs’ “insensitivity” to acceptance is a form of motivated self-protection, rather than a pervasive negative bias. In Studies 2-4, I investigated whether LSEs could be induced to take their partners’ kind words to heart by manipulating how abstractly they described a recent compliment. LSEs felt more positively about the compliments, themselves, and their relationships – as positively as HSEs felt – when they were encouraged to describe the meaning and significance of the compliments. The positive effects of this abstract reframing intervention were still evident two weeks later, in both participants’ self-reported thoughts and feelings about their relationships and in partners’ reports of participants’ behaviour towards them. Study 5 demonstrated that the abstract reframing intervention prevented LSEs from taking a relationship threat to heart and lashing out at their partners. Taken together, the present studies show that when prompted to reframe affirmations from their partners, LSEs feel just as secure and satisfied with their romantic relationships and behave as positively towards their partners as HSEs do.

Of the numerous psychological constructs self-esteem is the most known. It is well documented that having high levels of self-esteem is associated with positive health implications. Self-esteem is theorized as a global and stable construct impacted by both academic and non-academic domains. The physical domain compartmentalized within the non-academic domain, is used to look at self-esteem related to physical self-perceptions. In the physical domain, the Exercise and Self-Esteem Model (EXSEM) (Sonstroem & Morgan, 1989) was developed to measure changes in self-esteem, physical competence, physical acceptance, and self-efficacy across an exercise intervention. Fox (2000b) suggested that middle-age marks a time where positive changes to self-esteem are possible. For women, middle-age can be accompanied by several challenges including a physical body that moves further from societys ideal (i.e., young, beautiful, and thin). Hatha yoga is an exercise practice that has become popular in North America in recent years, especially with middle-aged adults, and may represent an ideal activity to be used within the EXSEM as it emphasizes both physical competence and acceptance. <p>The purpose of the study was to utilize the EXSEM as a framework to examine self-esteem, physical competence, physical acceptance, and yoga self-efficacy constructs for middle-aged women participating in a 12-week Hatha yoga intervention. An additional exploratory objective of the study was to examine potential changes in mindfulness consisting of observing, describing, acting with awareness, and accepting without judgement for middle-aged women participating in a 12-week Hatha yoga intervention. <p>Participants in the study were 51 women (M age 49.3  6.1; yoga group, n = 21; control group, n = 30) of predominantly White ethnicity (92%). Descriptive information about the sample via a demographics form and an Eastern philosophy familiarity open-ended question, and the following measures, Godin Leisure-Time Exercise Questionnaire (GLTEQ; Godin, & Shephard, 1985), Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES; Rosenberg, 1965), Physical Self-Perception Profile (PSPP; Fox & Corbin, 1989), Body Esteem Scale (BES; Franzoi, & Shields, 1984), Body Image Visual Analog Scale (BIVAS), Yoga Self-Efficacy Scale (YSES), and the Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills (KIMS; Baer, Smith, & Allen, 2004) were collected at pre-test and post-test (YSES was administered an additional time for the yoga group only). Doubly multivariate analyses using SPSS (version 14.0) examined four statistical models to answer research questions and help negotiate several dependent variables in the research design. Model 1 looked at higher order constructs in the EXSEM (i.e., RSES, physical self-worth subscale of the PSPP, BES, BIVAS, and YSES). Model 2 was identical to model 1 with the exception of including lower order domain items for physical competence (i.e., PSPP subscales of sport competence, physical strength, physical condition, attractive body). Model 3 looked at subscales of YSES (i.e., standing poses, forward bends, back bends, twists, and seated/supine poses), whereas model 4 examined subscales of KIMS only (i.e., observe, describe, act with awareness, accept without judgement). <p>Following the doubly multivariate analysis, PSPP subscales showed significant group by time interactions; follow-up univariate tests, p < .05, showed significance on PSW F(1, 49) = 12.22, conditioning subscale of PSPP F(1, 49) = 10.65, strength subscale on PSPP F(1, 49) = 13.11, BIVAS F(1, 49) = 6.45, YSE total score F(1, 49) = 9.84, and YSE subscales of forward bends F(1, 49) = 17.84, twists F(1, 49) = 8.18, and seated/supine poses F(1, 49) = 6.21, and observation subscale of KIMS F(1, 49) = 12.16, p < .05. In all cases, the yoga group improved more over time than the control group.<p>General support for the use of the EXSEM for middle-aged women participating in Hatha yoga over 12-weeks was noted with changes in yoga self-efficacy for total score, twists, forward bends, and seated/supine poses; physical competence of physical self-worth, body conditioning, and physical strength; and physical acceptance (BIVAS). A major finding was that no overall change in self-esteem was found with a sample whose means for self-esteem were similar to previous research with middle-aged women. Similarly, partial support for mindfulness with changes in observing following the 12-week Hatha yoga intervention was found. Future research should focus on further developing appropriate measurement of physical acceptance; the appropriateness of EXSEM for examining Hatha yoga should be considered; qualitative methods should be used to gain additional insight into the process of Hatha yoga participation for middle-aged women.

The symptoms of females with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD) have been underreported, possibly due to the fact that their symptoms of inattention are often overlooked. Research has revealed that individuals report low selfesteem as a result of undiagnosed AD/HD. Thus, if these individuals are not diagnosed and exposed to the proper treatment for their AD/HD symptoms, they may continue to endure progressive psychological impairments in the years to come. The current study is an attempt to contribute to the literature concerning the presentation and outcome of AD/HD in women. This study aims to determine the relationship of self esteem and AD/HD in college women. A sample of 74 women participated in this study. A total of 24 students diagnosed with AD/HD and 50 students without AD/HD comprised the sample. Participants completed a demographic questionnaire and an AD/HD and Self-Esteem inventory. Results of this study indicated that women who were diagnosed with AD/HD scored higher than the comparison sample on all scales measuring AD/HD symptoms. As predicted, AD/HD symptoms were found to be negatively related to self-esteem. On the other hand, no significant correlations were found between the age of women when they were first diagnosed with AD/HD and their current level of self-esteem. It was also determined that family support was related self-esteem. Thus, family support was examined as a moderator of the relation between self-esteem and AD/HD. Unfortunately, family support does not appear to moderate the relation between AD/HD and self-esteem. Limitations of this study included a small sample size, the use of self-reports, not examining subtypes of AD/HD individually, and not requiring a medication abstinence period. Despite limitations, this study provides some insight on the outcomes of women with AD/HD. It also provides evidence for the need of additional research in the area of women with AD/HD; their life-span experience with AD/HD and the effects of a late diagnosis. Further studies in this area of interest that include larger sample sizes from multiple postsecondary institutions will be necessary to determine that the results in this study are in fact generalizable to other college women diagnosed with AD/HD.

Teasing is prevalent throughout the lives of most individuals beginning in childhood. Teasing can be a positive "pro-social" interaction, or a negative "anti-social" experience. Childhood teasing on the "anti-social" level has been show to have detrimental effects on an individual's self-esteem and has been linked to increased psychological distress in adulthood. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of an individual's environment, as defined by his or her teasing history with their peers and families, at different stages during their development on their level of self-esteem. Two hundred and three adult participants completed a questionnaire packet designed to measure teasing history, self-esteem, and perceived social support from family and peers. Results indicated that negative teasing interactions were related to lower reported levels of self-esteem. Negative teasing from one's family during elementary school and negative teasing from one's peers during middle school were found to have the greatest influence on current self-esteem levels. Results also showed that early and concurrent exposure to teasing at the pro-social level during elementary school could negate the later influence future anti-social teasing might have on one's self esteem levels. Implications for practice and recommendations for future research are presented.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 100-110). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis--PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--Central Connecticut State University, 2002. / Thesis advisor: Raymond Chip Tafrate. " ... in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Criminal Justice." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 26-28). Also available via the World Wide Web.

The general purposes of this study were to investigate relationships between tutoring style and self-efficacy, as well as relationships between self-efficacy and self-efficacy ratings. The specific purposes of the study were to investigate the relationship between Participant Modeling and Didactic treatments on self-efficacy ratings, as well as the relationship between self-efficacy and subsequent math computation performance. In -addition to investigating these factors, their effects relative to the particular cognitive style of the students was measured.There were 75 subjects who participated in the study. Permission slips were sent to 183 fourth graders in the three participating schools. A total of seven classes were involved. Permission slips were returned by 109 children, all of who were administered the MFFT. The median split procedure was used-to classify the children into two groups, 34 impulsive, and 41 reflective. The children were randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups or a control group.Three levels of tutoring comprised the active independent variable and two levels of conceptual tempo made up the independent attribute variable. Data were processed for 75 of the original 77 subjects, as two were lost due to attrition.The research design utilized was a 3 X 2 fixed effects factorial design. The final hypothesis was measured by a Pearson Product Moment Correlation utilizing the Fisher Z statistic.ConclusionsAnalysis of the data revealed that there was a significant relationship between self-efficacy ratings for 1D problems and treatment type. Both the participant modeling and didactic treatment groups showed significant main effects at the .05 level.The treatment effects did not reach significance at the 2D and M2D difficulty levels.There were no significant relationships between the reflective-impulsive conceptual tempo and persistence regardless of difficulty level. This indicates that conceptual tempo is probably not a factor with regard to persistence in problem solving and is not related significantly to this aspect of self-efficacy theory.Finally, the data analysis revealed that self-efficacy ratings were not reliable predictors of subsequent math computation performance regardless of difficulty level or conceptual tempo.

Thesis (D. Min.)--New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, 1997. / Abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 176-180).