Self-esteem is a central mechanism in psychological health and is reported to be readily accessible to Christians due to their unique relationship with an unconditionally accepting God. The self-esteem levels of 351 evangelical Christians from college and church settings and 1115 general volunteers comprised of students, administrators, and government employees were measured by the Self-Esteem scale of the Coping Resources Inventory for Stress. Analysis of variance indicated that the more highly educated graduate student and academic administrator subgroups of the general population outdistanced several other general subgroups and accounted for the significant differences between the two large populations. The mean scores of the Christian subgroups were not significantly different from each other nor from any general subgroups, but fluctuated as a function of educational level in a pattern consistent with the general population. Personal attainments are offered as a prominent antecedent of self-esteem and the findings are discussed in terms of the inadequacies of cognitive change alone to produce practical gains in this attribute and the relative stability of the self-esteem trait
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AycockD.W. (1983). Early developmental studies on the Coping Resources Inventory (Doctoral dissertation, Georgia State University, 1983). Dissertation Abstracts International, 44, 3516B.
2.
AycockD.W., & MathenyK.B. (1984). Assessment of stress coping resource modifiability through psycho-educational training. Manuscript submitted for publication.
3.
BanduraA. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review, 84, 191–215.
4.
BanduraA. (1978). The self system in reciprocal determinism. American Psychologist, 33, 344–358.
5.
BanduraA. (1982). Self-efficacy mechanism in human agency. American Psychologist, 37, 122–147.
6.
BradleyL.R., & StewartM.A. (1982). The relationship between self-concept and personality development in Black college students: A developmental approach. Journal of Non-White Concerns in Personnel and Guidance, 10, 114–125.
7.
BrammerL.M., & AbregoP.J. (1981). Intervention strategies for coping with transitions. The Counseling Psychologist, 9, 19–36.
8.
BrandenN. (1969). The psychology of self-esteem.New York: Bantam Books.
9.
BreytspraakL.M., & GeorgeL.K. (1979). Measurement of self-concept and self-esteem in older people: State of the art. Experimental Aging and Research, 5, 137–148.
10.
BroenW.E. (1957). A factor-analytic study of religious attitudes. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 54, 176–179.
11.
California Department of Mental Health, Office of Prevention. (1979). In pursuit of wellness.San Francisco: 2346 Irving Street, #108.
12.
ClineV.B., & RichardsJ.M. (1965). A factor-analytic study of religious belief and behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1, 569–578.
13.
CoopersmithS. (1967). The antecedents of self-esteem.San Francisco: W.H. Freeman.
14.
CovellK., & TurnbullW. (1982). The long term effects of father absence in childhood identity and personal adjustment. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 141, 271–276.
15.
CowenE.L. (1954). The negative concept as a personality measure. Journal of Consulting Psychology, 18, 138–142.
16.
DodrillC.B. (1976). Personality differences between Christian and secular college students. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 4, 152–157.
17.
EllisonC.W. (1978). The bases of self-esteem. Journal of the American Scientific Affiliation, 30, 59–66.
18.
EllithorpeC. (1984). The relationship of health with sources of stress and coping resources among school adminstrators. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Georgia State University, Atlanta.
19.
EngelM. (1959). The stability of the self-concept in adolescence. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 58, 211–215.
20.
FairchildL. (1978). … as thyself. Journal of Religion and Health, 17, 210–214.
21.
FehrL.A., & HeintzelmanM.E. (1977). Personality and attitude correlates of religiosity: A source of controversy. The Journal of Psychology, 95, 63–66.
22.
FisherS. (1964). Acquiescence and religiosity. Psychological Reports, 15, 784.
23.
GergenK.J. (1971). The concept of self.New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
GregoryW.E. (1957). The orthodoxy of the authoritarian personality. Journal of Social Psychology, 45, 217–232.
26.
GullesserianB.J. (1984). The relationship between coping resources of depressive psychiatric in patients and their degree of depression. Unpublished master's thesis, Georgia State University, Atlanta.
27.
GurinG., VeroffJ., & FieldS. (1960). Americans view their mental health.Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
28.
HadawayC.K. (1978). Life satisfaction and religion: A reanalysis. Social Forces, 57, 636–643.
29.
HeintzelmanM.E., & FehrL.A. (1976). Relationship between religious orthodoxy and three personality variables. Psychological Reports, 38, 756–758.
30.
HelperM.M. (1958). Parental evaluations of children and children's self-expectations. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 56, 190–194.
31.
HensleyW.E. (1983). Gender, self-esteem and height. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 56, 235–238.
32.
HolcombL. (1975). Role concepts and self-esteem in church women with implications for pastoral counseling. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 3, 119–126.
33.
JamesW. (1890). Principles of psychology.New York: Norton.
34.
JonesR.W., & MathenyK.B. (1970). Self-expectations and the learning environment. Unpublished manuscript, Georgia State University, Department of Counseling and Psychological Services, Atlanta.
35.
LazarusA. (1971). Behavior therapy and beyond.New York: McGraw-Hill.
36.
LewterB.R. (1984). Self-concept change in a Christian college classroom. Journal of Psychology and Christianity, 3, 67–73.
37.
LindenW., & FeuersteinM. (1981). Essential hypertension and social coping behavior. Journal of Human Stress, 7, 28–34.
38.
MartinC., & NicholsR.C. (1962). Personality and religious belief. Journal of Social Psychology, 56, 3–8.
39.
MathenyK.B., CurletteW., AycockD.W., PughJ.L., & TaylorH.F. (1981). Coping Resources Inventory for Stress. Unpublished manuscript, Georgia State University, Department of Counseling and Psychological Services, Atlanta.
40.
MaugerP. A. (1976). Specialized personality inventories for Christians? In DonaldsonW.J. (Ed.) Research in mental health and religious behavior (pp. 396–429). Atlanta: The Psychological Studies Institute.
41.
McAllisterE.W. (1982). The self-concept structure of evangelical/fundamentalist ministers. Journal of Psychology and Christianity, 1, 14–20.
42.
MeichenbaumD. (1977). Cognitive behavior modification: An integrative approach.New York: Plenum.
43.
MiyamotoS.F., & DornbuschS.M. (1956). A test of interactionist hypotheses of self-conception. American Journal of Sociology, 41, 399–403.
44.
MoonG.W., & FantuzzoJ. (1983). An integration: Christian maturity and positive mental health. Journal of Psychology and Christianity, 2, 27–38.
MurrellM.E., & LesterD. (1982). The personalities of short people. Psychological Reports, 50, 1034.
47.
OrcuttM.A., & WalshW.B. (1979). Traditionality and congruence of career aspirations for college women. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 14, 1–11.
48.
PancheriP., & BenaissaC. (1978). Stress and psychosomatic illness. In SpielbergerC., & SarasonI. (Eds.) Stress and anxiety (Vol. 5). Washington: Hemisphere.
49.
PughJ.L. (1984). The factors underlying coping resources: An empirical verification (Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Georgia State University, Atlanta.
50.
PurkeyW.W. (1970). Self-concept and school achievement.Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
51.
RogersC.R. (1961). On becoming a person.Boston: Houghton-Mifflin.
52.
RosenbergM., & PearlinL.I. (1978). Social class and self-esteem among children and adults. American Journal of Sociology, 84, 53–77.
53.
SchipperD.J. (1977). Self-concept differences between early, late, and non-boarding missionary children. Doctoral dissertation, Rosemead Graduate School of Psychology, 1977). Dissertation Abstracts International, 38, 1905B.
54.
SchmidtP.F. (1984). Self-esteem: Assessing the moral dimension. Journal of Psychology and Christianity, 3, 52–56.
55.
SearsR.R. (1970). Relation of early socialization experiences to self-concepts and gender role in middle childhood. Child Development, 41, 267–289.
56.
SmithC.B., WeigertA.J., & ThomasD.L. (1979). Self-esteem and religiosity: An analysis of Catholic adolescents from five cultures. Journal for the Study of Religion, 18, 51–60.
StanleyG. (1964). Personality and attitude correlates of religious conversion. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 4, 60–63.
59.
StrunkO. (1969). Relationship between self-reports and adolescent religiosity. In GoldM., & DouvanE. (Eds.) Adolescent development: Readings in research and theory.Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
60.
SuperD. (1957). The psychology of career.New York: Harper & Row.
61.
TiptonR.M., HarrisonB.M., & MahoneyJ. (1980). Faith and locus of control. Psychological Reports, 46, 1151–1154.
62.
WickstromD.L. (1978). Self-esteem and dependency in early, late and nonboarding missionary children. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Rosemead Graduate School of Psychology, Rosemead, CA.
63.
WilderW.G. (1978). The search for self-esteem. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 6, 183–188.
64.
WitmerJ., RichC., BarcikowskiR.S., & MagueI.C. (1983). Psychosocial characteristics mediating the stress response. An exploratory study. The Personnel and Guidance Journal, 62, 73–77.
65.
ZuckermanD.M. (1980). Self-esteem, personal traits and college women's life goals. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 17, 310–319.
