Self-Esteem Response Paper

Read the Baumeister PDF article (available via Blackboard), and read Chapter 5 in your textbook.

Please type (double-spaced, Times New Roman 12 pt font or equivalent) responses to each of the below questions. I anticipate your responses will take approximately 4 pages. You should number your responses -- no need to weave your question answers into a "paper." Please note that I will be looking for explicit references to the concepts and studies contained in the article and textbook chapter you read, in addition to your own thoughtful critique. You are required to use APA style to cite your sources (including the textbook). For instructions on APA style, see: Citing your Sources.

1. How does Baumeister define "low" self-esteem?

2. Answer question 1 at the end of the Baumeister article (labeled page 24).

3. Answer question 4 at the end of the Baumeister article (labeled page 24).

4. Explain the sociometer theory and its basis in evolutionary psychology (see textbook).

5. Recent research by myself and colleagues (Crocker & Wolfe, 2001) suggests that people differ in the extent to which they base their worth on general approval from other people. African-Americans, for example, are on average less likely than European-Americans to report that their self-esteem depends on what other people think of them. Why might African-Americans be less likely than Caucasians to hold approval from others as a contingency of worth? Does this finding support or refute sociometer theory's definition of self-esteem? Explain your answer.