The effects of self-esteem, self-esteem salience and transgression on helping.

Abstract

How does level of self-esteem (SE) affect helping behavior? This question is important for two reasons. First, it is socially desirable to promote altruism, and to do this, one must first understand it. Second, success at being altruistic typically does not require special skills, unlike success in other domains. Thus, the motivation to be altruistic is a fairly direct indicator of the motivation to acquire positive self-relevant information (SRI). By studying altruism, we can learn how self-esteem guides the seeking of information about the self. Psychologists have disagreed when predicting the effect of self-esteem on helping. In the first part of this dissertation, the predictions about this relationship are grouped into five theories, and evidence for each is reviewed. A study is then presented which tests three of these theories: self-consistency theory, which states that low SE individuals actively avoid acquiring positive SRI; compensation theory, which states that low SE is associated with a strong desire to obtain positive SRI; and self-esteem maintenance theory, which states that high SE is associated with a strong desire to obtain positive SRI. In this study, Ss high or low in SE were given an opportunity to help. Prior to the help request, half the subjects were induced to transgress, and, orthogonal to the transgression manipulation, half the subjects were made highly aware of their SE level ("reminding" manipulation.). Among unreminded Ss, low SE Ss offered more help than did high SE Ss; this effect was strengthened by the transgression manipulation. Among reminded Ss, this pattern was reversed, with high SE Ss helping more than low SE Ss, especially following the transgression manipulation. It is concluded that behavior often fits the compensation model, with low SE individuals seeking positive SRI, especially after receiving negative SRI, such as the fact that they have transgressed. When SE level is highly salient, however, behavior better fits the predictions of the self-esteem maintenance model: Low SE individuals become too discouraged to seek positive SRI; high SE individuals become aware of conflicts between their behavior and self-image, and seek to reassert their positive self-image. No support was found for the self-consistency model.