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Public Self and Private Self pp 189–212Cite as

The Causes and Consequences of a Need for Self-Esteem: A Terror Management Theory

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Part of the book series: Springer Series in Social Psychology ((SSSOC))

Abstract

Throughout the past few thousand years, historical accounts, philosophical treatises, and works of fiction and poetry have often depicted humans as having a need to perceive themselves as good, and their actions as moral and justified. Within the last hundred years, a number of important figures in the development of modern psychology have also embraced this notion that people need self-esteem (e.g., Adler, 1930; Allport, 1937; Homey, 1937; James, 1890; Maslow, 1970; Murphy, 1947; Rank, 1959; Rogers, 1959; Sullivan, 1953). Of these, Karen Homey most thoroughly discussed the ways people try to attain and maintain a favorable self-image. The clinical writings of Horney, and other psychotherapists as well, document the ways in which people attempt to defend and enhance self-esteem; they also suggest that difficulty maintaining self-esteem, and maladaptive efforts to do so, may be central to a variety of mental health problems. In this chapter, we will first review the research supporting the existence of a need for self-esteem. Then we will present a theory that accounts for this need and specifies the role it plays in a variety of phenomena including self-presentation.

True dignity abides with him alone Who, in the silent hour of inward thought, Can still suspect, and still revere himself, In lowliness of heart.

William Wordsworth

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Authors
  1. Jeff Greenberg
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  2. Tom Pyszczynski
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  3. Sheldon Solomon
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, 44106, USA

    Roy F. Baumeister

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Greenberg, J., Pyszczynski, T., Solomon, S. (1986). The Causes and Consequences of a Need for Self-Esteem: A Terror Management Theory. In: Baumeister, R.F. (eds) Public Self and Private Self. Springer Series in Social Psychology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9564-5_10

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