Explaining the “How” of Self-Esteem Development: The Self-Organizing Self-Esteem Model

Abstract

The current article proposes a theoretical model of self-esteem called the Self-Organizing Self-Esteem (SOSE) model. The model provides an integrative framework for conceptualizing and understanding the intrinsic dynamics of self-esteem and the role of the context across 3 levels of development: The macro level, which is the level of trait self-esteem, the meso level, on which we find state self-esteem, and the micro level, which is the level of discrete self experiences. The model applies principles from the complex dynamics systems perspective to self-esteem, and can thus uniquely describe the underlying mechanism of self-esteem development based on self-organizational processes and interacting time scales. We compare the proposed SOSE model with a formalized account of the traditional approach to self-esteem, showing that the SOSE model is especially conducive to the understanding of self-esteem development in a way that the traditional approach is not—namely, in its ability to explain and predict the underlying dynamics of trait and state self-esteem, the meaning of variability, and the role of the context.

Self‐Esteem as a Complex Dynamic System: Intrinsic and Extrinsic Microlevel Dynamics

“…For individuals with relatively weak self-esteem attractor states, these attractor states will provide lower constraint on the moment-to-moment variability of state self-esteem. As a result, it will be relatively easy for the immediate social context to perturb the flow of state self-esteem and to move it from its current position, resulting in more reactivity [19].…”

“…These movements represent the variability of lower-order components of the system. From De Ruiter et al [19].…”

“…The study showed that, firstly, this temporal variability demonstrated intrinsic dynamics that resembled a fractal process, and secondly, that this variability was significantly different from the kind of variability that would be generated from fluctuations around a stable baseline. As Figure 2: Two forces acting upon state self-esteem (SE): self-esteem attractors have a degree of constraint on state self-esteem variability, and the immediate social context can perturb state self-esteem variability (adapted from [19]). 4 Complexity such, this previous study-like others that have studied the temporal dynamics of self-esteem [16,17,26,43]-did not test the role of the immediate context; nor did it examine differences between individuals' intrinsic dynamics.…”

“…We explore the interplay between intrinsic and extrinsic forces based on the predictions stemming from the selforganizing self-esteem model [19]. This is a theoretical model of self-esteem as a complex dynamic systems, and it explains the precise nature of "intrinsic dynamics" in self-esteem, and how the interaction between intrinsic dynamics and contextual forces can bring about state self-esteem variability [19].…”

“…The Nature of the Intrinsic Dynamics of Self-Esteem. The self-organizing self-esteem model [19] asserts that state self-esteem is dynamically nested within a larger self-esteem system. State self-esteem experiences are the lower-order process within this system.…”