The test is designed to determine the amount of compliance with healthy self-esteem criteria. It also allows you to assess individuals’ perceptions of their worth individually and within society. It will be measured according to a scale, which the answers chosen by the individual will influence. The construct will be the number of points obtained when taking the test – the average number of points will equate to healthy self-esteem. This test aims to determine the distribution of individuals in society on adequate self-esteem. It will predict how groups with different self-esteem will come into contact in the future and which paths will be taken by those with too low or too high scores.
Background
The concept of self-esteem first emerged over 300 years ago and began with defining a person’s worth. Gradually, the doctrine of self-esteem evolved and became more scientific: concepts of “self” and the comprehension of self-perception and reality emerged. With the development of the behaviorist movement, the study of self-esteem receded into the background, and psychological aspects were not extensively discussed in science. With the advent of humanistic psychology, interest in self-esteem returned, and tests arose. They are still administered regularly today because they essentially allow for the choice of treatment tactics. For example, the Rosenberg Self-Assessment Scale was developed in 1972 and showed reliable results correlated with observation (Nguyen et al., 2019). Marilyn Sorensen’s test allows to determine whether a person was suffering from low self-esteem and finding this group of individuals in time and correcting their attitudes toward themselves. Nowadays, the Rosenberg test in combination is used for practice because it allows establishing the influence of external factors on the formation of evaluation.
Self-assessment tests must constantly evolve as the changing conditions of the world around us affect the individual. Social distancing, internet communication, and the development of technology impact people of different cultures, genders, and orientations in different ways. The test being developed will include as many contemporary factors as possible that could potentially influence the formation of self-esteem. There is a need for this type of test as society becomes increasingly multifaceted, multicultural, and integrated. This test is expected to understand better adolescent behavior and why risky behavior indices are still high. It will summarize the data and categorize the factors that most frequently make teens uncomfortable. The test will be better than the previous ones by considering new factors affecting self-esteem. The evaluation of the test results for validity (that is, t-test or ANOVA) will make it possible to establish its effectiveness and relate it to previously observed data.
Conceptualization
The test will contain three questions: some will assess the degree of awareness, others will assess perceptions of one’s role in society, and others will determine subjective assumptions about how others see the subject. Each group will need to answer the question directly (yes/no) or agree (completely, instead, do not know) with the proposed statement. Likely, an image of a pyramid will also be provided, on which it will be asked to arrange the concepts with which the examinee can characterize them. In addition, it would be appropriate to include a picture of a person and ask them to rate each criterion of appearance because self-esteem depends on an awareness of one’s attractiveness. These parts will be included in the test as they can determine a person’s ability to answer questions honestly, allow scores to be counted, and provide a visualized representation of the subject’s self-image.
The test users will be psychologists and employees of social services and schools who will work with difficult adolescents. The test will first be used in a group counseling setting, where an initial community assessment will be conducted, and then in individual sessions. The purpose of personal testing is to establish the influence of society on the formation of self-esteem. Accordingly, the test subjects will be high school adolescents since they require special attention at this time.
The sociocultural environment sets the “framework” and “boundaries” of a person’s living space. Society includes a person as an element of its system. Their interaction is built on the principle of correspondence; otherwise, it is impossible for their interaction and mutual enrichment. It means an individual’s culture under the influence of the subculture in which they live and act, simultaneously bringing their achievements into it. Adequacy of their perception of themselves in culture depends on their self-esteem as a bearer of culture and the degree of realization of their potentialities discovered in interaction with the environment.
Potential cultural factors that might influence the test results will be the main subject of study in the long run. Such factors are expected to include the region of residence, upbringing with different nations and ethnic groups, living conditions, availability of communication, and many others (Masselink et al., 2018). Language and level of education will be factors influencing test scores as well. By evaluating the relationship of these factors among themselves and within other, say, privileged groups, one can probably establish critical points of sociocultural influence.
References
Nguyen, D. T., Wright, E. P., Dedding, C., Pham, T. T., & Bunders, J. (2019). Low self-esteem and its association with anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation in Vietnamese secondary school students: A cross-sectional study. Frontiers in psychiatry. Web.
Masselink, M., Van Roekel, E., & Oldehinkel, A. J. (2018). Self-esteem in early adolescence as predictor of depressive symptoms in late adolescence and early adulthood: The mediating role of motivational and social factors. Journal of youth and adolescence, 47(5), 932–946. Web.