abril de 2004 - CCHLA - Universidade Federal da Paraíba

Generated by Foxit PDF Creator © Foxit Softwarehttp://www.foxitsoftware.com For evaluation only.Self EvaluationHighHighHigh Self-EsteemLowLowEgotisticalSelf-EffacingLow Self-EsteemExisting scales, since they use vernacular wordsand don’t distinguish between cognitive and emotionalcomponents, confound self-effacing attitudes and low selfesteem,and egotism and high self-esteem. Nowhere inthe vast literature on self-esteem has this possibility beenconsidered, probably because everyday pride and shameare hidden by the vernacular meanings of the words prideand shame in English.Although not as intense as the emotion/cognitiveand positive/negative splits in the meaning of shame, thevernacular meaning of the word pride in English is alsoambiguous. Unless one precedes the word with "justified,authentic or genuine," there is an inflection of arroganceor hubris, " the pride that goeth before the fall."Uninflected pride is routinely considered to be on theSeven Deadly Sins. This type would better be called falsepride, because it implies covering up shame. A newconceptual definition of self-esteem as anemotional/cognitive construct might help to resolve thisembarrassing problem.A massive investment of time, energy andpublication space has occurred over a period of roughlyhalf a century. The anarchy in definitions of shame in thesociology and psychology of emotions, discussed above,involves only a few individuals still in the first stages ofdiscussion and exploration. The maturity and vast size ofthe field of self-esteem research, and lack of progress,suggests that routine has cast out innovation completely.The researcher grabs a handy scale, experimental design,and group of captive students, and "runs" a study, insteadof formulating a new problem and solving it in a new way.How did this catastrophe come about?Two Types of Error124