Self Esteem: A Qualitative Study

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Can a person’s self-image be affected by their partner’s negative perception of them? Researchers believe that the opinion of others can greatly affect the individual’s own self-concept. A study done by Maestas, Amidon, Baum and Durham (2008) focused on the believe that couples who have been living together are less likely to leave when the relationship gets hard. They also believe that the degrading dialogue from the male partners can negatively impact the woman living in the home. In their 2008 study “the primary purpose was to examine the relationships among self-esteem, partner devaluation, and depressive symptoms in couples in which the woman had been determined by diagnostic interview to be either relatively vulnerable or relatively less …show more content…
3). This clinical interview provided questions that were used to exclude conditions such as anxiety, mood and psychotic disorders and substance abuse. According to Maestas, Amidon, Chrisman and Durham (2008) depressive symptoms were measure using the Beck Depression Inventory. This method uses information provided by the individual through the use of self-reports. This report has been determined to be highly reliable in testing depression symptoms as well as perceiving the participant’s low levels of distress. In addition, self-esteem was measured through the use of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. This method can determine the individual’s level of self-esteem by asking the participant to rank 10 self-statements using the scale of 1-4. Rating a statement, a 4 suggested that the individual highly agree with the statement; on the other hand, a 1 scale determine that the individual strongly disagreed with the statement. The results for each participant’s answers were average and the scored were used to provide an index of the individual’s self-esteem. Individuals who had a higher score were determine to have a more positive outlook about themselves (p. …show more content…
The test known as the Rosenberg Partner-Esteem Scale consisted of 10 statements such as “I see my partner as a person of worth, at least on an equal basis with others” (Maestas et al., 2008, p.4). The individual was then asked to rank each statement using the scale of one through four with four being greater. If the statements were ranked higher than the individual saw their partner with a greater devaluating view. The tests determined that from seventy-two couples, twenty-eight women had suffered from recent episodes of depression. These women were classified as having a high depression vulnerability. The remaining forty-four women were classified as having a low depression vulnerability as they didn’t have any recent history of depression. The tests also reviled that women who had a higher depression vulnerability were those whose self-esteem was low and whose partner devaluated them. However, women who had a higher self-image about themselves were at an extremely low of being affected by their devaluating partner and therefore, were not at a high risk of developing depression (Maestas, 2008, p.

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