Comparison of Familial and Cognitive Factors Associated with Male and Female Self-Esteem.

The relationship of adolescents' self-esteem to the familial variables of parental Permissiveness, Authoritarianism, and Authoritativeness and to the cognitive variables of High Standards, Self-Criticism, and Overgeneralizarion were investiJated. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that (a) the effects of parental authority were strongly overshadowed by the cognitive variables (especially Overgeneralization), and (b) these effects were particularly pronounced for the female participants. Studies investigating the relationship of parental authority to adolescent self-esteem (SE) have suggested that: (a) strict parental disciplinary practices are inversely related to adolescents' SE (e.g., Bachman, 1982; Kawash, Kerr, & Clewes, 1984; Sears, 1970); (b) parental authority is unrelated to adolescents' SE (e.g., Gecas, 1971; Gecas & Schwalbe, 1986); and (c) parental authority that is firm and demanding, but not overly punitive, is positively related to adolescents' SE (e.g., Coopersmith, 1967; Peterson, Southworth, & Peters, 1983). Using Baumrind's (1971) three prototypes of parental authority (i.e., Permissiveness, Paper presented at the 66th Annual Meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, May, 1994. Correspondence concerning this paper should be sent to John R. Buri, Department of Psychology, Mail #5001, University of St. Thomas, 2115 Summit Avenue, Saint Paul, MN 55105. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS Office of Educahonar Research and improvement MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) P MIS do% nl has been reproduced as received from Ilse person or oroanizabon OngmMmgd BEST COPY AYAILAILE 2 I. Minor changes have been made to improve repreduclion duhldv Pomts of view or opinions rtated in inisdocu. menu do not necessanly represent official OERI position or policy 1.5frIftZ 10 THE EDUCATIONAL RESOIIRCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)." Familial and Cognitive Factors 2 Authoritarianism, and Authoritati\eness), Buri and his colleagues (e.g., Burl, 1989; Buri, Louiselle, Misukanis, & Mueller, 1988) obtained results that have added considerable clarity to this research area. These researchers reported a strong inverse relationship between parental authoritarianism and adolescents' SE, a strong positive relationship between authoritativeness and SE, and no significant relationship between permissiveness and SE. An approach to the study of SE that is distinctively different from that described above is the investigation of cognitive factors related to SE. It has peen suggested by numerous cognitive authors (e.g., Beck, 1979; Burns, 1980; Ellis & Harper, 1975; Freeman & Dattilio, 1992; McKay, Davis, & Fanniig, 1981; McKay & Fanning, 1987) that distorted thought patterns both cause and perpetuate low SL Three specific cognitive patterns that have been implicated in therapeutic settings are of interest here: (a) Are people who set High Standards for themselves more prone to low SE because of their inevitable inability to live up to those standards? (b) Do individuals who are more Self-Critical end up experiencing lower SE as a result of this criticism turned inward? and (c) Are people who Overgeneralize from failure in a specific circumstance to a general sense of failure more apt to experience low SE? In the present study, assessments of parental Permissiveness, Authoritarianism, and Authoritativeness were made using Buri's (1991) Parental Authority Questionnaire; measures of participants' High Standards, SelfCriticism, and Overgeneralization were obtained using Carver and Ganellen's (1983) Attitudes Toward Self Scale; and subjects' SE scores were derived Familial and Cognitive Factors