Citation

Salmivalli C. Aggress. Violent Behav. 2001; 6(4): 375-393.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2001, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/S1359-1789(00)00012-4

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The relation between self-esteem (i.e., a person's global, evaluative view of his/her self), and aggressive behavior is discussed in the light of empirical findings and theoretical formulations presented in the field. There have been different theories connecting aggression to either low or high self-esteem, while neither view has been uniformly supported by clear empirical evidence. A plausible suggestion, also supported by empirical findings, is that it is a certain subset of people who report a high self-esteem who are aggressive. Despite their self-confident surface and, consequently, self-reports of high self-esteem, these people have underlying insecurity regarding their self-view. Empirically, such insecurity is reflected, for example, in the instability of their self-esteem, or by their grandiose, narcissistic, and defensive characteristics. It is suggested that instead of studying self-esteem as unidimensional continuum from "low" to "high," qualitative distinctions should be made, for instance, between different types of unhealthy self-esteem, such as disparaging and underestimating self versus narcissistically refusing to see anything negative in oneself. It is the latter type, not the former, which seems to be associated with aggressive behavior. Further, it might be clarifying to take into account distinctions that are typical of modern aggression research, such as that between proactive and reactive, or indirect and direct aggression, in research connecting self-esteem and aggression.