Self-esteem, self-description, and behavior.

The purpose of the study was to assess the effects that labeling a person has on his/her self-esteem, self description and behavior. Two conditions of labeling were studied: the valence of the label (positive vs. negative) and the focus of the label (personality vs. behaviorally focused label).Ten hypotheses were developed from three theoretical schools: labeling theory, social learning theory and the self-esteem protection process.A total of 95 undergraduate male and female college students volunteered to participate in a study they were led to believe was aimed at understanding the correlation between ESP and personality. Of these, 66 participated in the entire study. Subjects were given tasks to perform, supposedly related to the ESP study. Completion or non-completion of these tasks was the basis for assigningthem to the positive or negative label conditions. Subjects were randomly assigned to the two focus conditions. The labels "dependable" and "undependable" were used in this study.Subjects completed the Tennessee Self Concept Scale and an Adjective Checklist both before and after the labeling manipulation. These served as the dependent measures of self-esteem and self-description, respectively. The dependent measure of behavior consisted of another task that was requested of subjects, following the labeling manipulation. The data were analyzed using three different statistical techniques: multivariate analysis of variance, multivariate analysis of covariance, and chi square analysis.The results indicated that the valence of the label did have a significant effect on subject's self description. There was a significant difference at the .027 level on the posttest measure of self-description between subjects in the positive and negatively labeled conditions. Subjects labeled "dependable" described themselves as significantly more dependable than did those subjects labeled "undependable". Changes in self-description and self-esteem from pre to posttest proved non-significant. No significant effect on behavior was found. Additionally, the focus of the label did not prove to have any effect on the dependent measures.It is possible that self-description is the first area upon which labels have an impact. This study looked at only the immediate effects of labeling. It is possible that changes in self-esteem and behavior result from long-term effects of being publicly labeled time and again. Future research might use a case study, longitudinal approach to study these possibilities.Thesis (Ph.D.