Self-Esteem Issues and Answers: A Sourcebook of Current Perspectives - Hardcover

' This book is a carefully planned survey of the field of self-esteem, organized in terms of key questions posed to the field's most active and influential researchers.  The essays they offer in response to the questions are focused, informative, and exact, providing a reference work that captures both the tradition of self-esteem psychology and its cutting-edge issues such as unconscious self-evaluation and the role of self-esteem in psychopathology.' - Daniel M. Wegner, Professor of Psychology, Harvard University.

' This stimulating, provocative, and compelling volume delivers just what the field of self -esteem needs most.  It summarizes the status of current knowledge on the topic in an engaging and readable format - shedding light on what is known about the functioning of self-esteem, while simulataneously giving the reader a sense of the complexities involved in the concept.  It does so without favouritism, not forcing pat answers, but allowing the readers to make up their own minds.  This volume is a must-read for scholars and students interested in understanding the role of self-esteem in psychological and interpersonal functioning.' - Carolyn C.Morf, Professor of Psychology, University of Bern and Editor of Self & Identity

Research and theory on self-esteem have flourished in recent years.  This resurgence has produced multiple perpectives on fundamental issues surrounding the nature of self-esteem and its role in psychological functioning and interpersonal processes.

Self-Esteem Issues and Answers brings together these various perspectives in a unique format.  The book is divided into five sections.  Section I focuses on core issues pertaining to the conceptualization and assesment of self-esteem, and when self-esteem is optimal. Section II concentrates on the determinants, development, and modifiability of self-esteem. Section III examines the evolutionary significance of self-esteem and its role in psychological processes and therapeutic settings.  Section IV explores the social, relational, and cultural significance of self-esteem.  Finally, Section V considers future directions for self-esteem researchers, practitioners, parents and teachers.

This volume offers a wealth of perspectives from prominent researchers from different areas of psychology.  Each expert contributor was asked to focus his or her chapter on a central self-esteem issue.  Three or four experts addressed each question.  The result is that Self-Esteem Issues and Answers provides a comprehensive sourcebook of current perspectives on a wide range of central self-esteem issues.