Self-Esteem Development Through the Physical: In Search of the Theoretical Underpinning

通過體育提升自尊: 理論基礎探究

Abstract

LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in English; abstract also in Chinese.

School physical education is potentially able to help school children develop positive self-esteem because it provides the contexts for fulfilling the innate need for effectance, optimal challenges, and self-determination. In this paper, self-esteem was conceptualized to be multidimensional and hierarchical with its development following a bottom-up cognitive model. It was suggested that self-esteem development is self-directed in that, firstly, actual physical competence does not directly affect self-esteem but is subjectively interpreted and received to become physical self-perception that in turn affects self-esteem, and secondly, different individuals may adopt different conceptions of success and thus hold different standards for self-evaluation. Hence, the relevance of achievement orientations to selfesteem development through the physical was also discussed.

學校體育提供機會，讓學童提升效能、挑戰自我、發揮自決、從而滿足其本能需要，具提升自尊之潛力。本文指出自尊屬多度向、多層級、具自我調控之心理結構。通過個人主觀的理解和認受，一切身體能力先要轉化成身體自我觀，然後才影響自尊。本文亦指出，不同人對所謂成功有不同理解，並因而採用不同標準評價自己；同時，目標取向與提升自尊的關係亦為本文之討論重點。