Self-Esteem and Cultural Flexibility

            Growing up, many individuals go through a phase where they develop peer connections and find their social identity. By socializing with individuals of the same ethnic background, individuals develop a social and cultural preference. However, while many conform socially and culturally as a result of their upbringings and their own choices, Prudence Carter demonstrates that there is another influence that should be considered. Carter argues that a students’ social and cultural preference can be heavily influenced by the social organization within schools.

This social organization can assist or prevent students from becoming culturally flexible. In Carter’s study, she describes cultural flexibility as the ability to effectively cross social and symbolic boundaries and “to utilize variable cultural tools to negotiate multiple sociocultural environments” (Carter 92). Often times, schools create social boundaries that inhibit students of different race, religion, and gender from interacting with one another. For example, many schools separate specific academic classes or extracurricular activities as belonging to a specific group. As a consequence, this discourages students from going against the norm and engaging into that social group, leading to a lack of cultural flexibility.

However, Carter proves that self-esteem was also a significant factor in determining cultural flexibility. From collecting data at the four schools, Carter reports that the black students attending a majority-minority school had higher self-esteem than attending a majority-white school. Consequently, black students attending a majority-minority school, were more culturally flexible than black students from a majority-white schools.  In the article, Does High Self-Esteem Cause Better Performance, Interpersonal Success, Happiness, Or Healthier Lifestyles? It is said that people with high self-esteem claim to be “more likable and attractive, have better relationships, and make better impressions on others than people with low self-esteem.” This article also noted that individuals with higher self-esteem performed better academically. Relating this to Carter’s study, those that were more likable and had better relationships were able to move across different cultural and social groups in schools. Self-esteem led to culturally flexibility and also led to good academic performance. Those that were not culturally flexible did not perform as well as those that were.

Yet, linking self-esteem to cultural flexibility may be tricky. By implying that high self-esteem ultimately leads to a culturally flexible individual could also mean that an individual with low self-esteem might also lead to an individual that is not culturally flexible.  In most cases, the latter assertion may not necessarily be true. Individuals with low self-esteem may not be culturally flexible because of other factors. As Carter points out, these individuals may not cross social boundaries because the school organizes these boundaries in a way that is not easy to cross.

http://www.carlsonschool.umn.edu/assets/71496.pdf