In My Social World
Tamera R. Starr
PSY 301 – Social Psychology
Deanna Swinford
February 28, 2010
In “My Social World”, I will explain how a traumatic event changed my life and taught me a valuable lesson about life, love and the importance of loving yourself. The main topics in “My Social World” will explain how my “Self-Esteem,” as mentioned in the text (McGraw-Hill, 2008), will tie in with my social development phases throughout my teenage years and into adulthood.
The story of “My changing world and Self-Efficacy” begins when I was a small child. My father was an alcoholic and was verbally and physically abusive. I am the youngest of three children and growing up, I felt tremendous resentment toward my father for many reasons. I always felt that he treated me differently from my other siblings. It was like no matter what I did to make him proud of me, it was never good enough. I felt as though I could never measure up to my other siblings in his eyes.
The teenage years for me were very difficult. My brother and sister were very popular in school so I felt as though I was growing up in their shadow. It was hard for me to create my own identity because the other kids would always refer to me as “Tom and Theresa’s little sister.” I was considered to be the “black sheep” of the family because I seemed to go against the grain.
I found myself in a number of abusive relationships through the years. It seemed as though I was looking for the love and acceptance that I didn’t receive from my father. I went through major bouts of depression over the years and even thoughts of suicide. According to the text; “Low self-esteem predicts increased risk of depression, drug abuse, and some forms of delinquency.” (Wood & others, (2005), as cited in Myers, D. G. (2008).
My self-esteem remained very low until I had my first child. I saw this tiny person who needed me and loved me unconditionally. It changed my outlook on life and positive...