Abstract
Self-esteem refers to personal feelings concerning one’s own value, importance, and competence. It is the result of a long process of appraisal which is influenced by selfevaluation as well as evaluation by others. These evaluations of, for instance, values and capacities, vary over time and continually affect one’s self-esteem. Though empathy is considered an important indicator for mental health, self-esteem may also be viewed as a sensitive indicator of mental health. Positive self-esteem is thought to be a necessary prerequisite for a well developed empathie ability. According to the holistic point of view, empathy is regarded as a coherent process within an organism. It may be subdivided into physiological, kinesthetic, affective (and motivational), and cognitive components (Kalliopuska, 1983). We suppose that an active interest in arts and/or sports (e.g., music, painting, classical ballet, self-expression, and Finish baseball) promotes mental agility and supports the development of self-esteem and the ability to feel concern for others. Twenty-three young musicians, twenty-five artists, the junior ballet group of the Finnish National Opera (n=62), and a group of students attending a special “arts and expression” gymnasium (n =30) were studied. They were compared with a group of students from a gymnasium and a comprehensive school serving the same neighborhood, who were not active in any form of arts, and a group of young Finnish baseball players (n=1381). The identity status, self-esteem, self-regard, self-assurance, sensitivity, empathy, creativity, and other personality characteristics were assessed in all subjects. From the results, the conclusion can be drawn that active interest in arts promotes the integration of personality, develops the capaCity to understand others in general, and increases the sensitivity toward others as well as self-appreciation. Empathy seems to develop best among individuals active in ballet. Imagination and general activity in various fields of interest were typical for all the groups studied which were involved in arts or sports.
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Kalliopuska, M. (1990). Self-Esteem and Empathy as Related to Participation in the Arts or Sports Activities. In: Oppenheimer, L. (eds) The Self-Concept. Recent Research in Psychology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-84143-9_11
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-84143-9_11
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