The relationship between self-esteem, mood states, and helping behavior in children

The problem. The purpose of the present study was threefold: (1) to determine whether one's level of self-esteem differentially influences the effect of negative mood on subsequent helping behavior, as described by Cialdini and his associates (1976; 1981; 1983); (2) to examine the hypothesis that children at the three levels of self-esteem--high, medium, and low--demonstrate different base levels of helping behavior; and (3) to explore the relationship between depression and self-esteem, as these factors influence helping behavior.;Method. A complete factorial design was utilized, and 286 fifth and eighth grade children who were enrolled in public school classes, in two geographical locations, a suburb of Chicago, IL, and the outer metropolitan area of Lansing, MI were administered the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory. The subjects from Michigan were also administered the Children's Depression Inventory. On the basis of their responses to the self-esteem measure, some of the children were categorized as high, medium, or low self-esteem, according to the procedures outlined in the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory manual. Then, in each of the self-esteem groups, equal numbers of children received either a negative mood induction or a neutral mood induction (control subjects). Following the mood inductions, the children were provided with an opportunity to engage in a helping behavior, defined in this study as an indirect assistance task, whereby the subjects could cut out construction paper figures for younger children, with whom they did not have contact in the study.;Results. The first hypothesis, which predicted a three-way interaction between self-esteem, mood, and developmental stage (grade) was not supported. These findings are discussed further in relation to the negative state relief model. The second hypothesis, which predicted differences in helping behavior between the three self-esteem groups, was also not supported. A significant negative relationship between self-esteem and depression was found at the.0001 level of confidence. Level of depression was unrelated to helping behavior.