Self-esteem can be described as the value a person makes on
their own personal judgement of their own personal worthiness (Oslen, 2008).
The key aspect of self-esteem steams from the basis that it concerns people as
individuals and our own personal sense of value and the development of this
stems from the experiences in persons life both positive and negative (Oslen,
2008).
From my own personal experience with running programs with
an eclectic cliental I endorse the concept of various outdoor adventurous
experiences contributing to a change in esteem both positive and negative, a
view supported Stiehl and Parker (2007) enhanced self concept is commonly
attributed to adventure education.
More recent studies of self-concept however have shown that
self-esteem is placed at the top of a hierarchical model with global physical
self-concept in the middle and more specific physical self-concepts at the base
(Marsch, 1985). O’Connell found an
increase in physical self-concept resulting from such adventure course as that
of outward bound. From my own experience I have found this was very relevant
with regards to adventures activities as physical self-concept is directly
related to how an individual views himself or herself concerning their own
physicality (Fox and Corbin, 1989). Due
to the nature of adventures activities the potential for clients to assess and
views themselves in such specific areas as strength, endurance and competence
and make judgments about their own ability is a more often occurrence.
Figure 1. Marsh et al (1994)- Hierarchical model displaying the relationship among self-esteem,
global physical self-concept and specific components directly relating to
self-concept
In a study by Swalm (2010) on students views on physical
self-concept in adventure education showed various implications within
adventures activities that affected both students physical self-concept and
self esteem, such an example was a student who expressed that being overweight
while performing climbing tasks made it difficult to succeed and lead to
embarrassment in front of their peers.
Such experience can detrimentally affect an individual and
even put them off participating in such adventurous activities, as the
potential for embarrassment that is highlighted by that student regarding their
physical appearance supports another key feature of the Marsh et al. (1994)
model; of which shows that even in the medium of adventure input from
significant others such as friends, family and classmates contributes to ones
physical self-concept.
Figure 2. Another successful adventure challenge program completed with a Turangua school group in NZ with possible gain in self esteem within both staff and students?
Figure 2. Another successful adventure challenge program completed with a Turangua school group in NZ with possible gain in self esteem within both staff and students?
In conclusion there is evidence to show that adventure as a
medium can both influence physical self concept and self esteem both negatively
and positively, in my own opinion and experience it is the role of the
facilitator to judge and create a setting where the outcomes are that of
positive experiences by pitching activities at an achievable level.
References
Olsen, J.M., Breckler,
S.J., &Wiggins, E.C. (2008). Social Psychology Alive(1st ed.)
Canada:Nelson.
Stiehl,
J., & Parker, M. (2007). Individual outcomes of participating in adventure.
In D. Prouty, J. Panicucci, & R. Collinson (Eds.), Adventure
education: Theory and applications (pp. 63–76). Champaign, IL: Human
Kinetics.
Marsh,
H.W., & Shavelson, R. (1985). Self-concept: Its multifaceted, hierarchical
structure. Educational Psychologist, 20(3), 107–123.
Fox,
K.R., & Corbin, C.B. (1989). The Physical Self-Perception Profile:
Development and preliminary evaluation. Journal of Sport & Exercise
Psychology, 11, 408–430.
O’Connell,
T. S. (2001). Self-concept: A study of outdoor adventure education with ado-
lescents. Dissertations Abstracts International, 62
