There are many socio-cultural elements that influence self-esteem. There is a ‘culturally defined world view ‘consisting of living standards created, transmitted, and maintained by a culture. The self-belief that how well one lives according to this standard becomes the central part of one’s self-esteem. Then an individual’s self-esteem has a tendency towards the validation of society as well as the culture in which one is a member (Harmon-Jones et al., 1997, p. 24).
Then there is a subgroup in which a person is member has an impact on their self-esteem of an individual. The recognition by the common society of one’s group, such as race, ethnic group, or religion, will definitely influence the self-esteem of the individual. Luhtanen and Crocker (1992, p. 303) name this aspect of self-esteem as ‘collective self-esteem’, which depends upon the value placed on one’s own social group. It can also be named as ‘interdependent self-esteem’. “It would concern itself with the feeling of worth placed not solely on the self but rather the worth of family, relationships, and associations (i.e., interdependencies) (Singelis, Bond, Sharkey, & Lai, 1999, p. 335). Usually, the social factors of these sub-cultural groups are more influential in determining group members’ particular self-experience than the general social values of a larger society (Mruk, 2006b, p. 69).
There is a possibility of a ‘social stigma’ about one’s own culture or group. The society creates a ‘generalised other’ about each group, and it can also be accepted and internalised by the individual. This stigma can serve as a protection for self-esteem. The general community may discount failure to a particular group in certain areas, and therefore the poor performances will not affect the self-esteem of individuals since the individual easily finds reasons for the failure out of the self (Crocker & Major, 1989, pp. 610–612).
One of the majorly discussed as well as empirically proven hypotheses regarding the cultural element is based on the correlation between cultural differences and self-esteem. Some studies conclude that in a culture where individualism and personal success are highlighted, individuals have better self-esteem. Whereas, individuals have less healthy esteem in those communities where individualism is less favoured than collectivism (Twenge, M., & Crocker J. (2002)