Tackling about the emotional aspect of oneself, Reeve (2009) defined emotions as a

phenomena that is a brief feeling, enabling individuals to adapt to any challenges and
opportunities that occur within their lives. Emotions can be seen as the basis, mediators, and
even effects of other psychological processes in individuals including that of attention, memory,
and perception. Our emotions are seen as an extremely important factor contributing to our
personal functioning. The development of emotions occurs when events are considered
relevant to a person's goals, motives, values, and expectations associated with the environment
surrounding them (Mesquita, 2001). The development of emotions begins with a person
experiencing a particular relationship with the surrounding environment and becoming aware
of it.

Meanwhile, on self-esteem, it was defined by William James (2012) as “the tendency to strive
to feel good about oneself and that people seek to maintain their self-esteem because they
possess an inherent need to feel good about themselves”. Thus, we tend to discuss an
introductory relationship between self esteem and emotions.

For Stanley Coopersmith’s Self-Esteem Theory, which states that, self-esteem is routed in early
childhood with a foundation of trust, unconditional love and security, impacted on as life
progresses by a combination of positive and negative evaluations. Stanley Coopersmith’s (1967
as cited in Seligman, 1996, p.32) self evaluation scale measured self-esteem in children and
then assessed the parent’s child rearing practices for those children with high self-esteem and
concluded that the origins of higher self-esteem lay in clear rules and limits enforced by the
parents. Thus, as a child, how they develop self-esteem correlates to how their emotions were
developed through their childhood, along with the kind of environment surrounding them.

The theories on the function of self-esteem converge on the theme that self-esteem is not
pursued for its own sake but instead serves a more significant function.

Self-Determination Theory (SDT) states that man is born with an intrinsic motivation to explore,
absorb and master his surroundings and that true high self-esteem (Deci & Ryan, 1995 as cited
in Ryan & Deci, 2004) is reported when the basic psychological nutrients, or needs, of life
(relatedness, competency and autonomy) are in balance (Ryan & Deci, 2004; Reis, Sheldon,
Gable, Roscoe, & Ryan, 2000 as cited in Ryan & Deci, 2004).
When social conditions provide support and opportunity to fulfill these basic needs, personal
growth, vitality and well-being are enhanced (Chirkou, Ryan, Kim, & Kaplan, 2003; La Guardia,
Ryan, Couchman, & Deci, 2000 as cited in Ryan & Deci, 2004). Relatedness was an addition to
the original theory to account for people’s inherent ability to make meaning and connect with
others through the internalisation of cultural practices and values (Ryan & Deci, 2004).

In Terror Management Theory (TMT), the internalisation of cultural values is also a key factor in
which self-esteem is seen as a culturally based construction derived from integrating specific
contingencies valued by society into ones’ own ‘worldview’.

TMT paints a somewhat morbid picture—high self-esteem promotes positive affect and
personal growth, psychological well-being and coping as a buffer against anxiety in the
knowledge of our eventual certain death, and reduces defensive anxiety related behavior and
negative emotional state.

Attachment Theory proposes that the chances of survival are improved by way of a child’s
strong attachment to their caregiver. Children are classified according to the Strange Situation
Test as either avoidant, ambivalent or securely attached. Securely attached children accounted
for 70% of those tested; these children look to maintain contact with their caregiver and
although sad to see them leave, are typically happy when they return, which indicates a
supportive and affectionate relationship with their caregiver and intriguingly coincides with the
Western World’s view of being happier and having more self-esteem than the population
average!

An integration of TMT and Attachment Theory hypothesizes that self-esteem develops as a

child realises that anxiety reduces as its needs are met by the caregiver, resulting in the
evolution of their ‘worldview’ and the inextricable correlation between self-esteem and good
relationships (Mikulincer, Florian, & Hirschberger, 2003 as cited in Pyszczynski et al., 2004).
When self-esteem is weak, this underlying anxiety can instigate defensive behaviour to threats
in contingent domains.

This further suggests there is a relationship between self-esteem and emotions. It was
identified in this study that individuals experiencing low self-esteem experience more negative
thoughts, along with negative memories, when experiencing a bad mood episode. Individuals
experiencing higher self-esteem levels will display a higher positive emotional thinking. This
shows that low self-esteem can have the ability to strengthen negative emotions we
experience, but also can have an effect on how we deal with such feelings. Positive feelings
allow for development of optimistic emotions , which result in higher self-esteem levels, and
being successful with coping.