Effects of cultural worldview belief and the achievement of cultural standards of value on self-esteem, anxiety, and adaptive behavior of native Hawaiian students

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the psychological framework called the Terror Management Theory (TMT) applied to Native Hawaiian students. TMT is a framework that provides an explanation of relationships between cultural factors, self-esteem, and anxiety (Solomon, Greenberg, & Pyszczynski, 1991). The hypotheses of this study was that Native Hawaiian students who identify or seek to identify with "being Hawaiian" and are assisted in achieving its standards of value (high cultural values) will (1) have higher levels of self esteem if they see themselves achieving cultural standards following treatment (2) have lower levels of anxiety following treatment (3) increase "adaptive" behaviors such as achieving academic standards, positive social interactions and making positive contributions to their families and communities. The design of this study was both quantitative and qualitative. The design of this study was a quasi-experimental nonequivalent comparison-group design, consisting of two intervention groups and two comparison groups of 24 Native Hawaiian students from ages 9-16 years. Intervention participants engaged in Native Hawaiian cultural interventions for 10 hours over a six-week period, while comparison participants engaged in academic tutorial sessions. Measures for self-esteem, anxiety, and adaptive behavior were taken before and after intervention. Qualitative and anecdotal data were also collected and analyzed. Intervention group results indicated that Hawaiian identity increased, anxiety decreased and positive behavior increased. Findings were mixed for self-esteem. Qualitative measures indicated increase in self-esteem, participants felt "good" about themselves and were "proud," but quantitative indicated a decrease. Comparison group indicated a decrease in Hawaiian identity, anxiety and self-esteem. Overall, there were positive indicators to conclude that the TMT framework is applicable to the Native Hawaiian population.