Self-esteem, Defensive Strategies and Social Intelligence in the Adolescence

Abstract A variety of studies documented that self-esteem is related to protective strategies including self-handicapping and causal attributions in the school domain. In particular, these defensive modalities, both proactive and retroactive, refer to some of the maladaptive strategies employed by an individual, respectively before and after performing difficult and threatening tasks, to protect him or herself and maintain a positive self-esteem. Within the theoretical framework of self-regulation, the maintenance and the protection of competency self-images implies the social intelligence model of personality ( Cantor and Kihlstrom, 1987 ). The social intelligence, which includes self-conc…