Self esteem refers to how you think about yourself or your perception of yourself. Depression may develop as a result of poor self-esteem. There are ways to boost your ego at any age, regardless of where you are in life. Theories of Self-Esteem: Maslow & Murray vs. Rogers. Low self-esteem may have a wide range of consequences in one’s life.
Inflated self esteem can lead to poor relationships, addiction, despair, and anxiety. Low self-Esteem may also lead to depression, paranoia, and low self-confidence. People with high self-esteem tend to have a negative view of themselves. They are more likely to blame others for their own mistakes. People with high self-esteem may believe they are entitled to happiness.
High self esteem improves one’s ability to treat others with respect, kindness, and goodwill Self-esteem enables workplace innovation and is especially important for educational professions. The Yogyakarta Guidelines tackle discrimination against LGBT persons. Women tend to have lower self-esteem than males throughout cultures. Students who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, or queer are more likely to have low self esteem.
Some people may place a lower value on domains where they are confronted with systemic barriers. Young people expect far too much of themselves in terms of academic achievement, extracurricular involvement, and/or social status. Low self-esteem may lead to or be a sign of mental illnesses such as anxiety and depression. There are measures you may do to alleviate self esteem issues. Keep reading to know more about self-esteem meaning and example.
Also, read this article: How to Stop Being an Angry person?
Self Esteem
Table of Contents
Self-esteem is always the consequence of a life of events, especially those that occurred when we were young. It is, nevertheless, feasible to boost your ego at any age. This article has additional information about self-esteem as well as some suggestions for how to enhance it. In other terms, self esteem refers to how you think about yourself (both inside and out), as well as what you value about yourself and whether you interact with others. It also has to do with how you believe others see, treat, and appreciate you.
As a consequence, individuals who have been in abusive circumstances or have suffered trauma (especially as kids) are much more likely to experience poor self esteem both now and in the future. Self-esteem isn’t just based on a single factor or collection of ideas. Instead, a person’s self-esteem examples is based on how you see yourself, including your personality, achievements, skills, capabilities, background, experiences, connections, and physical physique, as well as how you think others see you.
What Can You Do If You Don’t Have Self Esteem?
The excellent thing is that you do have some influence over how much self-worth you have. You may challenge both your mind and body by making small, tangible adjustments. Taking efforts to decrease negative thinking and increase positive, encouraging ideas about the person you are and can be is one such shift.
- Take care of yourself
- Recognize Achievements
- Make a checklist
- Push yourself to think differently.
- Take down notes
- Recognize potential triggers
It’s critical to have a positive self-image. Your self-esteem is also crucial. Depression may develop as a result of poor self-esteem. For many individuals with low self-esteem, this may be a difficult issue to overcome. However, learning how to boost your self esteem is critical.
Theories of Self-Esteem: Maslow & Murray vs Rogers
Self-esteem was formerly thought to be a fundamental human need or drive, according to several early ideas. In his hierarchy of human needs, Us psychologist Abraham Maslow includes self-esteem. He distinguished between two types of self-esteem: a need for external regard in the sort of reward, success, and appreciation, and a need for internal respect in the way of self, consciousness, skill, or ability.
Others’ respect was seen to be extra fragile and readily lost than one’s own self-esteem. Individuals will be pushed to seek self-esteem if their needs are not met, according to Maslow, and will be unable to develop and achieve self-actualization if their needs are not met. Maslow also claims that the best kind of self-esteem “is seen in the esteem we deserved for others, rather than notoriety, celebrity, or flattery.” Recent theories of self esteem investigate why people are driven to have a high opinion of themselves.
According to the sociometer hypothesis, self-esteem is developed to measure one’s social standing and acceptability. Terror Management Theory claims that self esteem has a protective effect, reducing worry about life and death. Carl Rogers (1902–1987), a proponent of humanistic psychology, believed that many people’s troubles stem from their disdain for themselves and their belief that they are unworthy of love.
This is why Rogers felt that providing a client unconditional approval was important and that doing so might help the client’s self-esteem. In his group therapy with clients, he always maintained a cheerful attitude. Indeed, since then, humanistic psychology has seen self efficacy as an intrinsic right for every individual, as stated in the following paragraph: Every human being, without exception, is deserving of unconditional respect from everyone else; he deserves to regard himself and to be respected.
Also read this article: What is social bullying?
7 Signs of Low Self Esteem:
- Inability to Trust Your Personal Opinion
- Constant Overthinking
- Afraid of taking risks because you’re afraid you won’t be able to overcome them
- Be hard on yourself because easy on others
- Anxiety and emotional distress on a regular basis
You Need To Know About 3 Types of Self Esteem:
Self-esteem may be divided into three (3) categories.
- Inflated self-esteem,
- low self-esteem,
- high self-esteem are the three types.
1. Low Self-Esteem
People with low self-esteem believe that they are below average. They don’t believe in themselves, don’t have faith in their skills, and don’t respect themselves. Low self esteem may have a wide range of consequences in one’s life. Poor relationships, addiction, despair, and anxiety are all side consequences of low self-esteem.
• Terrible relationships:
Low self-esteem leads to poor relationships due to self-doubt and the conviction that one is unfit for anything worthwhile, as well as going to extraordinary efforts to please the wrong people.
• Addiction:
People with poor self-esteem are more likely to abuse hard drugs or substances in order to alleviate their bad feelings about themselves. They view hard drugs like alcohol as a way to escape, exposing themselves to negative consequences.
• Severe depression:
Low self esteem may lead to feelings of sorrow, concern, or dread, as well as depression and anxiety. Low self esteem leads to a lack of confidence, which may lead to anxiety and depression.
Also, read this article: What Does Social Health Mean?
How to Improve Self-esteem?
There are several things you could do for yourself to assist you to overcome your low self-esteem. Both the Fennell & Korrelboom methods are applied in the activities and self-esteem worksheets mentioned below. Despite the fact that their theoretical foundations are somewhat different, there really is no reason to believe they are incompatible. These are some of them:
- Putting your worried predictions to the self-esteem test, confronting things you’ve been avoiding, and lowering your safety habits (behavioral experiments)
- Recognizing and combating self-criticism (thought records)
- Retraining oneself to think positively
- Changing your assumptions and rules
- Creating a new bottom line by challenging your current one.
- Practicing positive elements of your self-image in order to ‘win’ the memory retrieval fight
2. High Self Esteem
You have high self-esteem if you trust in yourself and feel that you are a valuable contributor to society. You realize that you have some flaws, but you have several qualities that help to define who you are. You often have a glass that is “half full.”It’s wonderful to have a network of friends that recognize your abilities and encourage your self esteem. If everyone had the same talents and shortcomings, the earth would be a dull place! Here’s an example of buddies supporting each other’s self-confidence:
Overall Happiness is Boosted by High Self-Esteem
Furthermore, strong self-esteem is thought to protect against a variety of mental illnesses, including sadness and anxiety. In reality, research indicates that having a high level of self-esteem is linked to happiness in life and the capacity to keep a positive attitude toward oneself in difficult circumstances.
People with greater self-esteem are also happier in their professions, have better social connections, and have a more strong vision of well-being, according to research.
Developing a strong sense of self-worth(and fortitude) is no easy process, but it’s absolutely plausible and within one’s grasp and could even make a massive impact in your life. As previously said, understanding that your thinking patterns, what you concentrate on, and optimism, rather than merely objective facts or occurrences in your life, are important components of self esteem is critical.
Work, dedication, and a desire to analyze and refute negative ideas about yourself as well as actively bolstering your personality with positive ones are all necessary for boosting your self-esteem. It’s crucial to give yourself compassion, to let go of things that annoy you while also working on the things you could (and want) to improve.
If you respect yourself and have a high enough sense of self-worth, you’ll also recognize that you need to look after yourself, which will encourage you to strive to increase your self-esteem. If you don’t think well of yourself, it’s hard to take treatment of yourself. According to research, forgiving oneself for actions you regret may boost your self esteem. It boils down to embracing and loving yourself exactly as you are.
3. Inflated Self Esteem
- People with high self-esteem generally think about themselves as superior to others and are constantly ready to dismiss others. This is a particularly harmful kind of ego because it hinders individuals from establishing meaningful or healthy relationships. They are constantly looking to go ahead, and they are often willing to harm others in order to attain the success they want, believing that this would bring them pleasure.
- People with high self-esteem find it difficult to listen to others. Instead, they are continually blaming and undervaluing others, as well as adopting a hateful attitude and conduct toward them. They are always willing to boast in order to conceal their ineptitude, and they are terrified of rejection and failure, which is why they feel the need to hide.
- People like these may change, but they must first accept their situation. They must accept that they have been humans who really are prone to making errors and failing. Self-esteem is one of the factors of life success in general.
Why Is Self-Esteem So Important?
According to Abraham Maslow, psychological wellness is impossible until a person’s basic core is genuinely welcomed, loved, and valued by others by oneself. People with high self-esteem may approach life with greater confidence, goodness, and optimism, making it easier to achieve their objectives and self-actualize.
People with high self-esteem may believe they are entitled to happiness. Understanding this is crucial and generally helpful since high self esteem improves one’s ability to treat others with respect, kindness, and goodwill, preferring rich interpersonal connections over harmful ones. Erich Fromm believes that loving others and loving oneself is not mutually exclusive. On the contrary, all individuals who are able to love others will have a loving attitude toward themselves. Self-esteem enables workplace innovation and is especially important for educational professions.
According to José-Vicente Bonet, the significance of self actualization is apparent since a lack of personality is self-rejection rather than a loss of respect from others. According to Bonet, this is the same as major depressive disorder. The depressed has also experienced “an enormous reduction in his self-esteem, a poverty of his ego on a massive scale has lost his self-respect,” according to Freud.
The Yogyakarta Guidelines, a treatise on global human rights legislation, tackles discrimination against LGBT persons, lowering their self-esteem and making them vulnerable to human rights violations such as human trafficking.
In “Preventing Suicide,” published in 2000, the World Health Assembly advises that students’ self esteem be strengthened in order to prevent children and adolescents from mental anguish and despair, allowing them to deal properly with tough and stressful life circumstances.
In addition to enhanced pleasure, higher self esteem has been linked to a better capacity to deal with stress and a greater likelihood of taking on challenging activities when compared to individuals with low self-esteem.
Things That Have an Impact on Your Self-Esteem
Age:
According to research conducted in 48 nations, self-esteem rises from childhood to adolescence age. According to American research, self-esteem peaks at the age of 60. As individuals age, their self-esteem plummets, especially among seniors over 60. Much of this decrease may be attributed to changes in socioeconomic position and physical condition.
Body type:
Bullying is common among overweight and obese children or obese. These children are more likely to have poor self-esteem as children and later in life. During their youth, they may have fewer friends. Low self-esteem may also be caused by social isolation.
Peers who are unfavorable:
The way we’re treated by our parents or guardians may have a big impact on our self-esteem, but so can how we’re treated by our peers. Being a member of a social group that degrades you – by not respecting you, trying to pressure you to do things you don’t want to do, not valuing one’s thoughts and feelings, and so on – can make you feel like something is completely mistaken with you, or as if the only way to be liked would be to do what others want and ignore your own heart and mind. This has a negative impact on your self-esteem.
Gender:
Women tend to have lower self-esteem than males throughout cultures. Western civilizations seem to be the most affected by this tendency.
Mental health recognition:
A 2012 research looked at individuals with mental health disorders’ self-esteem. Higher self-esteem was related to humor, community engagement, and favorable ingroup stereotypes. People who kept their illnesses hidden or worked hard to disprove unfavorable perceptions had lower self-esteem.
Race & ethnicity:
A 2011 research of high school students looked at racial and ethnic variations in self-esteem. Chinese kids had the lowest self-esteem in the study. Minority kids had lower overheads than Hispanic students. Self-esteem was highest among black students. These findings are consistent with previous research.
Sexual/gender minorities:
Students who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, or queer (Serviced) are more likely than their classmates to have poor self-esteem. Bullying is a major factor in LGBTQ+ children’s low self-esteem. Gender dysphoria may have a significant impact on transgender people’s self-esteem.
Big Pond, Small Fish:
Young people can easily become engulfed in a world further than their control. Ineffectiveness, powerlessness, and worthlessness result as a result of this. Though most people don’t experience that till adulthood, it is possible with young people to have an “existential crisis” – a period in which the meaning of one’s life is questioned. What brings me here? What difference do I make? The failure to articulate these queries can be extremely damaging to one’s self-esteem.
Unrealistic Objectives:
Some young people expect far too much of themselves in terms of academic achievement, extracurricular involvement, and/or social status, whether it comes from oneself, authority figures, or peers. Some who attend school may believe they should always get straight A’s;
those who had confidence may try to participate in too many extracurricular activities and anticipate being “the best” at them all. Young people who crave popularity may believe that everyone will like them, which is impossible to achieve because no one can please everyone. The inevitability of failing to meet lofty expectations can make you feel like crap in general.
Actual change:
A 2017 study looked at middle schoolers from reduced families’ self-esteem. Years later, students who thought American society was “fair” were much more likely to have low. Throughout middle school, the majority of the students had faced discrimination and systemic disadvantages.
However, low self-esteem does not affect everyone in a marginalized group. Some people may place a lower value on domains where they are confronted with systemic barriers. An individual from a low-income family, for example, may not place a high value on owning a flashy car. They might instead concentrate on romantic success as well as physical fitness.
Others may only be able to assess their progress in comparison to other members of other groups. Discrimination, rather than individual failures, may be blamed for setbacks. These strategies could act as a buffer against the negative effects of marginalization.
Support is available regardless of factors that contribute to low self-esteem. A therapist can assist in dealing with the emotions that underpin low self-esteem. It is important to develop a good marriage with oneself with time and effort.
The top ten things you should be doing to boost your self-confidence:
- Consult your physician
- Your neighborhood’s community health center
- Use the beyondblue website to find a GP in your area who specializes in psychological problems.
- Tel: 1300 22 4636 for the beyondblue Info Line
- 13 11 14 (Lifeline)
- Children’s Helpline: 1800 55 1800
- Victoria Suicide Helpline: 1300 651 251
- Call the Mental Health Foundation at (03) 9427 0407 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.
- 1300 364 277 Relationships Australia (Victoria)
Also read this article: Is Depression a Disability?
Seek assistance from others
Getting assistance from others is frequently the most essential, but often the hardest, action a person may take to enhance his or her self-esteem. People who have low self frequently don’t seek assistance because they believe they do not even deserve it, but others may help by challenging the negative messages they’ve received from their previous experiences. Here are some ideas on how to connect with others:
- Seek out the help of friends. Request feedback from friends on what they appreciate about you or believe you excel at. Request that someone who loves you just listens to you rant for a few minutes without intervening. Request a hug. Request a reminder from someone who loves you.
- Seek assistance from instructors and other people who can assist you. If you need assistance in class, go to your professors, advisers, or tutors. Remember, they’re there to assist you with your studies! If you lack self-assurance in specific areas, enroll in courses or attempt new hobbies to boost your confidence. Take a math course, join a dancing group, or learn to swim, for example.
- Consult a therapist and counselor for help.
Low self-esteem may be so painful and difficult to resolve that professional assistance from a therapist or counselor is required. Speaking with a counselor is a wonderful approach to examine these emotions and start improving your self-esteem.
Self-compassion is a good thing to practice
You, too, are deserving of the same treatment! Instead of concentrating on self-evaluation, you may recognize when things are tough and attempt to nourish and care for yourself during these moments. Consider the following scenario:
- Forgive yourself if you don’t accomplish all you set out to achieve. When matters don’t go as planned, try to be patient with yourself instead of harsh with yourself. If you’re not accustomed to it, this may be difficult, but accepting that such situations are unavoidable might assist.
- We all make errors as humans, and we’re all influenced by external circumstances we can’t control. Accepting our “humanness” allows us to feel more linked to others rather than alone when we go through difficult times. Recognizing that errors are an unavoidable aspect of life allows us to be more sympathetic toward ourselves and others.
- If you’re angry about anything, try to allow yourself to feel that feeling in a balanced manner, rather than repressing it or being totally consumed by it. Try not to condemn yourself for experiencing unpleasant feelings while practicing mindfulness. It will be easier for you to not get overwhelmed by your sentiments if you realize that feelings come and go and ultimately pass.
- Moving your body boosts your self-esteem and makes you feel better. Make a point of getting some exercise each day or as frequently as possible, preferably outside. There are many options available to you. The most popular is going for a stroll. You may run, ride a bike, play a sport, repeatedly walk up and downstairs, listen to a tape, turn on the radio and move to the music, or do anything else that feels wonderful to you. Before starting or altering your exercise routine, see your doctor if you have a health condition that may limit your ability to exercise.
- Take frequent showers or baths, wash and style your hair, clip your nails, brush and floss your teeth and do other personal hygiene activities that ease pain yourself.
- Get a physical checkup once a year to ensure that you are in excellent health.
- Make a list of enjoyable activities for yourself. Every day, you can learn something new.
Avoid junk food and eat nutritious meals A typical healthy daily diet consists of:
- Five to six servings of fruits and vegetables
- Six whole grain items such as bread, spaghetti, cereal, and rice
- Servings of meat, poultry, fish, cream, cottage cheese, or yogurt
Simple Steps Can Help You Improve Your Self-Esteem
There are, fortunately, measures you may do to alleviate self-esteem issues. You may enhance your self-esteem by doing the following steps:
- Become more conscious of negative thoughts. Recognize the erroneous beliefs that are affecting your self-esteem.
- Disrupt negative thought habits. Try replacing negative ideas with more real and/or positive ones when you catch yourself thinking negatively.
- Talk to yourself in a positive manner. Recite positive affirmations aloud to yourself. 7
- Develop self-compassion. Practice forgive yourself for your errors in the past and moving ahead by embracing all aspects of your personality.
Low self-esteem may lead to or be a sign of mental illnesses such as anxiety and depression. Consult a doctor or therapist about possible treatments, which include psychotherapy, medication, or a combination of the two.
Stop Comparing Yourself to Other People:
Trying to improve your self-esteem by comparing yourself to others is a bad idea. “Our competitive society tells us we should be unique and above normal to feel better about ourselves,” Dr. Kristen Neff says, “but we can’t all be above normal at the same time. Someone constantly seems to be wealthier, more beautiful, or more accomplished than we are.”
Our feeling of self-worth bounces about like a ping-pong ball, fluctuating in shut with our recent success or failure when we assess ourselves based on external accomplishments, various people’s opinions, and competitions. People share their photography moments and dazzling accomplishments on social media, which we contrast to our tarnished, imperfect daily lives, exacerbating the issue.
We must cease comparing ourselves to others in order to develop a healthy feeling of self-assurance. Instead of thinking about how you compare to others, consider the kind of person your want to become. Set objectives and perform activities that reflect your own beliefs.
Also read this article: Coolest Psychological Tricks for Friends and for our Life
Conclusion:
The most essential thing to remember when doing this personality, which may take months or years, is that you can make decisions that will enhance your thinking and your life in virtually every scenario or circumstance. Whether you realize it or not, you have distinct interests, talents, skills, and emotions that fit you for a variety of reasons and may be of tremendous value to you and others around you in the long term.
“Each of us is endowed with a certain ability.
Discovering our own unique light is both a pleasure and an adventure for us.”
Young people may take measures to either alter circumstances in their lives that undermine their self-worth or change how they feel and think in reaction to such situations. See Part 2 of this series for immediate steps you may take to improve your self-esteem.