What is self esteem? What do you mean by self esteem? The easiest answer to the question is “Believing yourself, accepting yourself and respecting yourself”. Now you can ask, “Is that it?” As I said- Yes, it is the easiest and common answer which is almost correct. But there are lots of other answers which you can find in the psychology of the book.
Human psychology is an interesting subject to study. The psychologists are researching for a long time to understand human psychology. They achieved a lot of vital information regarding human psychology but they can never come to a conclusion. Because they have found many similarities among the people they research but they are not all the same and they never can be. Self esteem is a central construct in clinical, developmental, personality, and social psychology. Its role in psychological functioning has been studied for many decades. Self esteem is an attractive construct in psychology because it predicts certain outcomes. It is one of the subjects that any personality researchers and mental health professionals like to study.
What is Self Esteem?
In psychology, the term “Self Esteem” is used to define one’s overall sense of self-confidence or personal value. In other words, how much you appreciate and respect yourself. It involves a variety of beliefs about yourself, such as the evaluation of your own appearance, skills, beliefs, emotions and behaviors.
It is very much important as it is linked with yourself. It is very easy to realize that how much self esteem is essential. We all want to like ourselves, prove ourselves, and have reasons to believe that our virtues and talents are recognized. We want others to see us as likable, competent, and trustworthy. But as you know over confidence is one of the seven deadly sins which can be interpreted as exaggerated self-esteem, is widely regarded as an undesirable personality trait.
in psychology, self esteem can also be categorized as positive or healthy self esteem and negative or low self esteem. Now how will you understand in which category you will be counted? Let’s discuss it below:
When you have healthy self-esteem, you tend to feel positive about yourself and your life in general. It makes you feel better to deal with life’s ups and downs.
Signs of Healthy or Positive Self Esteem
You probably have healthy self-esteem if you are more likely to:
- Get rid of your past, negative experiences;
- Express what you want;
- Feel confident;
- Have a positive attitude on life;
- Say “no” when you want to;
- Accept who you are;
- Able to set boundaries;
- Face the fear and not fear failure.
But on the other hand, too much self-love results in an off-putting sense of entitlement and an inability to learn from failures. It can also be a sign of clinical narcissism, in which individuals may behave in a self-centered, arrogant, and manipulative manner. Being positive is good but don’t get so much confidence that can harm your career and your life. So you have to learn to set boundaries between confidence and arrogance.
When your self esteem is low, you tend to see yourself and your life in a more negative and critical light. You also start feeling less able to take on the challenges that life throws at you.
Signs of Negative or Low Self Esteem
You may have low self esteem if you have the following characteristics:
- You couldn’t get rid of your past or negative experiences;
- You always believe that others are better than you;
- You cannot express your needs;
- You focus on your weaknesses and frequently experience feelings like shame, depression, or anxiety;
- You have a negative attitude on life;
- You have an intense fear of failure;
- You have trouble saying “no”;
- You struggle with confidence.
If you are familiar to the above characteristics, you should learn how to resolve it. Because sometimes success in life depends on self esteem.
Example
Suppose, you are a businessman and you invested in the oil market of Dubai a long time back. But unfortunately, the business did not go well and you went back from Dubai with a loss. After a few years, you have researched that the oil market of Dubai will be profitable to invest again and this time there is a very high percentage to make a profit. But your business partner offers you to invest in another country instead of Dubai. What will you do now? Your self-esteem depends on the answer.
If you go for Dubai again with full confidence by convincing your partner that you will make profit this time, this level of psychology indicates that you have a positive self esteem.
But if you feel fear because of the last time’s incident you faced in Dubai and listen to your partner and invest in other countries, this level of psychology indicates your low self esteem.
