Self-Esteem

By Elisabeth S Fergunson

Self-esteem is the value that a person gives to himself, what opinion he has about himself, and to what degree of self-acceptance and self-respect he treats himself.

The feeling of one's own importance and value, both on the side of others and on one's own, is important for the formation of a harmonious and healthy personality, therefore: success and happiness in life.

Low self-esteem and lack of confidence in our own abilities make us panic for fear of mistakes. This reduces motivation and initiative. Why try something if it still doesn't work? Sometimes one wonders.

How to deal with low self-esteem and stop being afraid of failure, is the proposal of this book that provides extensive knowledge of the problem and provides advice to promote it.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ediciones Afrodita
• Release date: Apr 16, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215784754

Book preview

Self-esteem

-Where it all begins-

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Elisabeth S. Fergunson

Ediciones Afrodita

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Index:

Chap. 1 What is self-esteem?

Chap. 2 Attitude towards life

Chap. 3 Formation of self-esteem

Chap. 4 Sociability and the problem of loneliness

Chap. 5 Tips to Increase Self-Esteem

Chapter 1

What is self-esteem?

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For some, achieving ambitious goals may not bring joy, but for others, insignificant results become a source of pride. Understanding how self-esteem is formed and how it affects career and personal life is of paramount importance.

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What is self-esteem

Self-esteem is the meaning that a person gives to himself as a whole and certain aspects of his personality, activities, and behavior. There is general self-esteem, which reflects the level of appreciation, acceptance, or non-acceptance of oneself in general; and private self-esteem, which characterizes a person's attitude to various aspects of his personality, actions, and success in certain types of activities. For example, a person considers himself a psychologically healthy person - this is general self-esteem; but at the same time, he believes that he cooks badly or that physical activity is difficult for him; this is private self-esteem.

American psychologist William James was the first to introduce the theory of self-esteem in 1890. He used a simple formula to define this term, stating that self-esteem equals success divided by our goals, values, and how we feel about our potential. That is, if our actual achievements are low and our potential and perceived goals are high, we consider ourselves a failure. On the contrary, if our success exceeds expectations, we feel great and our self-esteem increases.

In psychology, self-esteem is characterized by the level: high, medium, and low; realism: adequate and inadequate (overestimated and underestimated); and stability: stable and unstable.

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How does self-esteem form

According to psychologists interviewed by RBC Trends, the foundations of self-esteem are laid in childhood. According to Vladimir Shlyapnikov, head of the Department of Personality Psychology and Differential Psychology at the Moscow Institute of Psychoanalysis, the basis of the basic attitude towards myself, whether I accept myself as I am or not, is formed as a result of communication with parents in childhood.

School also plays an important role in building self-esteem. Unlike parents, teachers give us the first social evaluation. It is more differentiated and refers to specific activities and subjects, she says.

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Economics of education

Dangerous environment: what to do if your child is in a toxic school

In adulthood, self-esteem is most influenced by:

• ANDsocioeconomic status (education, income, unemployment)

• Health problems, disability.

• Social relationships.

• Mway of thinking

It is usually our experience that forms the basis of our overall self-assessment. For example, those who consistently receive overly critical evaluations from family and friends are more likely to have low self-esteem. Those who experience what the American psychologist Carl Rogers called an unconditional positive attitude are more likely to have healthy and adequate self-esteem. With adequate or healthy self-esteem, psychologists understand the correspondence of the perception that a person has of himself with the real state of things.

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How does self-esteem affect a person?

Many factors affect self-esteem and, along with this, much that affects one's self-esteem. It affects the decision-making process, our relationships with others, and our emotional health. Let's take a closer look at how self-esteem can affect a person as a whole, learning and building a career.

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Personality

For a person, self-esteem fulfills a regulatory and protective function.

The regulatory function reflects the degree of satisfaction or dissatisfaction with oneself, and the level of self-esteem. This, in turn, helps a person to perceive his own success or failure, to set additional goals.

The protective function ensures the relative independence of the individual, and the formation of his own opinion, which a person can express and defend in communication with other people.

As Vladimir Shlyapnikov explains, with healthy self-esteem, a person properly assesses his capabilities and sets realistic goals. For example, if a person is not a professional athlete, but wants to participate in a marathon, he will understand that he will need much more time to prepare for the race than experienced athletes; Based on this knowledge, he will decide if he sets such a goal and how to achieve it. At the same time, Shliapnikov points out, this doesn't mean that people with adequate self-esteem can't set difficult goals for themselves; they must, and as a general rule, people with adequate self-esteem achieve their goals. Such a person achieves success and acts at the limit of his abilities, which allows him to develop as a person and as a professional. With inappropriately high self-esteem, a person will inevitably face failure. By deliberately setting an intractable goal, a person is unlikely to achieve it, no matter how hard he tries. And the very process of achieving the goal can pose a threat to life and health, he says.

According to the expert, inappropriately low self-esteem is bad because a person does not develop either. Avoids risk, and difficult tasks follow the path of least resistance, and is afraid to open up to the fullest.

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Four key skills of a successful person

During adolescence, a student's self-esteem has a significant impact on almost everything he does in school: how he copes with difficulties, and how he interacts with other people. In both childhood and adulthood, low self-esteem can reduce a person's desire to learn—their ability to focus on the learning process. At the same time, due to inflated self-esteem and the internal position , I know everything, a person, in principle, can lose the desire to learn new things, which means to develop.

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For the professional area

Experts interviewed by RBC Trends say that self-esteem can seriously affect a person's professional sphere. According to Valentin Oskin, gestalt therapist and consultant for the online psychological help service YouTalk, low self-esteem prevents a person from working, developing, and having a high income.

A person with low self-esteem can actually be a good professional, maybe not the best, but good. Such a view of oneself often makes a person not only believes that his activity is not good but also that he cannot fix it; after all, he must be more intelligent, strong-willed, conscientious, patient, etc., says the expert.

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Why professional development improves self-esteem

Let's consider how overestimated