MODULE 3

SELF ESTEEM & EFFECTIVENESS

 MEANING OF SELF ESTEEM:

The degree to which the self is perceived positively or negatively; one’s overall attitude
toward the self.
It is the picture we form of ourselves through the eyes (and subsequently through the
words and actions) of others: our parents, our relatives, our teachers and friends. It is the value
we place upon ourselves.
Self-esteem is how you feel about yourself. Image is about how you see yourself and how
you believe others see you. They are closely connected because if you have a poor opinion of
yourself, your self esteem will be low.

 IMPORTANCE OF SELF-ESTEEM:

Building Your Self-Esteem

1. People with healthy self-esteem are able to feel good about themselves, appreciate their own
worth, and take pride in their abilities, skills, and accomplishments. People with low self-
esteem may feel as if no one will like them or accept them, or that they can’t do well in
anything.
2. Having positive self-esteem is the first step towards happiness and a better life. Self-esteem
improves our confidence. If we have confidence, we will reach out for new challenges and
will improve our relationships. Low self-esteem, on the other hand, can cause us to be
unhappy and insecure.
The good news is that self-image changes over time. So, if you feel that you are suffering
from low self-esteem, you can take steps to improve it. Here are a few things that you can do
right away, everyday, to enhance your self-esteem:

i.ACCEPT YOURSELF FOR WHO YOU ARE

No one is perfect. Instead of thinking about what you are lacking, consider what is unique
about you. It is said that the greatest achievement is successful self-acceptance. You will find
that you are most comfortable with others if you are comfortable with yourself.

ii.FACE YOUR FEARS

Fears can be real or imagined. Two of our most common fears are the twin evils of failure
and rejection. Assess your fears carefully. If your fear is real, then expand your resources and
strategies to deal with it. If your fear is imagined, analyze what is stopping you from getting
what you want in life.
 iii.LEARN FROM YOUR FAILURES
Don’t take failures or rejections too seriously. It is not the end of the world if you fail.
Einstein once said, “Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new”. So,
look at the positives in each failure, you can learn from it and improve next time.
Think back to the time you learned to ride a bicycle. You probably fell several times, but
with each fall, you’d have gotten up and brushed off the dust. Before you knew it, you’d become
pretty good at it. The same applies here. You have to work on your skills to overcome your
failures. See failure or rejection as a part of life.

iv.FORGET ABOUT THINGS THAT ARE BEYOND YOUR CONTROL

Being preoccupied with things in life that you cannot control (such as the weather, the
traffic, other people’s attitudes and problems, etc.) will stress you out. You can believe yourself
of a lot of stress by letting go of these unnecessary worries. Rather, shift your attention to things
that you can take charge of. Perhaps you cannot control the situation, but you can control your
own response to it and how you want it to affect you for the rest of your life.

v.TRY NEW THINGS

Experiment with different activities that will help you get in touch with your talents and
take pride in new skills you develop.

Why should self-esteem matter to you?

 Self esteem can be the difference between success and failure.

 Esteem can affect your thinking, causing your outlook to be positive or negative.
 Esteem affects your confidence.
 It affects your self-image.
 If you do not value yourself, how will you be able to value others?
 Self esteem enables you to have the right attitude to succeed at work.
 It affects your happiness.

 COMPONENTS OF SELF-ESTEEM:

Self-esteem has two parts: (i) to what degree do you like yourself and (ii) to what extent
do you think you are competent.
What constitutes self-esteem?
When people talk about self-esteem, they are typically talking about people’s general
views of themselves. However, research reveals that self-esteem actually has two components:

1. One aspect gets at the degree to which people “like” themselves. That is, it pertains to
people’s attitudes about themselves. Some affirmations that reflect higher levels of this
 component of self-esteem are “I feel comfortable with myself” and “I take a positive
view of myself”. This attitude can be described as “Self-Worth”.
2. The other component captures the extent to which people think that they are competent or
capable. This is described as “Personal Competence”. This is different from Self-Worth,
as it reflects the extent to which people think that they are able to succeed in specific
situations or even in life overall items that capture this attitude are “I am very talented”,
“I am good at many different things” and “I am highly effective at the things that I do”.
The existence of two components to self-esteem explains why some people might like
themselves but simultaneously think that they are ineffective or why a person can be very
capable and successful and yet not really like himself or herself.
Self-esteem is different from self-confidence or self-awareness.

 HIGH & LOW SELF-ESTEEM:

High Self-Esteem Low Self-Esteem

1. Creative 1. Rigidity
2. Independence 2. Defensiveness
3. Flexibility 3. Self-Doubt
4. Ability to manage change 4. Negativity
5. Admitting to mistake 5. Blindness to Reality
6. Optimism 6. Fear
7. Accepting criticism 7. Inability to accept criticism
8. Openness to new ideas 8. Inability to accept new ideas

 MEASURING YOUR SELF-ESTEEM:

The most common method of measuring self-esteem as a general trait like evaluation is
with the ten-item Rosenberg (1965) scale. As shown in Figure 1, this scale has rather
straightforward items. People who agree strongly with such items are said to have high self-
esteem, whereas those who disagree with the items have low self esteem. Given that most people
can guess what is being assessed with such items, it is not surprising that this measure correlates
very highly with responses to the simple item, “I have high self-esteem”. On this measure, using
a scale ranging from 1 (not very true of me) to 5 (very true of me), people are asked to provide
their own explicit attitude toward themselves. There are also more specific measures of self
esteem that are used on occasion to assess self esteem in particular domains such as academics,
personal relationships, appearance, and athletics. In general, overall trait self-esteem, as
measured with the Rosenberg scale, typically reflects the average of these more specific
domains:
______________________________________________________________________________
1. I feel that I am a person of worth, at least on an equal basis with others.
2. I feel that I have a number of good qualities.
3. All in all, I am inclined to feel that I am a failure.*
4. I am able to do things as well as most other people.
5. I feel I do not have much to be proud of.*
6. I take a positive attitude toward myself.
7. On the whole, I am satisfied with myself.
8. I wish I could have more respect for myself.*
9. I certainly feel useless at times.*
10. At times, I think I am no good at all.*

Figure 1. Measurement: The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale

Note: Each of the items with an asterisk is reverse-coded, and then an average of all 10 items is
computed so that higher numbers indicate greater self-esteem (Source: Based on Rosenberg,
1965).