Self Esteem

Self Esteem
Self-esteem is a term used in psychology to reflect a person's overall evaluation or appraisal of his or her own worth. In lay-man language, self esteem is ones opinion of themselves
High self esteem is a good opinion of oneself. Low self esteem is a bad opinion of oneself.

Psychologists usually regard self-esteem as an enduring personality characteristic, though normal, short-term variations occur.

 Self-esteem is distinct from self-confidence and self-efficacy, which involve beliefs about ability and future performance. Self-esteem encompasses:
Beliefs. Eg. I am competent-incompetent Emotions. Eg. triumph-despair, pride-shame. Behaviour may reflect self-esteem. Eg. assertiveness-shyness, confidence-caution.

Self-esteem can apply specifically to a particular dimension (for example, "I believe I am a good writer, and feel proud of that in particular") or have global extent (for example, "I believe I am a good person, and feel proud of myself in general").

 Nathaniel Branden in 1969 briefly defined selfesteem as "...the experience of being competent to cope with the basic challenges of life and being worthy of happiness".
Brandens (1969) description of self-esteem includes the following primary properties:
self-esteem as a basic human need, i.e., "...it makes an essential contribution to the life process", "...is indispensable to normal and healthy self-development, and has a value for survival." self-esteem as an automatic and inevitable consequence of the sum of individuals' choices in using their consciousness. Something experienced as a part of, or background to, all of the individuals thoughts, feelings and actions. Self esteem is a concept of personality, for it to grow, we need to have self worth, and this self worth will be sought from embracing challenges that result in the showing of success.

Self Esteem depends on many Questions:

1. Is your job worthwhile?

2. Do others respect what you do? Do you?

3. Do you believe you are successful? 4. How do you see yourself (your self image)?

5. Boost your self esteem and confidence.

6. How do you feel about your strengths and weaknesses? 7. What do you think of your social status? 8. How do you relate to others? 9. Can you make your own decisions? A lack of choices leads to low self esteem.

Importance of Self Esteem

Self esteem is crucial! It is very important because it affects:
how you think act outlook confidence how you relate to other people potential to be successful

It has a direct bearing on your happiness and wellbeing. It effects 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.

Self Esteem, Grades and Relationships

Recent research indicates that inflating students' selfesteem in and of itself has no positive effect on grades. One study has shown that inflating self-esteem by itself can actually decrease grades. Self-esteem has been found to be related to forgiveness in close relationships, in that people with high selfesteem will be more forgiving than people with low selfesteem. The relationship involving self-esteem and academic results does not signify that high self-esteem contributes to high academic results. It simply means that high selfesteem may be accomplished due to high academic performance.[

Measurement
Psychologists use self-report to assess self esteem for emperical researches. The validity and reliability of the questionnaire is established prior to its use. The most widely used systems for measuring self esteem:
The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (1965):
usually uses a 10-question battery scored on a four-point response system that requires participants to indicate their level of agreement with a series of statements about themselves

The Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory (1967/1981)

uses a 50-question battery over a variety of topics and asks subjects whether they rate someone as similar or dissimilar to themselves.

Quality and Level of Self Esteem

Quality of self-esteem in several ways:
1. in terms of its constancy over time (stability) 2. in terms of its independence of meeting particular conditions (non-contingency) 3. in terms of its ingrained nature at a basic psychological level (implicitness or automatized)

Boost your self esteem!

Look for a model (someone who has self confidence) and learn from them. What is it they do that makes them confident, how do they act? Focus on your achievements rather than your failures. If you do find yourself thinking about how you failed then look at what you managed to do right and how you could correct what you did next time. Learn how to feel good about yourself Act as if you were self confident! You will feel more confident. Focus on who you are and what you like about yourself. Why do your friends like you? Prepare thoroughly for any task so that you can be sure you are ready.

Boost your self esteem!

Work on any skills you need to do what you want, you can never be over trained or over skilled for any challenge in life. Work on your relaxation skills Always smile and stand up straight Set reachable goals for yourself and break difficult tasks into smaller steps Reward yourself when you succeed no matter how small the achievement Finally, I advise you not to be too competitive or compare yourself with others. Be yourself and accept that life is not a race against others but your self confidence depends on you and your personal needs.