However, some signs can help to identify general low self-esteem. The earlier signs of low self-esteem, if not addressed, could lead to more serious concerns, including mental health conditions such as depression or anxiety , harmful habits such as smoking or drinking, or other negative effects on health and life.

Self-concept is a broad description of how you see yourself. It's everything you know about who you are as a person. Self-esteem, on the other hand, is how you evaluate yourself. Low self-esteem is something that can impact people of all ages, including children.

However, young adults tend to have lower self-esteem than older adults, and women tend to have lower self-esteem than men. Beyond these trends, many different circumstances, thoughts, and beliefs can impact self-esteem throughout life.

A person could have general low self-esteem, or low self-esteem in all areas. It is also possible to have low self-esteem in only some areas, but that low self-esteem can carry over into other areas as well. Self-esteem can be impacted by different areas of a person and their life, and self-esteem affects all areas of life.

There is a relationship between self-esteem, measured intelligence, perceived intelligence, and academic performance. Higher levels of intelligence and academic achievement have been linked to higher levels of self-esteem. This relationship has been shown to go further with higher levels of general, educational, social, and public self-esteem all being linked to increased academic achievement.

This means that high self-esteem in specific areas is related to positive outcomes in those areas. In fact, high general self-esteem provides benefits in a variety of areas. Self-esteem can play a role in career progression. Low self-esteem can compromise belief in ability to make decisions related to careers and the intensity of searching for jobs.

Additionally, high levels of self-esteem are linked to being more likely to apply for jobs, more likely to receive job offers, and greater career advancement.

Low-self esteem in the area of physical ability is something that can begin in childhood with physical education in schools, extracurricular sports, and activities with peers. It can also continue into adulthood. This may become related to low self-esteem in the area of physical appearance with weight gain associated with avoidance of physical activity.

Those who are more physically active have been found to have higher self-esteem, higher levels of perceived physical fitness, and a more positive body image. Physical appearance, body image, and weight are all linked to self-esteem.

Low self-esteem in these areas impacts many teens and adults. More positive body image is associated with higher self-esteem and decreased risk of harmful effects such as eating disorders. Higher body mass index is associated with more negative body image, lower self-esteem, and increased risk of turning to cigarettes and other unhealthy coping behaviors.

These connections show how low self-esteem in one area can impact other areas and overall health and well-being. Low self-esteem is linked to many mental health concerns. An increased risk of anxiety, depression, and addiction is seen with low self-esteem, as well as poor relationships and decreased overall quality of life.

Low self-esteem is also a common component of eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa , bulimia nervosa , and binge eating disorder. Self-esteem is something that changes over time. Some strategies that can help improve self-esteem include:.

Additionally, there are things that can be done intentionally to increase self-esteem, such as working with a mental health professional who uses a type of talk therapy called cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT. This may include focusing on specific areas where self-esteem is particularly low, or working on general self-esteem.

Low self-esteem can be unpleasant on a daily basis, and it can lead to negative effects in all areas of life.

If you struggle with low self-esteem, there are things you can do to increase your self-esteem and improve the areas of life and well-being that are impacted. Most people's thoughts and feelings about themselves fluctuate somewhat based on their daily experiences. The grade you get on an exam, how your friends treat you, ups and downs in a romantic relationship can all have a temporary impact on how you feel about yourself.

Your self-esteem, however, is something more fundamental than the normal ups and downs associated with situational changes. For people with good self-esteem, normal ups and downs may lead to temporary fluctuations in how they feel about themselves, but only to a limited extent.

In contrast, for people with poor self-esteem, these ups and downs drastically impact the way they see themselves. Healthy Self-Esteem People with poor self-esteem often rely on how they are doing in the present to determine how they feel about themselves.

They need positive external experiences e. Even then, the good feeling such as from a good grade or compliment is usually temporary.

Healthy self-esteem is based on our ability to assess ourselves accurately and still be accepting of who we are. This means being able to acknowledge our strengths and weaknesses we all have them! and at the same time recognize that we are worthy and worthwhile.

Where Does Self-Esteem Come From? Our self-esteem evolves throughout our lives as we develop an image of ourselves through our experiences with different people and activities. Experiences during childhood play a particularly large role in the shaping of self-esteem.

When we were growing up, our successes, failures, and how we were treated by our family, teachers, coaches, religious authorities, and peers, all contributed to the creation of our self-esteem. Childhood experiences that contribute to healthy self-esteem include: Being listened to Being spoken to respectfully Getting appropriate attention and affection Having accomplishments be recognized and mistakes or failures be acknowledged and accepted Childhood experiences that may lead to low self-esteem include: Being harshly criticized Being physically, sexually, or emotionally abused Being ignored, ridiculed, or teased Being expected to be perfect all the time.

People with low self-esteem were often given messages—from parents, teachers, peers, or others—that failed experiences losing a game, getting a poor grade, etc. were failures of their whole self What Does Your "Inner Voice" Say?

Our past experiences, even the things we don't usually think about, continue to impact our daily life in the form of an "inner voice.

For people with healthy self-esteem, the messages of the inner voice are usually accepting and reassuring. For people with low self-esteem, the inner voice becomes a harsh critic, punishing one's mistakes and belittling one's accomplishments.

Three Faces of Low Self-Esteem Low self-esteem is not always easy to recognize. Here are three common faces that low self-esteem may wear: The Imposter: acts happy and successful, but is really terrified of failure. Lives with the constant fear that she or he will be found out.

Needs continuous successes to maintain the mask of positive self-esteem, which may lead to problems with perfectionism, procrastination, competition, and burn-out.

The Rebel: acts like the opinions or good will of others—especially people who are important or powerful—don't matter. Lives with constant anger about not feeling good enough. Continuously needs to prove that others' judgments and criticisms don't hurt, which may lead to problems like blaming others excessively, breaking rules or laws, or opposing authority.

The Victim: acts helpless and unable to cope with the world and waits for someone to come to the rescue. Uses self-pity or indifference as a shield against fear of taking responsibility for changing his or her life. Looks repeatedly to others for guidance, which can lead to such problems as unassertiveness, underachievement, and excessive reliance on others in relationships.

Consequences of Low Self-Esteem Low self-esteem can have devastating consequences. It can: create anxiety, stress, loneliness, and increased likelihood of depression cause problems with friendships and romantic relationships seriously impair academic and job performance lead to increased vulnerability to drug and alcohol abuse Worst of all, these negative consequences themselves reinforce the negative self-image and can take a person into a downward spiral of lower and lower self-esteem and increasingly unproductive or even actively self-destructive behavior.

Three Steps to Improved Self-Esteem Change doesn't necessarily happen quickly or easily, but it can happen. You are not powerless! Once you have accepted, or are at least willing to entertain the possibility that you can change, there are three steps you can take to begin to improve the way you feel about yourself: Step 1: Rebut the Inner Critic The first important step in improving self-esteem is to begin to challenge the negative messages of the critical inner voice.

Here are some typical examples of the inner critic and some strategies to rebut that critical voice. Unfairly harsh inner critic: "People said they liked my presentation, but it was nowhere near as good as it should have been.

I can't believe no-one noticed all the places I messed up. I'm such an imposter. Maybe it wasn't perfect, but I worked hard on that presentation and did a good job.

Skip to main content. Healthy mind. Home Healthy mind. Self esteem. Actions for this page Listen Print. Summary Read the full fact sheet. On this page. Characteristics of low self-esteem Low self-esteem and quality of life Causes of low self-esteem Seek help for underlying self-esteem problems Self-esteem building Seek out support to build self-esteem Where to get help.

Relationship problems — for example they may tolerate all sorts of unreasonable behaviour from partners because they believe they must earn love and friendship, cannot be loved or are not loveable.

Alternatively, a person with low self-esteem may feel angry and bully other people. Fear of trying — the person may doubt their abilities or worth and avoid challenges. Fear of judgement — they may avoid activities that involve other people, like sports or social events, because they are afraid they will be negatively judged.

Lack of self-care — the person may care so little that they neglect or abuse themselves, for example, drink too much alcohol. Self-harming behaviours — low self-esteem puts the person at increased risk of self-harm, for example, eating disorder, drug abuse or suicide.

Causes of low self-esteem Some of the many causes of low self-esteem may include: Unhappy childhood where parents or other significant people such as teachers were extremely critical Poor academic performance in school resulting in a lack of confidence Ongoing stressful life event such as relationship breakdown or financial trouble Poor treatment from a partner, parent or carer, for example, being in an abusive relationship Ongoing medical problem such as chronic pain, serious illness or physical disability Mental illness such as an anxiety disorder or depression.

Seek help for underlying self-esteem problems Chronic problems can be demoralising and lead to self-esteem issues. Self-esteem building Self-esteem is strongly related to how you view and react to the things that happen in your life.

Suggestions for building self-esteem include: Talk to yourself positively — treat yourself as you would your best friend. Be supportive, kind and understanding. Make an effort to accept yourself, warts and all.

Appreciate your special qualities — remind yourself of your good points every day.

Self-esteem is confidence in one's own worth, abilities, or morals. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs about oneself for example, "I am loved", "I am worthy" as well as emotional states, such as triumph, despair, pride, and shame.

The construct of self-esteem has been shown to be a desirable one in psychology, as it is associated with a variety of positive outcomes, such as academic achievement, [3] [4] relationship satisfaction, [5] happiness, [6] and lower rates of criminal behavior.

The benefits of high self-esteem are thought to include improved mental and physical health, and less anti-social behavior [7] while drawbacks of low self-esteem have been found to be anxiety, loneliness, and increased vulnerability to substance abuse.

Self-esteem can apply to a specific attribute or globally. Psychologists usually regard self-esteem as an enduring personality characteristic trait self-esteem , though normal, short-term variations state self-esteem also exist. Synonyms or near-synonyms of self-esteem include: self-worth, [9] self-regard, [10] self-respect, [11] [12] and self-integrity.

The concept of self-esteem has its origins in the 18th century, first expressed in the writings of the Scottish enlightenment thinker David Hume.

Hume posits that it is important to value and think well of oneself because it serves a motivational function that enables people to explore their full potential.

The identification of self-esteem as a distinct psychological construct has its origins in the work of philosopher and psychologist, William James. James identified multiple dimensions of the self, with two levels of hierarchy: processes of knowing called the "I-self" and the resulting knowledge about the self the "Me-self".

The observation about the self and storage of those observations by the I-self creates three types of knowledge, which collectively account for the Me-self, according to James.

These are the material self , social self , and spiritual self. The social self comes closest to self-esteem, comprising all characteristics recognized by others. The material self consists of representations of the body and possessions and the spiritual self of descriptive representations and evaluative dispositions regarding the self.

This view of self-esteem as the collection of an individual's attitudes toward itself remains today. In the mids, social psychologist Morris Rosenberg defined self-esteem as a feeling of self-worth and developed the Rosenberg self-esteem scale RSES , which became the most widely used scale to measure self-esteem in the social sciences.

In the early 20th century, the behaviorist movement shunned introspective study of mental processes, emotions, and feelings, replacing introspection with objective study through experiments on behaviors observed in relation with the environment.

Behaviorism viewed the human being as an animal subject to reinforcements, and suggested making psychology an experimental science, similar to chemistry or biology. Consequently, clinical trials on self-esteem were overlooked, since behaviorists considered the idea less amenable to rigorous measurement.

In the midth century, the rise of phenomenology and humanistic psychology led to a renewed interest in self-esteem as a treatment for psychological disorders such as depression, anxiety, and personality disorders. Psychologists started to consider the relationship between psychotherapy and the personal satisfaction of people with high self-esteem as useful to the field.

This led to new elements being introduced to the concept of self-esteem, including the reasons why people tend to feel less worthy and why people become discouraged or unable to meet challenges by themselves. In , the political scientist Francis Fukuyama associated self-esteem with what Plato called thymos —the " spiritedness " part of the Platonic soul.

From , the core self-evaluations approach included self-esteem as one of four dimensions that comprise one's fundamental appraisal of oneself—along with locus of control , neuroticism , and self-efficacy.

The importance of self-esteem gained endorsement from some government and non-government groups starting around the s, such that one can speak of a self-esteem movement.

A leading figure of the movement, psychologist Nathaniel Branden , stated: "[I] cannot think of a single psychological problem — from anxiety and depression, to fear of intimacy or of success, to spouse battery or child molestation — that is not traced back to the problem of low self-esteem".

It was once thought that self-esteem was primarily a feature of Western individualistic societies , as it was not observed in collectivist cultures such as Japan. Vasconcellos argued that this task force could combat many of the state's problems — from crime and teen pregnancy to school underachievement and pollution.

The task force set up committees in many California counties and formed a committee of scholars to review the available literature on self-esteem. This committee found very small associations between low self-esteem and its assumed consequences, ultimately showing that low self-esteem was not the root of all societal problems and not as important as the committee had originally thought.

However, the authors of the paper that summarized the review of the literature still believed that self-esteem is an independent variable that affects major social problems. The task force disbanded in , and the National Council for Self-Esteem and later the National Association for Self-Esteem NASE was established, [ by whom?

Vasconcellos and Jack Canfield were members of its advisory board in , and members of its masters' coalition included Anthony Robbins , Bernie Siegel , and Gloria Steinem.

Many early theories suggested that self-esteem is a basic human need or motivation. American psychologist, Abraham Maslow included self-esteem in his hierarchy of human needs.

He described two different forms of "esteem": the need for respect from others in the form of recognition, success, and admiration, and the need for self-respect in the form of self-love, self-confidence, skill, or aptitude. According to Maslow, without the fulfillment of the self-esteem need, individuals will be driven to seek it and unable to grow and obtain self-actualization.

Maslow also states that the healthiest expression of self-esteem "is the one which manifests in the respect we deserve for others, more than renown, fame, and flattery". Modern theories of self-esteem explore the reasons humans are motivated to maintain a high regard for themselves.

Sociometer theory maintains that self-esteem evolved to check one's level of status and acceptance in one's social group. According to Terror Management Theory , self-esteem serves a protective function and reduces anxiety about life and death.

Carl Rogers — , an advocate of humanistic psychology , theorized the origin of many people's problems to be that they despise themselves and consider themselves worthless and incapable of being loved.

This is why Rogers believed in the importance of giving unconditional acceptance to a client and when this was done it could improve the client's self-esteem.

Every human being, with no exception, for the mere fact to be it, is worthy of unconditional respect of everybody else; he deserves to esteem himself and to be esteemed. One of the most widely used instruments, the Rosenberg self-esteem scale RSES [27] is a item self-esteem scale score that requires participants to indicate their level of agreement with a series of statements about themselves.

An alternative measure, the Coopersmith Inventory uses a question battery over a variety of topics and asks subjects whether they rate someone as similar or dissimilar to themselves.

If those answers reveal some inner shame, it considers them to be prone to social deviance. Implicit measures of self-esteem began to be used in the s. Such indirect measures are designed to reduce awareness of the process of assessment.

When using them to assess implicit self-esteem, psychologists apply self-relevant stimuli to the participant and then measure how quickly a person identifies positive or negative stimuli. Experiences in a person's life are a major source of how self-esteem develops. These feelings translate into later effects on self-esteem as the child grows older.

Although studies thus far have reported only a correlation of warm, supportive parenting styles mainly authoritative and permissive with children having high self-esteem, these parenting styles could easily be thought of as having some causal effect in self-esteem development.

Experiences that contribute to low self-esteem include being harshly criticized, being physically, sexually or emotionally abused, being ignored, ridiculed or teased or being expected to be "perfect" all the time. During school-aged years, academic achievement is a significant contributor to self-esteem development.

For example, they may not have academic achievements, or they live in a troubled environment outside of school. Issues like the ones previously stated, can cause adolescents to doubt themselves.

Social experiences are another important contributor to self-esteem. As children go through school, they begin to understand and recognize differences between themselves and their classmates.

Using social comparisons, children assess whether they did better or worse than classmates in different activities. These comparisons play an important role in shaping the child's self-esteem and influence the positive or negative feelings they have about themselves.

Adolescents make appraisals of themselves based on their relationships with close friends. Social acceptance brings about confidence and produces high self-esteem, whereas rejection from peers and loneliness brings about self-doubts and produces low self-esteem. Self-esteem tends to increase during adolescence and young adulthood, reaching a peak in middle age.

High levels of mastery, low risk taking, and better health are ways to predict higher self-esteem. In terms of personality, emotionally stable, extroverted, and conscientious individuals experience higher self-esteem.

However, during old age, they experience a more rapid decline in self-esteem. Shame can be a contributor to those with problems of low self-esteem. Poor performance leads to a decrease in social self-esteem and an increase in shame, indicating a threat to the social self.

There are three levels of self-evaluation development in relation to the real self, ideal self, and the dreaded self. The real, ideal, and dreaded selves develop in children in a sequential pattern on cognitive levels. This development brings with it increasingly complicated and encompassing moral demands.

This level is where individuals' self-esteems can suffer because they do not feel as though they are living up to certain expectations. This feeling will moderately affect one's self-esteem with an even larger effect seen when individuals believe they are becoming their dreaded selves.

People with a healthy level of self-esteem: [53]. Some people have a secure high self-esteem and can confidently maintain positive self-views without relying on external reassurance.

However, others have defensive high self-esteem, and while they also report positive self-views on the Rosenberg Scale, these views are fragile and easily threatened by criticism.

Defensive high self-esteem individuals internalize subconscious self-doubts and insecurities, causing them to react very negatively to any criticism they may receive. There is a need for constant positive feedback from others for these individuals to maintain their feelings of self-worth.

The necessity of repeated praise can be associated with boastful, arrogant behavior or sometimes even aggressive and hostile feelings toward anyone who questions the individual's self-worth, an example of threatened egotism. The Journal of Educational Psychology conducted a study in which they used a sample of Malaysian undergraduates participating in work integrated learning WIL programs across five public universities to test the relationship between self-esteem and other psychological attributes such as self-efficacy and self-confidence.

The results demonstrated that self-esteem has a positive and significant relationship with self-confidence and self-efficacy since students with higher self-esteem had better performances at university than those with lower self-esteem.

It was concluded that higher education institutions and employers should emphasize the importance of undergraduates' self-esteem development. Implicit self-esteem refers to a person's disposition to evaluate themselves positively or negatively in a spontaneous, automatic, or unconscious manner.

It contrasts with explicit self-esteem , which entails more conscious and reflective self-evaluation. Both explicit self-esteem and implicit self-esteem are theoretically subtypes of self-esteem proper. However, the validity of implicit self-esteem as a construct is highly questionable, given not only its weak or nonexistent correlation with explicit self-esteem and informant ratings of self-esteem, [13] [18] but also the failure of multiple measures of implicit self-esteem to correlate with each other.

Currently, there is little scientific evidence that self-esteem can be reliably or validly measured through implicit means. Narcissism is a disposition people may have that represents an excessive love for one's self. It is characterized by an inflated view of self-worth. Individuals who score high on narcissism measures, Robert Raskin's Narcissistic Personality Inventory, would likely respond "true" to such prompt statements as "If I ruled the world, it would be a much better place.

Narcissism is not only defined by inflated self-esteem, but also by characteristics such as entitlement, exploitativeness, and dominance. Additionally, while positive self-image is a shared characteristic of narcissism and self-esteem, narcissistic self-appraisals are exaggerated, whereas in non-narcissistic self-esteem, positive views of the self compared with others are relatively modest.

Thus, while sharing positive self-regard as a main feature, and while narcissism is defined by high self-esteem, the two constructs are not interchangeable. Threatened egotism is a phenomenon in which narcissists respond to criticism with hostility and aggression, as it threatens their sense of self-worth.

Low self-esteem can result from various factors, including genetic factors, physical appearance or weight, mental health issues, socioeconomic status, significant emotional experiences, social stigma , peer pressure or bullying. A person with low self-esteem may show some of the following characteristics: [64] [65] [66].

Individuals with low self-esteem tend to be critical of themselves. Some depend on the approval and praise of others when evaluating self-worth. Others may measure their likability in terms of successes: others will accept themselves if they succeed but will not if they fail.

Metacognitive therapy , EMDR technique, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy , rational emotive behavior therapy , cognitive behavioral therapy and trait and construct therapies have been shown to improve the patient's self-esteem.

This classification proposed by Martin Ross [77] distinguishes three states of self-esteem compared to the "feats" triumphs , honors , virtues and the "anti-feats" defeats , embarrassment , shame , etc.

of the individuals. The individual does not regard themselves as valuable or lovable. They may be overwhelmed by defeat, or shame, or see themselves as such, and they name their "anti-feat". For example, if they consider that being over a certain age is an anti-feat, they define themselves with the name of their anti-feat, and say, "I am old".

They express actions and feelings such as pity, insulting themselves, and they may become paralyzed by their sadness. The individual has a generally positive self-image.

However, their self-esteem is also vulnerable to the perceived risk of an imminent anti-feat such as defeat, embarrassment, shame, discredit , consequently, they are often nervous and regularly use defense mechanisms.

Although such individuals may outwardly exhibit great self-confidence, the underlying reality may be just the opposite: the apparent self-confidence is indicative of their heightened fear of anti-feats and the fragility of their self-esteem.

They may employ defense mechanisms, including attempting to lose at games and other competitions in order to protect their self-image by publicly dissociating themselves from a need to win, and asserting an independence from social acceptance which they may deeply desire. In this deep fear of being unaccepted by an individual's peers, they make poor life choices by making risky decisions.

People with strong self-esteem have a positive self-image and enough strength so that anti-feats do not subdue their self-esteem. They have less fear of failure. These individuals appear humble, cheerful, and this shows a certain strength not to boast about feats and not to be afraid of anti-feats.

They can acknowledge their own mistakes precisely because their self-image is strong, and this acknowledgment will not impair or affect their self-image. A distinction is made between contingent or conditional [81] and non-contingent or unconditional [82] self-esteem. Contingent self-esteem is derived from external sources, such as what others say, one's success or failure, one's competence, [83] or relationship-contingent self-esteem.

Therefore, contingent self-esteem is marked by instability, unreliability, and vulnerability. Persons lacking a non-contingent self-esteem are "predisposed to an incessant pursuit of self-value".

Furthermore, fear of disapproval inhibits activities in which failure is possible. This is the Pauline-Lutheran doctrine of 'justification by faith.

Non-contingent self-esteem is described as true, stable, and solid. It is an acceptance given "in spite of our guilt, not because we have no guilt". Psychiatrist Thomas A Harris drew on Tillich for his classic I'm OK — You're OK that addresses non-contingent self-esteem.

Harris translated Tillich's "acceptable" by the vernacular OK , a term that means "acceptable". A secure non-contingent self-esteem springs from the belief that one is ontologically acceptable and accepted.

Whereas global self-esteem addresses how individuals appraise themselves in their entirety, domain-specific self-esteem facets relate to how they appraise themselves in various pertinent domains of life.

Such functionally distinct facets of self-esteem may comprise self-evaluations in social, emotional, body-related, school performance-related, and creative-artistic domains. They have been found to be predictive of outcomes related to psychological functioning, health, education, and work.

Abraham Maslow states that psychological health is not possible unless the essential core of the person is fundamentally accepted, loved and respected by others and by oneself.

Self-esteem allows people to face life with more confidence, benevolence, and optimism, and thus easily reach their goals and self-actualize. Self-esteem may make people convinced they deserve happiness. When people have a positive view of themselves, they are more likely to treat others with respect, compassion, and kindness.

This creates the foundation for strong, positive relationships that are built on mutual respect and understanding. On the contrary, an attitude of love toward themselves will be found in all those who are capable of loving others.

Self-esteem allows creativity at the workplace and is a specially critical condition for teaching professions. José-Vicente Bonet claims that the importance of self-esteem is obvious as a lack of self-esteem is, he says, not a loss of esteem from others, but self-rejection.

Bonet claims that this corresponds to major depressive disorder. Self-esteem is not self-confidence ; self-confidence is about your trust in yourself and your ability to deal with challenges, solve problems, and engage successfully with the world Burton, As you probably noted from this description, self-confidence is based more on external measures of success and value than the internal measures that contribute to self-esteem.

One can have high self-confidence, particularly in a certain area or field, but still lack a healthy sense of overall value or self-esteem.

Similar to self-confidence, self-efficacy is also related to self-esteem but not a proxy for it. You could have high self-efficacy when it comes to playing basketball, but low self-efficacy when it comes to succeeding in math class. Unlike self-esteem, self-efficacy is more specific rather than global, and it is based on external success rather than internal worth.

Finally, self-esteem is also not self-compassion. Self-compassion centers on how we relate to ourselves rather than how we judge or perceive ourselves Neff, n.

Being self-compassionate means we are kind and forgiving to ourselves, and that we avoid being harsh or overly critical of ourselves. Self-compassion can lead us to a healthy sense of self-esteem, but it is not in and of itself self-esteem.

We explore this further in The Science of Self-Acceptance Masterclass©. There is a component of self-esteem within this level of the hierarchy, but Maslow felt that the esteem of others was more important for development and need fulfillment than self-esteem.

He explained that for one to achieve self-actualization and grow, their need for inner-respect and esteem from others must be met. Download 3 Free Self Compassion Exercises PDF These detailed, science-based exercises will equip you to help others create a kinder and more nurturing relationship with themselves.

Martin Seligman has some concerns about openly accepting self-esteem as part of positive psychology. He expressed the following in I am not against self-esteem, but I believe that self-esteem is just a meter that reads out the state of the system.

It is not an end in itself. When you are doing well in school or work, when you are doing well with the people you love, when you are doing well in play, the meter will register high. When you are doing badly, it will register low. Seligman makes a great point, as it is important to take his words into consideration when looking at self-esteem.

Self-esteem and positive psychology may not marry quite yet, so it is important to look at what research tells us about self-esteem before we construct a rationale for it as positive psychology researcher, coach, or practitioner.

Examples of these characteristics are being open to criticism, acknowledging mistakes, being comfortable with giving and receiving compliments, and displaying a harmony between what one says, does, looks, sounds, and moves. People with high self-esteem are unafraid to show their curiosity, discuss their experiences, ideas, and opportunities.

They can also enjoy the humorous aspects of their lives and are comfortable with social or personal assertiveness Branden, Although low self-esteem has received more attention than high self-esteem, the positive psychology movement has brought high self-esteem into the spotlight.

We now know more about what high self-esteem looks like and how it can be cultivated. We also know that there are some simple ways to tell if you have high self-esteem. For example, you likely have high self-esteem if you:. Based on these characteristics, we can come up with some good examples of what high self-esteem looks like.

Imagine a high-achieving student who takes a difficult exam and earns a failing grade. Having a healthy sense of self-esteem guides her toward accepting reality, thinking critically about why she failed, and problem-solving instead of wallowing in self-pity or giving up. For a second example, think about a young man out on a first date.

He really likes the young woman he is going out with, so he is eager to make a good impression and connect with her. Over the course of their discussion on the date, he learns that she is motivated and driven by completely different values and has very different taste in almost everything.

To him, it is more important to behave authentically than to focus on getting his date to like him. It can be hard to really wrap your mind around self-esteem and why it is so important. Although some of these facts may make sense to you, you will likely find that at least one or two surprise you—specifically those pertaining to the depth and breadth of low self-esteem in people and particularly young people and girls.

The whole story shows that there are many people with a healthy sense of self-esteem, and they enjoy some great benefits and advantages.

For instance, people with healthy self-esteem:. Given the facts on the sad state of self-esteem in society and the positive outcomes associated with high self-esteem, it seems clear that looking into how self-esteem can be built is a worthwhile endeavor.

Luckily, there are many researchers who have tackled this topic. Numerous studies have shown us that it is possible to build self-esteem, especially in children and young people.

One of the most interesting results came from a cross-cultural research on life satisfaction and self-esteem, which was conducted in 31 countries. They found differences in self-esteem between collective and individualistic cultures with self-esteem being lower in collectivist cultures.

They found that similar to other collectivist cultures, self-esteem also had an effect on resilience with teenagers. Teenagers with low self-esteem had a higher sense of hopelessness and had low resilience Karatas, However, the potential to boost your self-esteem and reap the benefits is not limited to students!

Adults can get in on this endeavour as well, although the onus will be on them to make the changes necessary. Self-esteem researcher and expert Dr. John M. Grohol outlined six practical tips on how to increase your sense of self-esteem, which include:.

It can be as simple as writing down 10 of your strengths and 10 of your weaknesses. This will help you to begin developing an honest and realistic conception of yourself. For example, setting an extremely high expectation or an expectation that someone else will change their behavior is virtually guaranteed to make you feel like a failure, through no fault of your own.

Acknowledge both your accomplishments and mistakes. Nobody is perfect, and trying to be will only lead to disappointment. Acknowledging your accomplishments and recognizing your mistakes is the way to keep a positive outlook while learning and growing from your mistakes.

The importance of knowing yourself and being at peace with who you are cannot be overstated. This can take some trial and error, and you will constantly learn new things about yourself, but it is a journey that should be undertaken with purpose and zeal.

We all change as we age and grow, and we must keep up with our ever-changing selves if we want to set and achieve meaningful goals.

Comparing ourselves to others is a trap that is extremely easy to fall into, especially today with social media and the ability to project a polished, perfected appearance.

The only person you should compare yourself to is you Grohol, Another list of specific, practical things you can do to develop and maintain a good sense of self-esteem comes from the Entrepreneur website:. For example, although we recommend improving self-esteem to positively impact grades or work performance, success in these areas is at least somewhat dependent on self-esteem as well.

Similarly, those who have a healthy level of self-esteem are more likely to have positive relationships, but those with positive relationships are also more likely to have healthy self-esteem, likely because the relationship works in both directions.

While there is nothing wrong with boosting your self-esteem, keep in mind that in some cases you may be putting the cart before the horse, and commit to developing yourself in several areas rather than just working on enhancing your self-esteem. Based on research like that described above, we have learned that there are many ways therapy and counseling can help clients to improve their self-esteem.

Besides clinical interventions, there are also things people can do on their own to boost their self-esteem. One of these methods is meditation—yes, you can add yet another benefit of meditation to the list!

However, not only can we develop self-esteem through meditation , we also gain some other important benefits. When we meditate, we cultivate our ability to let go and to keep our thoughts and feelings in perspective.

We learn to simply observe instead of actively participate in every little experience that pops into our head. While this may sound counterintuitive to developing and maintaining a positive sense of self, it is actually a great way to approach it.

Through meditation, we gain the ability to become aware of our inner experiences without over-identifying with them, letting our thoughts pass by without judgment or a strong emotional response.

As meditation expert Andy Puddicombe notes, low self-esteem can be understood as the result of over-identification with the self. We may even get obsessive about the self, going over every little word, thought, or feeling that enters our mind.

A regular meditation practice can boost your self-esteem by helping you to let go of your preoccupation with your self, freeing you from being controlled by the thoughts and feelings your self-experiences.

Self-esteem is the topic of many a psychological scale and assessment, and many of them are valid, reliable, and very popular among researchers; however, these assessments are not perfect.

There are a few problems and considerations you should take into account if you want to measure self-esteem, including:.

Although these issues are certainly not unique to the measurement of self-esteem, one should approach the assessment of self-esteem with multiple measurement methods in hand, with the appropriate level of caution, or both.

Still, even though there are various issues with the measurement of self-esteem, avoiding the measurement is not an option!

This scale was developed by Rosenberg and presented in his book Society and the Adolescent Self-Image. It contains 10 items rated on a scale from 1 strongly agree to 4 strongly disagree. Some of the items are reverse-scored, and the total score can be calculated by summing up the total points for an overall measure of self-esteem although it can also be scored in a different, more complex manner—see page 61 of this PDF for instructions.

On the whole, I am satisfied with myself. At times I think I am no good at all. I feel that I have a number of good qualities. I am able to do things as well as most other people.

I feel I do not have much to be proud of. I certainly feel useless at times. I wish I could have more respect for myself.

All in all, I am inclined to think that I am a failure. I take a positive attitude toward myself. As you likely figured out already, items 2, 5, 6, 8, and 9 are reverse-scored, while the other items are scored normally.

This creates a single score of between 10 and 40 points, with lower scores indicating higher self-esteem. Put another way, higher scores indicate a strong sense of low self-esteem.

The scale is considered highly consistent and reliable, and scores correlate highly with other measures of self-esteem and negatively with measures of depression and anxiety. It has been used by thousands of researchers throughout the years and is still in use today, making it one of the most-cited scales ever developed.

The second most commonly used reliable and valid measure for self-esteem is The Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory. Initially created to test the self-esteem of children, it was later altered by Ryden and now two separate versions exist; one for children and one for adults.

Find out more about taking this test here. As you might expect, self-esteem is a complex construct and there are many factors that contribute to it, whether positively or negatively. For a quick sample of some of the many factors that are known to influence self-esteem, check out this list:.

Although you may have found some of the findings on self-esteem covered earlier surprising, you will most likely expect this one: studies suggest that social media usage negatively impacts self-esteem Friedlander, This effect is easy to understand.

Humans are social creatures and need interaction with others to stay healthy and happy; however, we also use those around us as comparisons to measure and track our own progress in work, relationships, and life in general.

Social media makes these comparisons easier than ever, but they give this tendency to compare a dark twist. What we see on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter is not representative of real life. It is often carefully curated and painstakingly presented to give the best possible impression.

We rarely see the sadness, the failure, and the disappointment that accompanies everyday human life; instead, we see a perfect picture, a timeline full of only good news, and short blurbs about achievements, accomplishments, and happiness. Although this social comparison with unattainable standards is clearly a bad habit to get into, social media is not necessarily a death knell for your self-esteem.

Moderate social media usage complemented by frequent self-reminders that we are often only seeing the very best in others can allow us to use social media posts as inspiration and motivation rather than unhealthy comparison.

By viewing self-esteem as a muscle to grow we establish a world of new opportunities. No longer do we have to view ourselves in the same light. Spend time with people who lift you up 2. Giveback by helping others 3. Celebrate your achievements, no matter the size 4.

Do what makes you happy 5. Let go of perfectionism ideals 7. Speak to yourself like a friend 8. Own your uniqueness Create a positive self-dialogue. Affirmations are a great way to boost your self-esteem and, in turn, your overall wellbeing. There are tons of examples of affirmations you can use for this purpose, including these 17 from Develop Good Habits :.

If none of these leap out and inspire you, you can always create your own! Just keep in mind these three simple rules for creating effective affirmations:.

Use these three rules to put together some positive, uplifting, and encouraging affirmations that you can repeat as often as needed—but aim for at least once a day.

There are many, many books available on self-esteem: what it is, what influences it, how it can be developed, and how it can be encouraged in others particularly children.

Here is just a sample of some of the most popular and well-received books on self-esteem :. If reading is not a preferred method of learning more, fear not!

There are some great YouTube videos and TED Talks on self-esteem. A few of the most popular and most impactful are included here.

This TED talk is all about the importance of self-esteem and the impact of negative self-esteem, especially on young people and girls.

Ramsey notes that low self-esteem impacts physical as well as mental health, the work we do, and our overall finances as we chase the perfect body, the perfect face, or the perfect hair. She ends by outlining the six areas addressed by effective self-esteem programs:. Another great TEDx Talk comes from the founder of the Girls for Change organization, Niko Everett.

In this talk, she goes over the power of self-knowledge, self-acceptance, and self-love. She highlights the importance of the thoughts we have about ourselves and the impact they have on our self-esteem and shares some techniques to help both children and adults enhance their self-esteem.

This video from Leo Gura at Actualized. org defines self-esteem, describes the elements of self-esteem, and the factors that influence self-esteem.

He shares why self-esteem is important and how it can be developed and enhanced. Sometimes all you need to get to work on bettering yourself is an inspirational quote.

The value of quotes is subjective, so these may not all resonate with you, but hopefully, you will find that at least one or two lights that spark within you! You have to be whole and complete in yourself. No one can give you that. You have to know who you are—what others say is irrelevant.

Try approving of yourself and see what happens. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? It is self-acknowledgement, as in recognizing and accepting who you are.

It is essential for physical and mental health and for happiness. Lovable means I feel people want to be with me. They invite me to parties; they affirm I have the qualities necessary to be included. Feeling capable is knowing that I can produce a result.

You need to first love yourself before you have anybody else love you. Every time we act in harmony with our authentic self and our heart, we earn our respect. It is that simple.

Every choice matters. We hope you enjoyed this opportunity to learn about self-esteem! Self-esteem is not a panacea—it will not fix all of your problems or help you sail smoothly through a life free of struggle and suffering—but it will help you find the courage to try new things, build the resilience to bounce back from failure, and make you more susceptible to success.

Keep aware of your internal thoughts and external surroundings. What are your thoughts on self-esteem in psychology? Should we be encouraging it more? Leave your thoughts in the comments below. You can read more about self-esteem worksheets and exercises for adults and teens here. We hope you enjoyed reading this article.

About the author Courtney Ackerman , MA, is a graduate of the positive organizational psychology and evaluation program at Claremont Graduate University. She is a researcher and evaluator of mental health programs for the State of California and her professional interests include survey research, wellbeing in the workplace, and compassion.

How useful was this article to you? Not useful at all Very useful 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Submit Share this article:. Interesting, and clear and quite precise in this definitions…..

definitions are the most important. Extremely good article addressing the prevalence of low self-esteem in Western society and how to overcome it.

But did it consider the possibility self-esteem could ever be too high? THANK YOU is a small word for the author of this article. Thanks for sharing it. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

When children first master the expectations set by their parents, the experience provides them with a source of pride and self-esteem.