Self-assertion is a characteristic of human behavior, it is the ability to clearly and effectively express their emotions and opinions without offending or attacking the interlocutor. According to the American psychologists Alberti and Emmons, who with Manuel J. Smith have popularized the concept in the seventies, which is defined as “a behavior that allows a person to act in their best interest, to defend their point of view without exaggerated anxiety, express your feelings with sincerity and confidence and defend your rights without ignoring those of others.
The concept of self-affirmation is used within the psychological approach linked to behaviorism and the sphere of self-esteem. It can also be delineated as a balance between two polarities: passive behavior on the one hand, aggressive behavior on the other.
Self-affirmation implies respecting wishes, needs and values and finding the appropriate form of expression in reality.
The person is the only protagonist in his life. After learning, of course, it is to have your own coherent life plan and to focus broadly on enthusiasm, energy, and perseverance. The person asserts himself when he establishes his own project and follows it!
Sometimes toxic people are the ones who entangle others in their way of being, it depends on each individual and their assertiveness not to be contaminated by them. This sometimes depends on how successful you are in overcoming pressures from different people (possibly toxic) or unsubstantiated social conventions.
The individual spends his life struggling to stop needing the approval of others, to stop living while we wait for others to tell them how to do things, to stop thinking that everything is their fault, to stop telling what others think. Overcoming this is the first step toward asserting yourself.
Assertive also helps to work on beliefs and shoot that add value, it is irrational, it is pernicious. That is to say, to exercise one's own leadership again. This is also part of assertiveness.
Self-affirmation means expressing our opinions, complaints and affirming the relationship of care with each person. There is a delicate balance in which we must be clear about our rights as individuals and respecting those of others to avoid damaging the relationship.
