Self- esteem is the value that the individual attributes to his person and his abilities. It is a way of thinking positively, a motivation to experience different perspectives on life, to face challenges, to feel and act, which implies that individuals accept, respect, trust and believe in themselves. Self-esteem, among other things, is the concept that each subject has about himself, that is, the idea that a person has of himself that forces him to wonder who he is, or what his identity will be, which will be manufactured through of the behavior that is developing.
What is self esteem
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The concept of self-esteem is related to the value and perception that a person has about himself and based on this, he will find a place among his peers. The amount of self-love that a person has is directly proportional to the degree of dignity that he or she possesses.
On the other hand, the definition of self-esteem is the same as that of self-love, which is the most direct meaning of the word self (self) and esteem (love, appreciation). Loving yourself is neither selfish nor sick; it is a fundamental feeling.
Levels of self esteem
Self- assessment is based on all the thoughts, feelings, sensations and experiences that a person goes through and that they have collected during their life. This can vary across different areas of experience, according to gender, age, and other conditions.
According to this and other factors, there are two main types of self-esteem, which can be high or low, since it is not possible to talk about what self-esteem is without differentiating its levels. It can be said that both extremes are harmful, and indeed, for each level there are healthy and harmful sublevels.
High self-steem
High self-esteem is understood when a person has a positive appreciation of himself, which allows his attitude towards life to be optimal. This does not imply that the individual is perfect, but rather that they accept themselves without crossing the line of mediocrity or conformism. An individual with high self-esteem is more likely to achieve the ideal of happiness.
It is worth mentioning that there are two scenarios or types of high self-esteem:
1. High and stable self-esteem, in which external factors do not influence the appreciation that the person with this type of self-esteem has, so they act openly and do not need courage from other people, being able to defend their values and points of view without being influenced externally.
2. High and unstable self-esteem, they have a high esteem but susceptible to changes due to external influences, especially due to situations in which they are subjected to competition, responding negatively to failure by being perceived as threats. His position will be firm before his point of view to the point of not accepting that of others, so he will try to impose his own. This type of high self-esteem is unstable, so the person will adopt an aggressive attitude to promote their self-esteem, or passive to defend it.
In addition to these two levels, there is inflated self-esteem, which is one that is harmful, since a person with this profile does not develop the ability to listen to others, or to recognize when they have made a mistake, assuming a hostile position when they are try to make them see that they have erred.
Low selfsteem
The low self - esteem is the inability of a person to recognize the qualities that putting any other person or situation beyond their own needs or desires. An individual with low self-esteem has the constant thought about himself that he is not enough, or that there is nothing that can make him worthy of something more than what he receives; You may even think that what you receive is undeserved.
If you are surrounded by little acceptance and condition your worth, your self-love decreases.
Low self-esteem is related to the inadequate form of the concept that a subject has of himself; where he feels inadequate, that he is worth little, he has little capacity to make decisions by not trusting his own abilities.
It will also have a negative speech inside. Said internal dialogue will produce unpleasant feelings in the subject, such as distrust, insecurity and fear, which will lead to a constant discourse centered on the expression “I can't”. Demotivation will be a motto of life, so in the face of new challenges, the illusion disappears at the same time that insecurity increases.
Like high self-esteem, low self-esteem has two sublevels:
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1. Stable low self-esteem, in which the individual's self-esteem is and remains low regardless of external events (even when they are favorable), without making the minimum effort to raise it, or defending their points of view by not considering themselves good enough.
2. Unstable low self-esteem, it depends on external events for its assessment: if a positive or successful event occurs, confidence in your person rises and, after the victorious moment, it falls back to its initial level. It is one of the most unstable levels that exist, since they completely depend on the events of the environment.
Ladder of self esteem
It is a technique that consists of internally restoring the confidence and esteem of the individual for himself, guiding him through the different levels of self-appreciation and achieving the definitive conquest of a high and healthy self-esteem.
The different levels that define what is the ladder of self-esteem are the following:
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1. Self-recognition: At this level, you must recognize your own weaknesses, needs, strengths, and abilities in order to get to know yourself. This is accomplished through acceptance, detection, and action. Example: a person who recognizes that he is good at making dresses.
2. Self-acceptance: It refers to accepting and assuming all the parts and characteristics that make up the personality and its qualities. Example: a person accepts that one of his qualities is attention to detail.
3. Self-assessment: At this level the subject has previously recognized what distinguishes him from others and his essence, so in this step he evaluates and values the positive aspects that he possesses, which make him feel good and make him grow. That is, it begins to value their qualities once they are identified.
4. Self respect: At this level the person will have the ability to manage their feelings without flagellating or feeling guilty, knowing that they deserve better things and give themselves their place before others, without allowing them to be trampled upon by recognizing their own rights and the from third parties.
5. Self-improvement: It consists of constant individual improvement. This is achieved after having known, accepted and evaluated the capacities and potentials that one has, to later strengthen those qualities.
What is a self-esteem test
It refers to a series of evaluations and behavior trends focused on the individual himself, his character or way of being. This type of method helps the person to value their self-esteem.
The meaning of self-esteem becomes a key to success or failure, to understand yourself and others. Remember that self-esteem has two dimensions: self-awareness and self-love. All this generates acceptance, trust and self-respect, interest in their development, facing the challenges of life and the right to be happy.
There is a method to determine a person's level of self-esteem, which is the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. This consists of a brief psychometric self-esteem test that is applied both in clinical practices and in research. This consists of ten questions, the score of which varies between 1 and 4.
The 1 corresponds to the answer "Strongly disagree" and the 4 in "Strongly agree" or vice versa, depending on the nature of the item.
The questionnaire or scale, developed by the professor and sociologist Morris Rosenberg (1922-1992), consists of 5 positive and 5 negative questions, which are the following:
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1. I feel that I am a person worthy of appreciation, at least as much as others.
2. I am convinced that I have good qualities.
3. I am capable of doing things as well as most people.
4. I have a positive attitude towards myself.
5. In general I am satisfied with myself.
6. I feel like I don't have much to be proud of.
7. In general, I am inclined to think that I am a failure.
8. I wish I could feel more respect for myself.
9. There are times when I really think I'm useless.
10. Sometimes I think I'm not a good person.
After answering the questions, the scores obtained are added. It should be noted that the first 5 questions are evaluated from 4 to 1 and the next 5 are evaluated from 1 to 4. The results are interpreted as follows:
- Between 30 and 40 points, the person is considered to have high or normal self-esteem.
- Between 26 and 29 points, it means that the person has an average self-esteem, which, although it is not serious, it is advisable to raise it.
- Less than 25 points, there is low self-esteem, so the problem must be addressed.
How to improve self-esteem
There are strategies on how to improve self - esteem, which can help significantly to restore confidence. These ways of how to increase self-acceptance can be:
- Eliminate negative thoughts that you have about yourself by neutralizing them with a positive thought about some quality you have.
- Try new activities that highlight people's skills.
- Set yourself a goal to achieve something, putting it as a priority over the perfection of said achievement.
- Take into account mistakes as learning and not as failures.
- Notice what can and cannot be changed.
- Establish short, medium and long term goals, planning the steps that must be taken to achieve them.
- Defend your own ideas safely and properly.
- In the same way, surrounding yourself with material that helps to increase self-acceptance would be a good incentive for this, such as reading self-esteem books, self-esteem phrases and even placing self-esteem images that help to internalize more self-confidence.
Frequently Asked Questions about Self-Esteem
What is self-esteem?
