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Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent.

Eleanor Roosevelt

Self-esteem is a person’s belief in themselves. It can be measured by looking at the things that make a person feel good about themselves, as well as the things they believe are holding them back from achieving their goals.

When someone has high self-esteem, they feel good about who they are and what they have accomplished in life. They have an appreciation for their own talents and abilities, which leads them to pursue opportunities that will help them grow and learn more about themselves. Similarly, when someone has low self-esteem, they may feel like there is something wrong with them–like they’re not good enough or don’t deserve what they want out of life. This can lead them to avoid taking risks or trying new things because they don’t think anyone would like them if they did!

The relationship between self-esteem and psychology

Self-esteem is studied across the board of social psychology as well as developmental psychology. Moreover, it is believed to be a central aspect of human personality. It is a key concept of psychology which is often related to a broad range of psychological phenomena. Additionally, it takes into account ideas of overall well-being, sound mental health, proactive decision making, motivation, and, intrapersonal as well as interpersonal relationships.

Further, Psychologists study self-esteem to make sense of how people think about themselves. Self-esteem also helps psychologists to understand how people and how a person dealing with any psychological issue perceive and evaluate themselves. Furthermore, Psychologists also take into account the idea of self-esteem to figure out how self-esteem develops and changes over time. Lastly, Self-esteem is a key component in a lot of psychotherapeutic approaches.

Importance and impact of self-esteem

Self-esteem is vital and very important component of every individual’s life. Its importance and impact can be summarized (not completely though) in the below-mentioned points.

1. Psychological health

A balanced and healthy level of self-esteem is usually related to higher levels of resilience, the right amount of optimism, and contentment in life. Further, lower levels of self-esteem are usually related to mental health issues, high levels of anxiety, low self-concept, and low self-confidence. 

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2. Interpersonal as well as intrapersonal relationships

High/right levels of self-esteem help an individual in striking off the right balance in their relationship. They are believed to have healthy interpersonal and intrapersonal relationships. However, Individuals with low levels of self-esteem struggle with maintaining healthy relationships. 

3. Achievement and motivation

An individual’s achievement and motivation are deeply affected by their self-esteem. People with healthy self-esteem usually take up challenges, know themselves better, and believe in their abilities. Further, a person with lower self-esteem is often tied in the ropes of self-doubt, low confidence, and poor well-being.

4. Decision-making

Well, right decision-making is a skill that not everyone possesses. People with high self-esteem show more confidence as well as assertiveness. Additionally, they have better decision-making skills in comparison to those with lower levels of self-esteem. People with low self-esteem often show indecisiveness and excessive reliance on others.

5. Overall health

Researches suggest that self-esteem also impacts an individual’s physical and overall health. Certain disorders and physical problems such as anxiety, and a poor immune system have been linked with low self-esteem. Furthermore, a person with the right levels of self-esteem is thought to be in good mental and physical shape. 

People on the heightened risk of having low self-esteem

People are at an increased risk of acquiring poor self-esteem for a number of reasons.

• Childhood experiences: Neglect, abuse, criticism, or rejection as a youngster can have a lasting effect on a person’s self-esteem.

• Social comparison: Constantly assessing one’s shortcomings in relation to those of others might result in low self-esteem.

• Appearance: Low self-esteem can be caused by negative self-perceptions of one’s physical appearance, particularly in cultures where physical attractiveness is highly valued.

• Academic or professional performance: Repeated failures or a lack of achievement in academic or professional endeavours can have a detrimental effect on a person’s self-esteem.

• Relationship issues: Having relationship issues, such as frequent arguments or breakups, can also affect one’s self-esteem.

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• Cultural or social variables: Discrimination, marginalisation, or stigmatisation are examples of cultural or social factors that might cause some groups of people to have lower self-esteem.

Research based case studies

Case Study 1: High self-esteem

A research study was conducted by Orth, Robins, and Widaman in 2012. In this research study, they followed a group of adolescents for a period of 10 years. The results of this research study highlighted that adolescents with higher levels of self-esteem had better mental health outcomes in comparison to those with lower levels of self-esteem.

Additionally, it concluded that adolescents with high self-esteem were less likely to experience symptoms of depression and anxiety. Furthermore, they had very few problems in their relationships. Moreover, they had a better perspective of themselves. Lastly, the research study also found that such individuals practiced self as a context and engaged in healthy behaviors, such as exercise and good sleep hygiene more frequently.

Read Blog: How to practice “self as a context”?

Case Study 2: Low self-esteem

Another research study was conducted by Owens and Chard in 2001. They attempted to examine the impact of low self-esteem on academic achievement in students. The study concluded that those students who had low self-esteem experienced increased academic issues. Additionally, they had poor scores when compared to students with higher self-esteem.

Furthermore, this research study also found that individuals with low self-esteem had increased stress and anxiety. Moreover, such individuals showed less decision-making skills and low belief in themselves. Additionally, they engaged in negative self-talk and self-silencing very often.

Read Blog: 11 Tips To Overcome Self-Silencing

So how do you boost your self-esteem? In this post, we’ll cover 3 simple ways to boost your own confidence: by taking an inventory of your strengths and weaknesses; focusing on positive statements; and picking up the phone!

3 easy self-help strategies to boost your self-esteem.

Boosting self-esteem can lead to many benefits, such as greater confidence, better decision-making, improved relationships, and increased resilience in the face of challenges. It can also help individuals to pursue their goals, take risks, and believe in their abilities. Here the the three most popular techniques which will help you enhance your self-esteem.

1. Take a self-esteem inventory

Once you’ve identified your strengths and weaknesses and where you stand with others, it’s time to take a look at yourself. The best way to do this is by taking an inventory of all the things that make up your self-esteem: what makes us feel good about ourselves, and what doesn’t?

Take a look at the things in your life that boost or detract from these feelings:

• Your accomplishments. What have been some of the achievements in which you took pride? How did they make you feel?

• Your relationships with others. What kinds of relationships do I have with my family members, friends or coworkers/coworkers at work? Do any of these interactions make me feel confident or insecure about myself as a person (or not)? Are there any situations where being around certain people makes me uncomfortable because they don’t get along well enough with me; maybe because one person doesn’t treat another like an equal; or perhaps even just because we don’t agree on something big enough for either party (like politics). If so then maybe this could be considered one factor contributing towards low self-esteem!

• The environment and climate in which I live. Is my life filled with stress and anxiety, or is it relaxing and calm? How do these two things make me feel about myself as a person (or not)? What kind of lifestyle do I lead? Do I spend most of my time doing things that make me happy or work towards achieving goals that others set for me?

Think about your strengths and weaknesses:

In order to boost your self-esteem and self-confidence, you need to know what your strengths and weaknesses are. Your strengths can be used to overcome your weaknesses. If you have a strong sense of humor, for example, then it makes sense that you would want others around you who share that trait in order to feel comfortable and confident with them.

Similarly, for other positive traits such as kindness or compassion: knowing how these traits make you feel good will help motivate action when faced with challenges or setbacks on the road toward achieving success in life (feelings).

As you begin to identify your strengths, it’s important to also understand that there are other people in the world who share these characteristics. This will give you an additional sense of comfort and confidence when interacting with others who have similar qualities.

2. Focus on positive statements.

By purposefully guiding one’s thoughts and inner dialogue towards uplifting and powerful messages, the “emphasis on positive statements” technique, sometimes referred to as positive self-talk or affirmations, is a strategy for boosting self-esteem. This method can be useful in the following ways:

• Changing negative self-talk: People can actively combat and replace negative self-talk and ideas that lead to low self-esteem by consciously focusing on positive comments about themselves.

• Increasing self-assurance: People can increase their sense of confidence and self-assurance by repeating encouraging words. This can boost their sense of value and overall self-esteem.

• Focus-shifting: Concentrating on positive comments can also assist people in turning their attention away from their perceived flaws or areas of weakness and towards their strengths.

• Mood enhancement: Positive self-talk can improve one’s mood by lowering feelings of worry, despair, and other unfavourable emotions that can lead to low self-esteem.

Individuals can use this strategy by making a list of encouraging statements that match their own values and worldviews and repeating them to themselves on a regular basis, such as in the morning or just before bed. This routine can eventually assist in changing one’s inner dialogue to a more empowering and upbeat viewpoint, enhancing one’s wellbeing and self-worth.

3. Pick up the phone!

You need to take a step back and look at your life from the outside in. What do other people see when they look at you? Who is there for you when things get tough, or even just when they don’t go as planned?

By pushing people to confront their negative self-talk and develop self-confidence, the “Pick up the phone” strategy can help people feel better about themselves. Using this method, you create a scary or challenging phone call scenario in your head, practice making the call, and then act out the conversation. Individuals can increase their self-esteem by picturing and preparing for this difficult situation. This helps people become more confident and minimize their nervousness.

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Conclusion

Self-esteem is the most important thing in the world. It’s what makes you feel good about yourself, and it’s what helps you keep going when things get tough. But sometimes people don’t feel like they have any self-esteem, or they think they have too much. And that can be really confusing!

Well, here’s the truth: if you don’t have enough self-esteem, then no matter how much good stuff happens to you, it won’t make up for how bad your life feels right now–and that can lead to depression and other mental health issues. The more confident YOU are about yourself and your abilities, the easier life will be for YOU!

Additionally, boosting self-esteem isn’t just about changing the way you think about yourself. It also means changing how you interact with the world around you, which means developing a virtuous cycle of positive interactions with others. The key is to start by being aware of your own feelings and behaviors so that they don’t affect those around us negatively—as well as taking steps toward improving them.

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