Self-esteem is a term used in psychology to reflect a person's overall emotional evaluation of his or her own worth.
It is a judgment of oneself as well as an attitude toward the self. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs (for example, "I am competent," "I am worthy") and emotions such as triumph, despair, pride and shame. Smith and Mackie define it by saying "The self-concept is what we think about the self; self-esteem is the positive or negative evaluations of the self, as in how we feel about it.Self-esteem is also known as the evaluative dimension of the self that includes feelings of worthiness, prides and discouragement. One's self-esteem is also closely associated with self-consciousness.
A person can have a high self-esteem and hold it confidently where they do not need reassurance from others to maintain their positive self-view, whereas others with defensive, high self-esteem may still report positive self-evaluations on the Rosenberg Scale, as all high self-esteem individuals do; however, their positive self-views are fragile and vulnerable to 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.Implicit self-esteem refers to a person's disposition to evaluate their selves 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 subtypes of self-esteem proper. 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 40 Item True or False Test, would likely select true to such statements as "If I ruled the world, it would be a much better place.
" There is only a moderate correlation between narcissism and self-esteem; that is to say that an individual can have high self-esteem but low narcissism or can be a conceited, obnoxious person and score high self-esteem and high narcissism.Threatened Egotism is characterized as a response to criticism that threatens the ego of narcissists; they often react in a hostile and aggressive manner. Self-esteem is essentially an essential process designed to balance one’s attitudes and behaviors. Being an essential psychological process, humans have developed defenses to maintain and enhance one’s sense of self-worth. To buffer against the actualization of negative self-esteem experiences, the mind has constructed several methods of carrying out denial and distortion.
In order for an event to have a negative effect on the self-esteem, one must have had the initial expectation of a positive outcome. To combat this, people often engage in self-handicapping. Self-handicapping is an unconscious process that involves creating situations where the only possible outcome could be failure. In layman’s terms, you can’t fail if you never expected to win. Self-esteem plays a significant role in many aspects of one’s life.
People will go to great lengths to protect their self-esteem. Positive events have the ability to enhance self-esteem.However, people with a poor sense of self-worth may have a very hard time attributing their successes to their abilities. This can have a very detrimental effect on their ability to live life to the fullest. Additionally, this type of thought pattern can lead to depression, aggressiveness, and a cornucopia of other mental health issues.
While humans have developed these defense mechanisms to protect self-esteem, it is important to note that it is not a fool-proof system and some may need cognitive therapy to achieve a healthy self-esteem.
