Self
esteem is an attitude or individual’s evaluation of his or her own self concept
(Guindon, 2010) that generally refers to how an individual sees themselves in
aspects of his or her life. High self esteem means the people are more likely
to feel good about themselves and are more open when receiving criticism about
themselves and able to perceive situations realistically rather than more
cautious, self-protective and conservative approaches of people with low self
esteem. (Guindon, 2010)
Individuals
with high self esteem are more self-directed and independent to compare with
their colleagues who have low self esteem. It also shown in many studies that
low self esteem is associated with numbers of psychological and social
consequences that include depression, anxiety, eating disorders, suicides and
substance abuse. They are also surprisingly has a higher rates of teen
pregnancies. (Bosacki et al, 2007; Mann et al.,2004; Strauss, 2000)
Self
esteem can be explained through three different aspects namely: feeling toward
self, feelings about life and relationship with others. (Minchington, 1993)
FEELING
TOWARDS SELF
People with high self esteem
accept themselves more fully and unconditionally. They value their uniqueness
and appreciate their self worth regardless how people think about them. This is
in contrast with people who has low self esteem who has a believe that he/she
has little intrinsic worth. They think that they are not important, unable to
appreciate their own abilities, low confidence and vulnerable to opinions of
others. As a result of this, people with low self esteem will always seek
recognition from others and rely on others’ approval to prove their abilities.
FEELING ABOUT LIFE
The second aspect is the feelings about life which
refer to how people perceive their lives. People with high self-esteem are more
likely to accept responsibility for what they have done (Minchinton, 1993).
They also tend to believe that they have control over their own lives, thus set
reasonable goals, be responsible for the decisions they have made and live more
fully. In contrast, people with low self-esteem tend to believe that their
lives are out of control (Minchinton, 1993). They often feel powerless and
inadequate when they face challenges. This may cause them to avoid trying or
take up new challenges. They may also see failure in life as unacceptable. As a
result, people with low self-esteem may not be able to realize the full
potential of their abilities.
RELATIONSHIP WITH OTHERS
The third aspect, relationship with others, refers to how people with high
or low self-esteem deal with others. People with high self-esteem are able to
tolerate and pay respect to others (Minchinton, 1993). They are also more
likely to respect other’s right and accept the shortcoming of others. In
contrast, people with low self-esteem are intolerant and lack of respect for
others (Minchinton, 1993). They fail to value the differences of different
individuals. Although some may try to please others to seek approval, there are
people with low self-esteem who believe that others are supposed to live the
way they want them to be as they see acceptance of others as validation of
themselves. Therefore, they may feel upset when others fail to live up to their
expectations.
HOW TO EVALUATE YOUR SELF ESTEEM
There is an objective way to evaluate your self esteem. It is an objective
test to show to you how you view yourself and not in any way to say that you
are not a quality person. So let’s try ourselves.
Try to browse this link and test yourself using the Sorensen Self Esteem
Test that is available in the website
