Self-esteem: What’s It?
Understanding «self»
•Self:–It refers to the organized, consistent, conceptual whole composed of perceptions of the characteristics of the “I” or “me”, the values attached to these perceptions, and the relationships of the “I” or “me” to various aspects of life (Rogers, 1959).
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•A person’s self is a set of perceptions that have the perceiver as its target.
•Your experience of self is a basic aspect of life and it determines your behaviour, cognition, and feeling.
Psychology & selfhood
•Selfhood:
–self-perceptions
–self-concept
–self-worth
–self-efficacy
–self-image
–self-regard
–self-respect
–self-esteem
•Carl Rogers on self:
1.Actual self (what you are at present).
2.Ideal self (is the self a person most values and desires to be).
Defining self-esteem
•Self-esteem:
–It refers to a person’s overall evaluation or appraisal of himself or herself.
–It may be defined as how favourably someone evaluates himself or herself (Baumeister, 2008).
–It is pride in one’s pursuits and accomplishments. It is the walls and the roof of the self (Allen, 2006).
Understanding self-esteem
•Self-esteem:
–Self-esteem reflects beliefs (e.g., “I’m a good student”).
–Self-esteem reflects emotions (e.g., “I’m shameful”).
–Self-esteem can be specific (e.g., “I’m the best student in Maths”).
–Self-esteem can be global (e.g., “I’m the dance hall king in Gh”, “I’m a good person in general”).
•Two kinds self-esteem:
1.High self-esteem (It results from a positive evaluation of oneself).
1.Low-self-esteem (It results from a negative evaluation of oneself).
High self-esteem
•Some characteristics of of people with high self-esteem:
–Creativity
–Rationality
–Flexibility
–Willingness to admit mistakes
–Openness
–Honesty
–Acceptance
–Cooperativeness
–Independence
Developing high self-esteem
•Some key ingredients:
•Positive regard: It refers to experiencing of oneself as making a positive difference in the lives of other people and as receiving warmth, liking, respect, sympathy, acceptance, caring, and trust from others.
Unconditional positive regard: It refers to the communication of positive regard without strings attached. That is, one is accepted, valued, and trusted, for being who one is.
•Congruence: It is when self-concept and experiences relating to self are consistent. Congruence helps to build high self-esteem.
•Incongruence: It refers to inconsistency between self-concept and experiences relating to self. Incongruence does lead to low self-esteem.
Self-esteem & health
•Research shows self-esteem effects mental, social, and physical health.
•E.g., many psychologists believe that low self-esteem plays a role in many health problems affecting adolescents.
–The level of one’s self esteem determines how one operates in life (i.e., how he/she interacts with others e.g., spouse, children, friends, and strangers). It determines one’s goals and what one strives for, one’s achievements, and one’s satisfaction and happiness in life.
Low self-esteem
•Some characteristics:
–They perceive others negatively.
–They treat others as potential enemies.
–They think the world is a bad place.
–They see themselves as victims all the time.
•Some causes of low self-esteem:
•Physical ill-health
•Other people (e.g., attitudes of staff to students)
•A sense of powerlessness
•Childhood experiences (e.g., abuse)
•Domestic violence
•Dealing with prejudice
•Facing loss
•Emotional neglect