...Self-Esteem over Logic and Beliefs Columbia College, Missouri Abstract Self-Esteem gives a person the right to value themselves. Our self-esteem sometimes overpowers our logic, and can lead us to act in ways that are not always our own. This paper examines how the following theories; Theory of Cognitive Dissonance, Self- Evaluation Maintenance Theory, Self-Affirmation Theory, Rationalization Trap and Self-Discrepancy Theory impact a person's self-esteem decisions. Where people in different cases come to realize that the choices they have made overpower their superior perfect logic, they have to deal with the consequences that come along with the choices they have made. Self-Esteem over Logic and Beliefs According to Cherry (2010), “self-esteem is how a person values oneself”. It is a personality trait which comes from the inside of a person. It is all about what one believes about his/her looks, emotions, and behavior. It is an extremely essential need in a person so they can behave normally and be socially healthy. Self-esteem is intertwined with a person’s thoughts, and can also be called self-worth, self-respect or self-value. According to Kruger and Dunning (1999), “People often hold overly complimentary opinions of their abilities in many social and intellectual domains.” Many individuals end up doing things wrong without even realizing it, for the sake of a positive self-esteem. This paper will give examples of behavior that throw logic and common sense...
Words: 2112 - Pages: 9
...Self esteem We all at some point in our lives come across a situation where we may think that there is no end to this misery, no way out, where every thing seems to stop and we have a feeling that we are falling into infinity; we keep falling and falling and expecting that at some time we will hit rock bottom but that never happens. The rock bottom doesn’t appear, we get no closure and what hurts the most is the thought that are we ever going to come out of this pit? Are we ever going to hit rock bottom and stop deteriorating? What’s most challenging about this situation is not the fact that we are in mental, physical, financial or emotional agony but the fact that the fire that kept burning inside of us, which kept giving a light of hope, that zest we had; slowly dies out. We loose confidence and self esteem. Now that’s going to hurt a lot because if we accept that this is what we deserve and no matter how hard we try, no matter if we bet our lives on it; we will never get out of it then our self esteem is shattered and its broken pieces are scattered. Now how do we start building self-esteem from scratch? How do we convince ourselves that there’s still a way out? Well, there’s this old story, which goes like this: - A guy wanted to be very successful and so he went to his guru, his mentor and told him that I want to be successful. I want to be famous, rich and appreciated. I want my self-esteem. I want to achieve this goal more than anything else. The guru said-“Well...
Words: 1245 - Pages: 5
...Self Before discussing the concept of self-esteem, we should know the evolutionary development of the human self. There is general acceptance that many of the capacities we experience as part of a unified self are features that distinguish us from even our closest evolutionary cousins (Leary & Buttermore, 2003). Thus, providing a coherent, evolutionary account of the self would gives us understanding our uniquely human character. . There is some agreement that the self is involved in at least three main processes – reflexive capacity (the ability to depict oneself in relation with one’s environment), representational capacity (the ability to mentally represent personal attributes), and executive function (the ability to exert control over one’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors) (Leary & Tangney, 2003) Self esteem Self esteem is the perception that one is a valuable member of a meaningful universe. It is an attitude about the self & is related to personal beliefs about skills, abilities, social-responsibilities and future outcomes. Self- esteem is the emotional response that people experience as they contemplate & evaluate different things about themselves. In general we can say self-esteem as how we value ourselves, how we perceive our value to the world & how valuable we think we are to others. It is the evaluative aspect of the self concept that corresponds to an overall view of the self as worthy or unworthy way (Baumeister,1998). Self-esteem has...
Words: 1376 - Pages: 6
...What is self-esteem? Your self-esteem is the way you look at or perceive yourself. If you have healthy self-esteem, it means that you like yourself and you believe that you are just as cool as everyone else. If you have low self-esteem, it means that you believe that you’re inferior to others. People who have low self-esteem tend to focus on what they believe are their shortcomings, and sometimes blow those flaws out of proportion. They might ignore their strengths and achievements. How does your self-esteem affect your life? Your self-esteem can affect how you feel, how you relate to other people, how you deal with challenges and how relaxed and safe you feel in your daily life. Here are a few examples: The way you feel. In order to be happy you need to like yourself. If you have low self-esteem or if you’re constantly putting yourself down, you’re more likely to feel depressed, anxious or unhappy than someone who has a positive view of himself or herself. Your relationships. Low self-esteem can influence the way you interact with other people. For instance, you might find yourself being unassertive (not saying what you think, feel or want), and doing things you don’t want to do. Low self-esteem might also cause you to seek constant reassurance from your friends, because deep down, you might not be sure that they like you. Or you might find yourself trying too hard to please other people. You might always agree with them and offer to do things for them in order to”earn”...
Words: 1381 - Pages: 6
...of self-esteem. When an individual realizes his or her own worth, their life grows in a positive manner. If they never come to this conclusion, the individual is at risk of battling a life-threatening illness. If an individual raised the question to a fellow peer as to what self-esteem is, he or she might respond that self-esteem is simply feeling good about oneself. This definition is wrong. Although self-esteem is feeling good about oneself, it also involves mastering the skill of being able to handle to daily challenges of life while recognizing that one is worthy of happiness. Having an awareness of competence simply means that one has ability to think for oneself and to direct one’s own life. This includes an individual’s confidence in their ability to administer self-care and handle daily stressors or challenges (National Association for Self-Esteem [NASE], 2010). It is impossible to build one skill without the other. Both must be present in order to have positive self-esteem (NASE, 2010). It was reported that “a sample of bulimic subjects were found to exhibit significantly lowers levels of self-esteem as compared to those not exhibiting bulimic behavior” (NASE (2), 2010). Many self-esteem issues can be linked with a childhood experience or a traumatic situation, such as being bullied. A woman struggling with an eating disorder may have been bullied when she was younger due to puberty and her body maturing from a girl to a woman. A lack of self-esteem can...
Words: 1151 - Pages: 5
...Increased access and popularity of the internet, especially social sites like Facebook and Twitter make escaping ostracism almost impossible. In the article “Social Exclusion causes Self-Defeating Behavior” by Jean Twenge, Kathleen Catanese and Roy Baumeister, they explain that out of ostracism comes a natural instinct to try to turn a negative feeling into a positive feeling for the victim. Unfortunately, in an attempt to produce a positive outcome, negative ones most often happen. A good example in our society is in the latest media coverage of homosexual males who have committed suicide as a result of extreme ostracism and self-defeating behaviors that arise from feeling alone. I would argue that today’s society is much more accepting and supportive of those who are homosexual, however, although overall society accepts these individuals, there are still many who are not accepting and go out of their way to make people feel “different” and ‘wrong”. In the case of the student at Rutgers University, it was found that not only was he feeling ostracized in school and online, his parents were not accepting or supportive when he shared his sexual orientation with them. Having parents who are not supportive is detrimental to these individuals psychological well-being, and makes them more susceptible to self-defeating behaviors then those who are in a loving, supportive family. For this student, not only was he feeling disapproval from his family, he was embarrassed and felt...
Words: 1005 - Pages: 5
..."Self-esteem" is simply a psychological term used in reference to one's image of oneself. In other words, how much self-confidence does an individual possess is a measure of self-esteem. While the concept of self-esteem is certainly nothing new -- in fact, it was studied as far back as the 19th Century -- its focus in psychological terms is relatively recent. The term "self-esteem" was first used by William James, a psychologist who wrote in 1892 about the effects of negative self-images among children. The 1950s and 1960s were an important decade in the study of human emotions and one of the leading students of psychology was Nathaniel Branden, who is credited with the modern development of theory on "self-esteem. As, arguably, one of the fathers of the study of "self-esteem," it is only reasonable to quote Branden on its definition: "Self-esteem is the disposition to experience oneself as being competent to cope with the basic challenges of life and of being worthy of happiness. In is confidence in the efficacy of our mind, in our ability to think. By extension, it is confidence in our ability to learn, make appropriate choices and decisions, and respond effectively to change. It is also the experience that success, achievement, fulfillment -- happiness -- are right and natural for us." As Branden notes, those with "high self-esteem" are those for whom success in life is expected and its attainment part of a natural progression. Individuals with high self-esteem...
Words: 476 - Pages: 2
...WHAT IS SELF-ESTEEM? Self esteem is your opinion of yourself. High self esteem is a good opinion of yourself and low self esteem is a bad opinion of yourself. Your self esteem depends on many questions: * Is your job worthwhile? Do others respect what you do? Do you? * Do you believe you are successful? * How do you see yourself (your self image)? * How do you feel about your strengths and weaknesses? * Are you comparing yourself to others and ignoring the unique value that you have? * What do you think of your social status? * How do you relate to others? * Can you make your own decisions? A lack of choices leads to low self esteem. The Importance of Self Esteem Self esteem is crucial and is a cornerstone of a positive attitude towards living. It is very important because it affects how you think, act and even how you relate to other people. It allows you to live life to your potential. Low self esteem means poor confidence and that also causes negative thoughts which mean that you are likely to give up easily rather than face challenges. In addition, it has a direct bearing on your happiness and wellbeing. Self-esteem is made up of? Your self esteem is build upon the thoughts and feelings you have about yourself. It is a self-evaluation, an opinion of who you are, build on experiences in your life and the conclusions you made, whether or not under pressure of peers. To mention thoughts and feelings is...
Words: 2337 - Pages: 10
...Slide 1: Self Esteem: How do women feel after they experience something as traumatic as miscarriage? * Women experience a wide variety of emotions and feelings after suffering through a miscarriage. These feelings consist of; disbelief, sense of failure, doubts about feminity, anger, sadness with feelings of emptiness, jealousy of other women with children, low self-esteem, low confidence, and uncontrollable crying. How are women affected by their miscarriage? * Women tend to believe that they are incapable of successfully doing something so basic as having a child which causes low self-esteem. They think in the way of, women are meant to have children so why can’t I, what is wrong with me? * They feel as though they are failures and they have failed to meet the expectations of the father of the child. * After they have had a miscarriage, they tend to have anxiety and fear about future fertility. In what ways can women receive emotional support? * Women can turn to their friends and family for emotional support but sometimes they need professional help to get through this loss. There are many websites women can go on to talk to other women who have experienced miscarriage as well and they can also talk to professionals about this situation. A couple of websites that I found were miscarriageassociation.org and also dailystrength.org. Both of these websites had great feedback from its users and viewers and seem to be a great source for emotional support...
Words: 458 - Pages: 2
...December 11, 2012 Period 1th I think self-esteem is the most important level of need because throughout your life you are going to face many challenges. Self-esteem is being confident having positive attitude and gaining respect. Even though you are going to face challenges, you need “CONFIDENCE”. Say you are in a basketball game, and there are lots of people watching so you need to be calm and confident! In yourself throughout the game that will only make you better and more relaxed. You can't play a game or do anything if you are nervous, at least Another part towards others is accomplishment. I think accomplishment play a big part of this is for example completing high school and college is very important. Why? so you can have something to fall back on matter of fact , when you get high in life and you actually have the feeling of succeeding in something ,then you would understand that you're gone keep wanting to feel that feeling more and more . Last but not least, gaining “RESPECT” throughout your life journey. For example, say if you want people to come to your basketball game you must show people how you are on the court and outside the court and your teammates and everybody. If you do that, then that is just opening more doors for your future and more. Over all the other levels does not determine on what your future maybe but after reading my writing i hope you do get the true understanding of self-esteem. I do believe any and everybody can make it using...
Words: 275 - Pages: 2
...through adolescence can suffer from a disorder mood. The symptoms tend to change based on the child's level of development. Depression in infants is often determined based on the child’s failure to grow physically, act unresponsively, and inability to thrive. Although it is rarely seen in babies, it is often due to lack of nurturing relationship between the infant and the caregiver. Postpartum depression has the ability to affect the mood of the infant. It affects approximately 25-30% of mothers and is typically caused by a separation, illness, death, or a broken bond. These mothers tend to show less affection towards their child. Babies are sometimes rejected because they are unwanted, premature or abnormal. Preschoolers are more restless, self-isolating, aggressive, and overwhelmed by sleeplessness and nightmares and are less adaptive to make friends or follow...
Words: 2074 - Pages: 9
...a daily basis. Whether is be at work, at school, at home, or in sports. But how does all this competition in lives affect self-esteem? The average person is molded with the mindset to win, one wants to lose; this mentality built from an early age. Labeled as competitive or not a person strives to be the best at everything they do, especially when competing against another person. Without competition many people will not work as hard therefore not succeeding. While this can bring drive and a boosted self esteem into someone’s life this can also bring negative affects to self-esteem. Competition is sometimes known to boost a person’s self-esteem or, while still adolescent, build any such thing. Children are often suggested to be placed in sports, therefore competing. If the child is in fact good at the sport they are placed in self esteem builds. For many of them this is the first encounter in their lives of noticeably building self esteem and is a positive feeling they begin to long for. This positive build is healthy and brings ambition into lives to continue to achieve such feeling. Consequently, it can also become unhealthy and negative to someone’s life. Just as competition can boost or build a persons self esteem it can also lower it or seem to make it disappear completely. Many people love to compete, the “high” it gives them and their self esteem. Others have not been able to build a solid foundation for such or it has been demolished by events in the past. It may be...
Words: 500 - Pages: 2
...or are constantly worried if others see them the way they see themselves; which is not always the greatest. There are many factors that contribute to an individual’s perception of themselves. Self-concept is the image that we have of ourselves and how we view ourselves to be. Self-concept refers to how someone thinks about or perceives themselves. While the term self-esteem is used to describe a person's overall sense of self-worth or personal value. Self-esteem is often seen as a personality trait, so it remains generally the same throughout the course of ones life. Self-esteem can involve a variety of beliefs about the self, such as the judgement of ones own appearance, beliefs, emotions, and behaviors. Self-esteem sets it’s foundations in our childhood and develops throughout our lives. There are four distinctive parenting styles that reflect ourselves later in life. The types are Authoritative parenting, Authoritarian parenting, Permissive parenting, and Neglectful parenting. Authoritative parenting is a style where the parent(s) have a lot of emotional support with firm limits on what their child can and can’t do. This parenting style has a high acceptance of their children as well as high control. Authoritative parenting is shown to have produced people with high self-esteem and shows that it could also reduce adolescent smoking and drinking (Piko and Balázas, 2012). Authoritarian parenting style refers to having very strong rules, limits, and restrictions with a...
Words: 1588 - Pages: 7
...Building Self-Esteem Essay PSY-460 Fundamentals of Counseling July 21, 2013 Self-esteem is the part of our personas that includes the positive and negative of self-assessment or evaluations, and speaks to how we feel and/or think about ourselves. In other words, the attitudes, ideas, and convictions we have about ourselves can determine who we are, what we can do, and who we can become (Mann et al, 2004). It incorporates the aggregate of our overall beliefs, opinions, understanding(s) and awareness of the personal qualities and characteristics we possess. In life we will experience a lack of assurance or confidence at some time or another, however, those persons who experience low self-esteem are not happy; and are often sad or dissatisfied much of the time (Burton, 2012). We find that self-esteem is a significant psychological component that influences our well-being, as well as enhances the value and quality of our lives. Many in the medical field concur that a healthy self-esteem can offer an advantage to professional success, eliminate many psychological disorders, as well as contribute to better overall health and social behavior. This paper aims to discuss how a simple retooling of a person’s system can alleviate negative views of themselves and/or situations leading to possible psychological disorders. The development of self-esteem and/or how we feel about ourselves begins at a very early age and never stops until we close our eyes in death. In other...
Words: 1534 - Pages: 7
...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.[1] 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."[2] Self-esteem is also known as the evaluative dimension of the self that includes feelings of worthiness, prides and discouragement.[3] One's self-esteem is also closely associated with self-consciousness.[4] Self-esteem is a disposition that a person has which represents their judgments of their own worthiness.[5] In the mid-1960s, Morris Rosenberg and social-learning theorists defined self-esteem as a personal worth or worthiness.[6]Nathaniel Branden in 1969 defined self-esteem as "the experience of being competent to cope with the basic challenges of life and being worthy of happiness." According to Branden, self-esteem is the sum of self-confidence (a feeling of personal capacity) and self-respect (a feeling of personal worth). It exists as a consequence of the implicit judgment that every person has of their ability to face life's challenges, to understand and solve problems, and their right to achieve happiness, and be given respect.[7] As a social psychological construct...
Words: 395 - Pages: 2
