What is Self-Esteem?

Self-esteem may be something that we can't put our hands on, but it is certainly something we can see, as well as feel. While we don't feel it with our hand, we do feel it inside each and every one of us. For many people, defining self-esteem is a difficult thing to do. While that may be so, it is something that impacts all of us. We all have one, whether we can readily identify it or not, or whether or not we can put our finger on a definition of what it is.

Having said that, it is actually much easier to explain what self-esteem is than it may seem. Self-esteem involves each person and how they feel about themselves. It is not about big egos or being vain, but rather a sense of how you feel about who you are, and what you are capable of. Those who feel good about themselves have a healthy sense of self-esteem. Those who don't feel good about themselves are lacking in the area of self-esteem. 

In the field of psychology, self-esteem is an important buzz word that is often used. That's because one's self-esteem plays such a significant role in people's lives. A healthy level of self-esteem is linked to a higher level of confidence, as well as self-respect. Having both of these will usually help people in life, because they will make better choices and be better able to handle many of life's challenges.

Why It's Important

A person's self-esteem will impact how they treat themselves, and how others treat them. It is how worthy we believe that we are. Those with high self-esteem will tend to treat themselves better than those with low self-esteem. And when you treat yourself better, you end up helping to improve self-esteem, so it's a continuous circular situation. 

For adults, this is easier to identify and understand, so they can make active choices that will lead to improving or guarding their self-esteem level. But when it comes to children, they don't yet understand what self-esteem is, or how to build it, making it important that the adults around them make it a high priority.

When people lack self-esteem it can lead to a host of problems. Children who lack a good sense of self-esteem may lack such things as:

• A sense of independence
• Being able to adequately express their emotions
• Assuming responsibility for their actions
• Positive social involvement
• Difficulty accepting compliments from others
• Expecting very little out of one's self or out of life
• Being able to trust one's opinions
• Not being able to properly handle peer pressure
• Healthy relationships with others

Complete Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem Scale electronically below (and it will score it for them).

https://wwnorton.com/college/psych/psychsci/media/rosenberg.htm