Introduction
Self esteem is one of the topics commonly discussed in today’s world. It is one of the topics that touch all kinds of people regardless of their social class or position. I encountered this topic during my early teenage years and I understood that self esteem was the reason behind personal behavior, decision making, and relationship creation with other people in the society. According to my knowledge of self esteem, I realized that I posses a healthy self esteem due to the balanced view I have concerning myself. In addition, I easily recognize my flaws and work on them to develop a better life for myself. It is rare for me to speak out of my abilities in public to intimidate other people. From a research on self esteem, intimidation is one of the signs of low self esteem or insecurity.
In my view, a healthy self esteem is what every individual should strive for. Some of the characteristics that come with it include having a secure feeling and full of worth. A person with a healthy self esteem is able to express his or her needs and opinions openly and in confidence without feeling intimidated by anything or anyone. One of my strengths that exhibits my healthy self esteem is the confidence I have in my unique ability to make personal and cooperate decisions. People with a health self esteem are able to interact freely and create honest relationships with an inability to move on with unhealthy ones. As I analyzed my abilities, I realized that I maintain a realistic view of my expectations and do not entertain over criticism of myself and the people around me. A person who possesses a healthy self esteem is able to interact freely with other people without having the feeling of intimidation or fear. A healthy self esteem is easily seen from the way an individual presents him or herself to other people both in private and public places.
Literature
In ‘Patterns of Communication’, self esteem is defined as the state of a person being doubtful of his or her self worth. In this case, an individual goes on to define himself or herself through the actions and reactions of other people. According to this piece of literature, self esteem becomes hooked easily whenever an individual has not developed a firm and enthusiastic sense of self value. Self esteem is the ability to think about oneself as worth and confident, not being manipulated by one’s negative inner feelings. Various actions can increase self esteem in an individual. First, the development and appreciation of self worth is an important aspect in the process of increasing self worth. This action helps an individual to define oneself other than agreeing to the definitions of other people. It is important for an individual to treat all things that come his or her way as something to cope with and not a definition.
Secondly, to build one’s self esteem, it is important for one to avoid any placating activities such as thinking of oneself as nothing. One should also avoid martyrish and bootlicking behaviors, which place an individual in the position of a beggar. From this literature, it is also evident that one of the most effective ways of increasing self esteem is by ensuring clear communication with each other. For instance, one should openly describe or share what is in his or her heart about something without any form of sugar coating or hiding the truth. Self esteem can also be lowered in several ways. Engaging in a blame game to avoid responsibility of a wrong is a brooding ground for low self esteem. Additionally, accepting responsibility of wrongs not done to please other people equally lowers self esteem.
Methodology
Self esteem can be measured in several ways. Some of the measuring strategies include the Field Feelings of Inadequacy, Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale, and the State Self Esteem Scale. In this case, there are three participants (x, y, and z) whose self esteem will be measured by use of the Revised Janis- Field Feelings of Inadequacy methodology. For each of the participants, x, y, and z, a scale of 1 to 7 will be used to measure one’s self regard, social confidence, academic abilities, as well as appearance.
Results
A positive outcome was attained after the measurement. The first participant x was considered as the one with the highest level of self esteem with a score of an average of 7 out of 7. Y has a slightly above average self esteem with a score of 4.5 while z has good self esteem with a score of 6.
Analysis
I was the third participant in this measurement, with a score of 6 out of 7. This means that I have a healthy self esteem. I think the results were good enough for me since my social confidence is not that perfect. I am a very shy person especially in public. This is one of the main reasons why I was denied the one point and got 6 out of 7 on social confidence. Self esteem is a factor that every individual needs to observe keenly. Generally, it influences the conduct, appearance, and the behavior of a person in public. A person with low self esteem can be noticed from afar by the way he or she appears physically.