The concept of self-esteem in the works of domestic and foreign psychologists. Personal self-esteem and its components

A person's awareness of himself, his mental abilities, actions, motives, physical capabilities, attitudes towards other people and himself - and there is a self-esteem of the individual. It is an integral part of self-awareness and includes the ability to assess one's strengths, capabilities, and treat oneself critically.

Personal self-esteem levels

In the course of his existence in society, a person constantly compares himself with other people. He also compares his own success with the achievements of colleagues and acquaintances. This analysis of one's capabilities and achievements is carried out in relation to all qualities: appearance, abilities, academic or work success. Thus, since childhood, a person has been forming a self-esteem of the individual. Influencing the behavior, activity and development of the individual, his relationship with other people, it performs a regulatory and protective function.

There are three levels of self-esteem of a person:

• A person has a low opinion of himself. Often, low self-esteem is formed in childhood under the influence and evaluation of parents. Subsequently, it is finally fixed under the influence of the surrounding society. Such people often have a problem of self-esteem of the individual;
• Normal level of understanding of one's own potential. Usually inherent in a self-confident person who successfully sets goals and easily achieves them in a career, business, creativity and personal life. At the same time, he knows his own worth, is aware of his positive and negative sides, advantages and disadvantages. Also, adequate self-esteem of the individual allows you to develop initiative, enterprise, ability to adapt to various conditions society;
• High level of self-esteem. It is observed in most people who have achieved significant success in any area - politics, business, art. However, cases of inflated self-esteem are also common, when a person holds an unreasonably high opinion of himself, his talents, abilities and capabilities. Although, in fact, his real successes are much more modest.

In addition, psychologists distinguish general, private (personal) or specific situational self-esteem of the individual. The fact is that a person can evaluate himself in completely different ways, depending on the situation, for example, at work or in the family. Therefore, the results in this case are completely opposite. As for general self-esteem, it is more complex and is formed later than others.

There are also definitions of stable or floating self-esteem. It depends on how emotional state, as well as other additional conditions.

Formation of self-esteem of the individual

A person's opinion of himself is a rather complex psychological construct. The process of formation of self-esteem of the individual takes place in the course of the formation of the inner world and goes through various stages. Thus, it can be said that during the course of life, a person's self-esteem is constantly changing, becoming more perfect. The source of evaluative ideas is the socio-cultural environment, the reactions of society to some manifestations of character, actions, as well as the results of self-observation.

An important role in shaping the understanding of one's capabilities is played by the comparison of the real image of the "I" with the ideal one, that is, with the idea of ​​what a person would like to be. Moreover, the smaller the gap between what is in reality and the ideal image, the more significant is the recognition of one's own achievements. Also, a significant influence in the course of the formation of self-esteem of the individual is exerted by real achievements in a wide variety of activities.

Psychologists distinguish two types of behavior (motivation) - striving for success and avoiding failure. In the first case, a person has more positive attitude He doesn't really care what other people think. In the second case, he is more prone to caution, tries not to take risks and is constantly looking for confirmation of his fears in life. This type of behavior does not allow you to raise your self-esteem.

It should be emphasized that self-esteem of a person is always subjective. Moreover, this happens regardless of whether it is formed under the influence of the individual's own judgments about himself or the opinions of other people.

Basically, a person develops an adequate opinion about himself, or inadequate, that is, erroneous. In this case, they say that there is a problem of self-esteem of the individual. Such a person is constantly haunted by some problems, the harmony of development is disturbed, he often comes into conflict with others. In addition, awareness of real possibilities quite strongly influences the formation of certain qualities. For example, adequate self-esteem of a person contributes to the formation of self-criticism, self-confidence, perseverance, exactingness. And inadequate - excessive self-confidence or, conversely, uncertainty.

If a person wants to achieve something in life, he needs to work on his self-esteem, objectively realizing his strengths and capabilities, while responding appropriately to difficulties, mistakes and criticism.

Personal self-esteem, being a component of self-consciousness, includes an assessment of moral qualities, human and physical characteristics, deeds, abilities. Self-assessment of a person is the central formation of the personality, and also demonstrates the social adaptation of the individual, acting as a regulator of his behavior and activities. Self-esteem is associated with self-esteem. Self-respecting individuals have an independent line of behavior, are more balanced and not aggressive. In the usual sense for a person, self-esteem is an assessment of the personality of oneself.

Formation of self-esteem of the individual

Personal self-esteem develops in the process of activity, as well as interpersonal interaction. To a large extent, it depends on the society how a person will evaluate himself. An important role in the formation of self-esteem of the individual is occupied by the assessments of the surrounding people, as well as the personal achievements of the individual.

In psychology, self-assessment is understood as an individual's idea of ​​the significance of his personal activity among other individuals, as well as an assessment of himself and personal qualities, feelings, merits, shortcomings, their expression closed or open.

Personal self-esteem is considered to be stable psychological characteristics person. It is very difficult to change it because it is formed in early childhood and depends not only on innate factors, but also on circumstances in life. A significant influence on it is the attitude of others, since self-esteem is formed as a result of continuous comparison of oneself with other people. To overcome yourself, you should take a sober and bold look inside yourself, study your temperament, character, and other psychological properties necessary in interpersonal interaction.

The study of self-esteem of the individual

The study of personality self-esteem by psychologists revealed that it performs three functions:

- regulatory, problem solving personal choice,

- protective, providing relative stability, as well as independence of the individual,

- developing, acting as an impetus for the development of the individual.

Psychologists advise every person to look into themselves, because inside there are solutions to many current problems. Having delved into himself, a person is able to get rid of the garbage located there, as happens when cleaning an apartment under New Year. At the same time, useful, necessary things are located closer, and what is not needed is hidden away.

Self-esteem of the individual forms the self-awareness of a person. Personality, evaluating himself, includes in this process the evaluation of his qualities, properties and capabilities. This happens through introspection, self-observation, self-report, continuous comparison of oneself with other individuals with whom one is in direct contact.

Self-esteem is not just the satisfaction of curiosity. The driving motive is the motive of self-improvement, the desire for success, a healthy sense of pride, because human life It is a protracted struggle with oneself.

Self-assessment of a person makes it possible, both to see the real "I", and to link it with one's future and past. Personal self-esteem allows an individual to see the roots of his strengths and weaknesses, to be sure of their objectivity and learn to acquire adequate models for his behavior in everyday situations. A person who has known himself becomes another person.

Personal self-assessment in its structure has two components: cognitive and emotional.

Cognitive reflects everything that a person has learned about himself from different sources information.

Emotional Expresses own attitude to different aspects of the personality (behavior, character traits, habits).

Self-esteem and the level of claims of the individual

The American psychologist W. James developed a special formula for self-esteem: Self-esteem \u003d Success / Level of claims

Where the level of claims is the level to which it aspires in various spheres of life (status, career, welfare). The level of aspiration serves as an ideal target for your future actions.

Success is achievement concrete results when performing certain actions that reflect the level of claims.

The formula shows that self-esteem can be increased either by reducing the level of claims, or by increasing the effectiveness of one's actions.

Self-esteem of a person can be overestimated, adequate, underestimated. Strong deviations from adequate self-esteem cause a person to experience internal conflicts and psychological discomfort. Often people don't understand true reasons of all these phenomena and begins to look for reasons outside itself.

Obviously, the personality is marked by a superiority complex - "I am the most correct", as well as a complex of two-year-old children - "I am the best." A person with high self-esteem idealizes himself, exaggerates his abilities and capabilities, as well as his significance for the people around him. Such a person ignores failures to maintain psychological comfort, while maintaining his usual high conceit.

An individual with high self-esteem presents weak sides for the strong, giving out the usual and stubbornness for determination and will. Often such a person turns into an inaccessible person for other individuals, becoming mentally deaf and losing feedback with those around you. He never listens to other people's opinions. The failure of such a person refers to external factors, other people's intrigues, circumstances, intrigues, but not to their own mistakes. Critical assessment of oneself by other personalities is unacceptable for him, and he treats such people with obvious distrust, classifying all this as envy and nit-picking.

A person with high self-esteem sets inflated and impossible goals for himself; has a level of claims that exceeds it real opportunities. For such a person, such features as arrogance, arrogance, striving for superiority, aggressiveness, rudeness, quarrelsomeness, rigidity are inherent. He behaves emphatically independently, and this is perceived by others as scorn and arrogance.

An individual with high self-esteem is prone to persecution of hysterical and neurotic manifestations, he believes that he deserves more, but he is unlucky. Often, he is predictable and stable in his behavior, has a characteristic appearance: high head position, straight posture, long and direct gaze, commanding notes in his voice.

A clearly underestimated self-esteem of the individual is manifested in an anxious, stuck type of character accentuation. As a rule, such a person is not self-confident, indecisive, shy, overly cautious and, like no one else, is in dire need of the approval and support of others.

An individual is easily succumbing to the influence of other personalities and thoughtlessly follows their lead. Often, suffering from an inferiority complex, he tries to fulfill himself, to assert himself at any cost, which leads such a person to indiscriminate means in achieving goals. Such a person is feverishly trying to catch up and prove to himself and everyone his importance and that he personally is worth something. His goals set for himself are lower than he can achieve. A person with low self-esteem often goes into their troubles, as well as failures, while inflating their role in life. Such a person is too demanding of others and of himself, overly self-critical, withdrawn, envious, suspicious, vindictive, cruel. Often such a person becomes a bore, bringing others around with trifles, as well as causing conflicts, both at work and in the family. For appearance retraction of the head, indecisive gait, and averting the eyes to the side when talking are characteristic.

The adequacy of a person's self-assessment is established by the ratio of two opposite mental processes: cognitive and protective. The cognitive mental process promotes adequacy, and the protective one acts in the direction of the reverse reality.

The protective process is explained by the fact that every person has a sense of self-preservation, which acts in situations of self-esteem on self-justification of personal behavior, as well as self-defense of internal personal psychological comfort. This process also occurs when a person is left alone with himself, since it is difficult for a person to recognize the chaos within himself.

Personal self-esteem levels

For determining elementary school using the ladder method. The purpose of this technique is to identify the level of self-esteem of the individual. On a piece of paper, you should draw a ladder of 10 steps, first numbering it. Showing the kid a ladder, it is necessary to explain that the worst girls and boys are on the lowest step. The second is a little better, but already on the top step are the kindest, best and smartest girls and boys. Ask your child which step they would place themselves on. Invite him to draw himself on this step. If it is difficult for a child to draw a little man, offer to draw a 0.

Results processing:

Step 1-3 is a low level (low self-esteem);

4-7 step is middle level(adequate self-esteem);

8-10 step is high level(heightened self-esteem).

Interpretation of the results of the methodology

A low level of self-esteem shows that a person is insecure, timid, cannot realize his desires and abilities. Such children do not achieve what they want, are too critical of themselves and cannot realize their abilities.

The average level shows that the child's personality correctly correlates his abilities and capabilities, is critical of himself, realistically looks at successes and failures, sets himself achievable goals that are feasible in practice.

The average level of self-esteem of the individual shows that the child respects himself, but knows his personal weaknesses, striving for self-development, self-improvement.

A high level shows that the child has a wrong idea of ​​himself, an idealized image of his abilities and personality, his value for others and for the common cause.

In such cases, a person ignores failures in order to maintain the usual high appreciation of himself and his actions. A fair remark is perceived as a nitpick, and an objective assessment is perceived as unfairly underestimated. A person with overestimated inadequate self-esteem does not recognize that all this is due to personal mistakes, lack of knowledge, laziness, improper behavior, abilities.

Too low or high self-esteem violates self-management, impairs self-control. This behavior is noticeable in communications, when people with low and high self-esteem are the cause of conflicts.

Man is a social being and cannot develop normally outside of society. Throughout life, a person, interacting with society, develops and learns new boundaries of himself. How an individual will be in this society depends largely on the environment itself. People change under the influence of the rules and norms set by society, and this changes their attitude towards themselves. What will be the environment of a person, what will be his role in this society and how the person will put himself in front of society, mainly depends on internal characteristics person. Temperament, character, self-esteem of the individual set the pace of our movement along the path of life.

Personal self-esteem

A person's self-esteem affects his attitude towards himself, this is how he evaluates his capabilities, strengths and skills. It is the center of personality development and has a huge impact on the adaptation of a person in a new society, group. This is not a constant - it develops and changes depending on the events taking place in a person's life. Basically, self-consciousness and self-esteem are laid in a person from childhood and gradually develop into a self-concept. Its presence is in any behavioral act of the individual. How a person behaves in a critical situation, how he will solve important issues and whether he decides to perform certain tasks will directly depend on the level of self-esteem of a person at the time of making a decision.

3 types of self-esteem in psychology

Self-esteem is divided into three types: low, high and average (adequate). People with different levels of self-esteem in the same situation will behave differently.

Low self-esteem is the result of a wrong, perhaps overbearing or overprotective upbringing. Such upbringing leads to self-doubt and self-doubt and, as a result, to an underestimation of oneself. People with low self-esteem are very vulnerable and often closed, not sociable, lack of initiative. Such behavior leads to an inferiority complex, the development of depressive states. As a rule, such people tend to belittle their role in society, trying in no way to stand out. Clients of modern psychologists are increasingly people with low self-esteem. This problem can and should be solved. You can work on it.

A high self-evaluation

An overestimated self-esteem of a person is evidenced by the unwillingness of a person to look at his mistakes, analyze them and admit them. A person with high self-esteem tends to idealize himself and exaggerate his importance to the environment. Such people are characterized by dominant feelings, demonstration of themselves. Sometimes it is difficult for a person to live with inflated self-esteem. Understanding and realizing this will be the first step towards correcting the situation, that is, you can make self-esteem adequate. But in general, this type of self-esteem gives the individual self-confidence, which is a good driving force. Such people live under the motto "I can", "I can", "I want". They are dominated by such qualities as perseverance and aspiration.

People with adequate self-esteem realistically assess their strengths and capabilities in relation to the cause that is in front of them. Such individuals set clear goals for themselves, which they achieve, take a sober look at things. Adequate self-esteem also speaks of the maturity of the individual. The more mature a person is, the more adequate self-esteem he has.

Conclusion

What kind of self-esteem of the individual was formed at the exit of development will affect the level and quality of life of the individual in society. Realizing himself, understanding and accepting in a certain way, a person builds life plans, creates his environment and lives in this world. Being an important link in the development of individuality, a person's self-esteem determines the level of self-confidence and satisfaction with his life.

Good day dear blog readers!
“In order to be appreciated, you need to appreciate yourself.” If you don't treat yourself with respect, you shouldn't expect the same from others. People subconsciously read what kind of relationship we expect. And they don't disappoint us.

Therefore, if you do not value yourself, then others will do the same. Therefore, today we will deal with what self-esteem is and what it gives a person.

• Self-esteem: what is it?
• Do you need to evaluate yourself?
• What is self-esteem

Self-esteem: what is it?

Roughly speaking, self-esteem is how a person evaluates his abilities and personal qualities.

Three criteria are most often used to determine self-esteem:

1. What does the person think of himself?
2. How does the person feel about himself? (is proud or more often feels humiliated, worthless);
3. How does the person behave? (you can be timid, intimidated, confident, impudent, etc.).

By answering all three questions, you can rate yourself. The result obtained will reflect the attitude of a person towards himself.

But do not think that such a procedure occurs once in a lifetime, and then the result is saved. We value ourselves every second. This is especially evident in women.

Admit it, who did not look at himself in every window, each time making sure that today he looks at 100. And vice versa, if the stars did not converge and the woman overslept, did not have time to put on makeup, just in a bad mood (underline as necessary), then she is unlikely to catch your reflection.

So self-esteem is a process, it lasts all our conscious life.

However, it happens that the “assessment” depends not only on our feeling, but also on what others tell us. This especially affects children.

If the baby is praised (for the cause, of course), then he will treat himself better in adult life.

And if the child is constantly shown that he is unworthy good relationship, then as an adult, he will spend most of his life proving to others that he is no worse. And another question is whether this process will bring him pleasure.

Do you need to evaluate yourself?

You need to evaluate yourself. However, as you already understood, self-esteem is a complex thing. If something worked out today, then you are on a horse. And tomorrow, things may not be so rosy.

The need for self-assessment:

1. Gives an idea of ​​what is happening in your life right now. Are you moving in the right direction or what you are doing makes you feel miserable;
2. Helps to find the strengths of your character;
3. It makes it possible to detect and eliminate negative aspects of character;

Attention! When evaluating, do not compare yourself to others. Believe me, there will always be someone who is taller, smarter, stronger and generally well done in life. Such an assessment-comparison will sooner or later lead to a decrease in self-confidence, disappointment in your life, or even depression.

Therefore, if you really need to compare yourself with someone, then remember yourself a couple of years younger and spend comparative analysis. Note in what aspects you have become stronger and smarter. And in what direction it is necessary to work a little more.

How is self-esteem formed?

We learn to value ourselves from childhood. And since the child has no critical thinking and all the information received is perceived as pure one hundred percent truth, an adult continues to evaluate himself in the same way as he was told in childhood.

Therefore, if you have children, then you should not overpraise them or force them to strive for the ideal. Praise or punishment should always be appropriate. By the way, if you punish children, be sure to explain why.

Note! If you do not help the child in time (and the mechanisms for the formation of self-esteem are instilled from childhood to adolescence inclusive), then in adult life a person has difficulty finding his place in the world and establishing social contacts.

What is self-esteem

In the psychological literature there are a huge number of classifications.

The most commonly used types:

• Low

In this case, the person is too critical of himself. Constantly striving for the ideal. In childhood, a person often heard from his parents that he was clumsy and good for nothing.

This upbringing develops self-doubt. In adult life, with low self-esteem, it is difficult to make decisions, take initiative or take responsibility.

Treating yourself pejoratively, you can not realize yourself in life (both personal and professional) and get an inferiority complex;

• Normal (adequate)

It is characterized by a person's ability to realistically assess their potential and capabilities. At the same time, there is an optimal level of self-criticism, which helps to develop and achieve new goals.

Adequate assessment of one's own strengths is complemented by such qualities as readiness for change, the ability to maintain internal balance, initiative;

• Overpriced

Such people are distinguished by arrogance, they can often be compared with Narcissus from the myth well known to us. The opinion of such a person often diverges from the opinions of others, while he always remains confident that he is right.

How to determine the level of self-esteem

Determining the level of self-esteem is quite simple. To do this, it is enough to pass a psychological test.

Attention! Do not use popular tests, they are hardly compiled according to all the rules, which means that no one can vouch for the reliability of the result.

As one of the professional tests, I propose the method of M. Rosenberg. You do not need to spend a lot of time to fill it out, since it consists of 10 questions.

Note! Without exception, all psychological tests have one feature: the result obtained after a while may no longer be relevant.

For example, today you fill out the M. Rosenberg test and it turns out that your level of self-esteem (self-esteem) is low. But the day after tomorrow you will find out that your boss liked your work so much that he wrote you a huge bonus.

What do you think, if you pass the test immediately after this news, will self-esteem remain at the same level? I think it will definitely go up!

Also, don't forget that we all have bad days when we feel like we're good for nothing. This, of course, is unpleasant, but most often this is how our brain signals us about fatigue (physical or psychological). Therefore, in this case, after a few days of rest, you will feel normal again.

And one more thing: if you have low self-esteem and you can’t raise it in any way, then I recommend contacting a specialist. Remember that if you stay in this state for a long time, you can ruin your whole life. Do you need it?

So, that's all I have for today. I sincerely hope that you are doing well with the level of self-esteem. If not, then remember that everything is fixable.

The main thing is to work on yourself. In the following articles, we will discuss the features of working with self-esteem, so subscribe to blog updates. And do not forget to share interesting materials with your friends in social networks.

See you!

Practicing psychologist Maria Dubynina was with you.)

A person is a part of society, and the attitude of others, assessment of his qualities, attractiveness is important for him. But no less important for us is self-esteem, the attitude towards oneself, which is formed in a person throughout his life. The place in society that we occupy, and the degree of social activity largely depend on the level of our own assessment of our merits and demerits.

In psychology, self-esteem is considered as a complex of a person's ideas about himself, which were formed on the basis of comparing himself with others. These representations play an important role in shaping the image of one's own "I" or.

Consciously or unconsciously, we always compare ourselves with others and evaluate ourselves from the position of “better”, “worse” or “the same as everyone else”. First of all, important, significant qualities for society are evaluated. For example, for young man of the nobility of the first quarter of the 19th century, it was normal to talk about whether he dances a mazurka better or worse than Lieutenant Rzhevsky. And for modern man this quality does not matter, and therefore is not evaluated.

Thus, self-esteem is based on socially significant values, without which it is impossible to realize oneself worthy of respect in a given society and at a given time.

It is clear that you can evaluate yourself in different ways, all the more there are situations when we are satisfied with ourselves and like ourselves, and at other times some act makes us experience acute dissatisfaction, and we are engaged in self-flagellation. But self-esteem as a part of the personality is a stable formation, although it can change, it does not depend on the situational attitude towards oneself. On the contrary, self-assessment corrects this attitude:

• A person with a high opinion of himself will say: “How could I do this, this is completely uncharacteristic for me,” and will try to forget about the oversight.
• And the one who has low self-esteem, on the contrary, focuses on his mistakes, will reproach himself for them for a long time, will think that “he is a crooked loser in life who doesn’t really know how to do anything.”

Types and levels of self-esteem

In psychology, there are two types of self-esteem: adequate and inadequate. Sometimes they also talk about optimal and suboptimal self-esteem, thereby emphasizing that many people tend to evaluate themselves slightly above average, and this is more of a norm than a deviation. Another thing is how highly we value ourselves.

Adequate self-esteem

Adequate self-esteem to some extent correctly reflects the abilities and qualities of the individual, that is, this is a person's idea of ​​himself, which corresponds to the real state of things. Such representations can be both with a + sign and with a − sign, because people are not perfect. For example, when a person says that a bear stepped on his ear, this may not be a belittling of his own abilities in music, but their adequate assessment.

Self-esteem affects all human behavior and attitudes towards oneself and towards other people. So, with adequate self-esteem, an individual:

• correctly assesses the balance of their desires and abilities;
• sets realistic goals that they are able to achieve;
• able to critically look at himself from the outside;
• tries to anticipate the results of his actions.

In general, for a person with adequate self-esteem, the people around him are important. But he also evaluates their opinion adequately, focusing more on his own ideas about the benefits or harms of his actions.

Inadequate self-esteem

Inadequate self-esteem is of two types: low and high. The degree of inadequacy is different levels. Self-assessments of a level slightly above or slightly below average are a fairly common phenomenon, and they almost do not manifest themselves in the behavior of an individual, do not prevent him from living and interacting with others. In this case, it is possible to determine the deviation only with the help of special psychological tests. And self-esteem slightly above average does not even need to be corrected, since a person can quite deservedly respect and appreciate himself, and self-respect has never bothered anyone.

But it happens (and often) that self-esteem is far from optimal and significantly above or below the average level. In this case, it has a serious impact on the actions of a person and can lead to inappropriate behavior and with those around you.

Individual characteristics of people with high self-esteem

People with overly high self-esteem can be quickly noticed in any team - they strive to be in the public eye, advise everyone, lead everyone and dominate everywhere. Such people are characterized by the following features:

• they overestimate their capabilities and their importance;
• they do not perceive criticism, and they are annoyed by someone else's opinion that does not coincide with their own;
• often have a superiority complex, considering themselves right in everything;
• emphatically independent and even arrogant;
• reject the help and support of others;
• they blame other people or circumstances for their failures and problems;
• do not notice their weaknesses or pass them off as strengths, for example, stubbornness for perseverance, and arrogance for determination;
• often differ in a demonstrative type of behavior, they like to perform deeds for show;
• tend to be disrespectful towards others.

There is an opinion that it is better to have an overestimated self-esteem than an underestimated one. But it all depends on the level - people who value themselves too highly can be very unpleasant.

Low self-esteem

People with a level of self-esteem significantly below the average are not always immediately noticeable, especially in a team. They do not seek to be seen and seem simply modest. But in the process of communicating with them, their far from the most pleasant qualities are revealed:

• indecision and excessive caution;
• dependence on the opinions of other people and the constant need for their support;
• the desire to shift responsibility, including for their actions, onto the shoulders of others;
• inferiority complex and, as a consequence, excessive vulnerability, quarrelsomeness;
• excessive demands on oneself and others, perfectionism;
• pettiness, vindictiveness and envy;
• suffering from low self-esteem, they nevertheless try to prove to everyone their "toughness" and commit inadequate actions.

Low self-esteem also makes people selfish, only this is a different kind of selfishness. They are so immersed in their failures and obsessed with self-pity that they do not notice the problems of their loved ones. Very often, those who have too low a level of self-esteem do not know how to respect or love.

Structure of self-assessment

In the structure of self-esteem, psychologists distinguish two components: cognitive and emotional:

• The cognitive component (from the Latin cognition - knowledge) includes a person's knowledge about himself, his abilities, skills, abilities, weaknesses and strengths. This component is formed in the process of self-knowledge and largely affects the level of self-esteem. Inadequate self-esteem, as a rule, is associated either with ideas about one's own "I" that do not correspond to reality, or with their lack of formation.
• The emotional component is the attitude of the individual towards himself and various manifestations of his own personality. that we feel for ourselves are very contradictory: approval and disapproval, self-esteem or lack of it,.

The differences between these two components are purely theoretical, in real life they coexist in an inseparable unity - our knowledge of our qualities is always emotionally colored.

Factors affecting the formation of self-esteem

Inadequate self-esteem is always bad, it creates discomfort and problems for both the person himself and his environment. But can the individual be blamed for a misconception of himself? What influences self-esteem?

Social factors

The foundations of self-esteem are laid in childhood, from the moment when the baby is aware of his "I" and begins to compare himself with other children and adults. But in preschool, and even at primary school age, children still cannot adequately analyze their qualities and their behavior, so the evaluation sphere is formed completely under the influence of adults. Remember how V. Mayakovsky: “The baby son came to his father, and the baby asked: - What is good? And what is bad?

People with a sensitive psyche are more worried about their failures and because of the assessments of others than less emotional ones.

• A person who is dominated by the features of a melancholic tends to get upset even because of a slight accidental remark and remember it for a long time.
• The phlegmatic may not even pay attention to the remark.
• Closed, unsociable, because of the assessments of others, they experience less than sociable extroverts. On the other hand, due to their propensity for demonstrative behavior, they often suffer from inflated self-esteem. But people who avoid people, who prefer loneliness, often consider themselves superior to others, despise those around them who are unworthy of communicating with them.

I.e individual characteristics Personalities, of course, influence the formation of self-esteem, but the vector of it is set primarily by the social environment. There is one more important factor associated with a person's assessment of his own "I".

Claim level

We all strive for something in life, set goals for ourselves. And these goals are different: someone wants to make money on new apartment, someone to create their own prosperous company, and for someone a trip to the sea is the ultimate dream. The degree of complexity, the difficulty of the goal or task that a person defines for himself, is the level of his claims.

As well as self-esteem, the level of claims can be adequate or inadequate. Adequate is one where the goals correspond to the capabilities of a person. If a school graduate with poor knowledge and low grades in the Unified State Exam decides to apply to a prestigious university in the capital, then he has a clearly inadequate, overestimated level of claims. And when a good student refuses to go to higher educational institution because he is afraid to fail, then his level of claims is too low. Both of these are bad.

The level of claims is formed under the influence of successes and failures that accompany a person on life path and, in turn, affects the formation of self-esteem. After all, an athlete, constantly setting himself a bar over which he will not be able to jump, will very quickly be disappointed in his abilities and in the opportunity to succeed. Yes, and an underestimated level of claims does not contribute to the development of self-esteem and self-confidence.

But psychologists still believe that a low level is worse than a high one and has a bad effect on the formation of a personality and its position in society. It makes a person a socially passive loser, not striving for success.

Self-Esteem Correction

The possibility of changing their self-esteem towards a more adequate one excites many people. This is especially true for mature and seemingly accomplished individuals, when a person realizes that an incorrect assessment of his strengths and capabilities prevents him from achieving success and has a bad effect on relationships with others.

Self-esteem can be corrected even on its own, although in especially neglected cases, the help of a psychotherapist or a counseling psychologist is required. But it’s easier to increase self-esteem than to reduce an inadequately high one. More precisely, there are conditions under which self-esteem decreases, but most often they are unpleasant and even.

If the individual realized that he had an inadequately high self-esteem, then he was able to look at himself critically, and therefore, his self-esteem is not that high. In any case, he is already on the right track.

There are many tips for boosting self-esteem. But first you need to figure out in which area you underestimate yourself. What do you no longer like about yourself or what do you lack to increase your self-esteem? Write out on a separate sheet in a column the main areas in which a person is realized:

• relationships with people;
• professional activity (or choice of profession);
• appearance;
• knowledge level, ;
• hobbies;
• family.

You can add something important for you. Now rate your success in these areas on a 10-point scale. If the scores are slightly higher than 5 points, then your self-esteem is within the normal range, but you can increase it. And if it is significantly lower than 5, then special attention should be paid to this area.

Think about why you think you are not successful in this area? And what do you lack to feel more confident, start to respect yourself and even admire? Write down on a separate sheet what you need. And start working on eliminating these shortcomings.

As you can see, nothing complicated. And if you would like a “magic pill” or a ready-made recipe, there are none. People are all different, our problems are also different. But you can give a few general advice to improve self-esteem:

• Stop comparing yourself to others. Remember, each person is unique, not better or worse, just different. And your advantage is that you are different from others.
• Look around and try to see all the best and brightest. Stop, fix this feeling in your head and try not to allow any more negative thoughts - they attract failure.
• Starting any business, focus on success, defeat comes to those who are waiting for it.
• Smile. A smile is a powerful tool that sets our state to positive. But it is no less important that it sets the people around us to a higher appreciation of us.
• Write down all your virtues on a piece of paper and re-read them often, especially when you feel insecure and fear of failure.
• Be more open. Feel free to reach out to people for help and support.

To increase self-esteem, the approval and praise of others is very important. Therefore, find yourself a hobby or hobbies in which you can succeed, and do not hesitate to demonstrate these successes. Draw, knit, cross-stitch, collect pictures from plastic corks or photograph unusual clouds. And share your successes, seek praise. Now with the development of communication in social networks, this is not difficult to do.