Factors influencing self-esteem of a person

Self-esteem is defined as an individual’s conviction about his or her own worth and value. It also pertains to the emotions that people encounter which gives them the feeling of worthiness or unworthiness. Self-worth is essential since it vigorously impacts individuals’ decisions and choices. At the end of the day, it serves a motivational function by being the basis whether individuals will take care of themselves and consider their potentials. People with high self-esteem are also those who are motivated to take care with themselves and to progressively work hard to achieve their life goals and fulfill their ambitions. Individuals with low self-esteem don’t tend to view themselves as someone who deserves happiness and capable of accomplishing the given tasks, as a result they tend to let significant things slide and they become less determined and weaker in terms of conquering hardships. They may have similar objectives just like those who possess higher self-esteem, yet they are not as persistent in pursuing these things.

There are distinctive components that can influence one’s self-esteem. Genetic factors which primarily shape overall personality play a role, yet usually, a person’s life experiences are the main predictor of their self-esteem. The individuals who commonly receive negative evaluations from parental figures, relatives, and companions, for instance, probably encounter issues with low self-esteem. Other factors believed to influence one’s self-esteem includes: Genetics, personality, age, health, handicaps, thoughts and social circumstances. Some of the signs that a person has a healthy self-esteem are those who possess the following characteristics: Self-confidence, ability to say no without the feeling of guilt or need for explanation, positive outlook in life, ability to determine and accept both strengths and weaknesses, negative experiences do not affect perspective and ability to freely express opinion. While on the other hand, people with low or unhealthy self-esteem reflect the listed attributes: Negative outlook in life, lack of self-confidence, inability to express needs and opinion, focus on weaknesses and imperfections, feelings of shame, depression, or anxiety, mindset that others are better in all aspects, trouble accepting positive feedback and fear of failure.

As self-esteem is comprised of the thoughts, emotions, and assessments that people have about themselves simply implies that self-esteem isn’t fixed. It can change, depends on how an individual choose to think. Over time, the habit of thinking negatively can result to a low self-esteem. It is not unusual for individuals being unaware that they are looking down on themselves too much. Yet, once they are mindful of it, and realize that the way they believe also relies on them, they can start to change the manner they perceive things. Furthermore, changing the way they think about themselves also allow them to change how they feel towards themselves.

According to Ponton (2017), to build one’s self-esteem and to have a positive mindset originates from considering their own qualities and abilities as a person. Finding a sense of contentment of individuals to their identity and accepting the limited things that they can offer to the world are the key to a high self-esteem. This inner peace does not imply that a person is unaware of his or her shortcomings; it only implies that they acknowledge their identity and truly accept the kind of person they have become. Figuring out how to know and trust oneself is a long yet meaningful process. All through life a person may need to seek within his or herself for multiple times to successfully recognize their own strength and uniqueness.

A lot of studies related to self-esteem have been conducted in various countries. Most of these studies include other variables and factors which are believed to have a relationship with self-esteem. For instance, Sud and Sethi (2008) inspected the connection between state anxiety, trait anxiety, test anxiety, stress, negative mood regulation, achievement motivation and self-esteem of adolescent female students. The result exposes that there was a significant relationship between the state anxiety, trait anxiety, test anxiety, stress, negative mood regulation and self-esteem. However, no significant relationship was seen between the achievement motivation and the other variables.

A study named “ Predicting internalizing problems in at-risk children and adolescents” conducted by Bolme-lake (2008) examined the association with parent gender and self-esteem associated with internalizing problem. The outcome indicated that the mark of internalizing problem was linked to the quality of parent relationship and self-esteem. Children who reported better bond with their parents and greater self-esteem reported a reduced amount of internalizing problem. On the other hand, children having low self-esteem reported higher internalizing problem.

In research made by Bhardwaj and Agrawal (2013) entitled “ Gender difference in pre-adolescents’ self-esteem” studied the self-esteem of the pre-adolescent children and to see the gender differences between males and females in that initial age. Significant differences were not found in social, academic and parental self-esteem, but when statistics of male partakers were compared with the female partakers the average self-esteem of females was found to be greater than males. Taking everything into account, there was not any gender differences found in the overall self-esteem in the preadolescence period.

Arslan, Hamarta and Uslu (2010) conducted a study entitled “ The relationship between conflict communication, self-esteem and life-satisfaction in university students”. The findings of the study showed that self-esteem was positively correlated with hostility, emotional communication, self-exposure and life contentment. The results also showed that life fulfillment was positively interconnected with hostility, emotional communication and self-exposure.

A research labeled as “ Marital status, career and income as indicators of life satisfaction among middle-aged career women in Hulu Langar, Selangor, Malaysia” made by Hasnain, Ansari and Sethi (2011) studied the difference between married and unmarried, working and non-working women on life contentment and self-esteem. The study showed significantly better life satisfaction and lower self-esteem for working women than for non-working women. However, non-significant discrepancy was found between married and unmarried women on both life fulfillment and self-esteem. The effects of working status and marital status were found non-significant for both life contentment and self-esteem.