Introduction
Self-esteem is a psychological concept that has been studied for centuries and decades due to its centrality to human existence. Self-esteem is the value that human beings place on themselves. This value holds that human beings exist for a reason: they are valuable and deserve to be treated as such (De Ruiter et al., 2017). Motivation refers to the driving force to act towards a certain outcome. It can be internal or external and, at times, reflect one’s state of mind.
According to Abdel-Khalek (2016), self-esteem comprises a global trait, self-evaluation, and the feelings associated with or arising from self-esteem. In my understanding of this definition, self-esteem begins with the traits and characteristics a person identifies with. Self-evaluation directly relates to the value the individual attributes to the environment in which they exist. The third element conjures the understanding that emotions can reflect self-esteem. My assessment of the threefold definition is that the general emphasis lies on emotions, which are more outwardly observable than on self-evaluation and the recognition of personal traits.
Theoretical frameworks attempt to explain the development of self-esteem. According to De Ruiter et al. (2017), self-esteem development follows a causal interventionism approach. Reading through the text, casual intervention is the phenomenon where a variable(s) determines the result. Going by this, self-esteem develops from specific variables.
The theory of causal interventionism holds that self-esteem is a construct shaped by internal and external dynamics (Deckers, 2018). From my learning experience, external dynamics cut across one’s economic status, social rank, academic status, and even associations. On the other hand, internal dynamics encompasses one’s values, sense of belonging, personal achievements, and innate confidence. Internal and external dynamics are motivational factors that affect how one feels about oneself or one’s self-esteem.
The concept of self-esteem and its motivation are integral determinants of a person’s overall well-being. In the six pillars of self-esteem, a positive self-image is the basis for purposeful living. One can only achieve this through conscious living that starts with internal assessment and self-awareness. Another pillar of high self-esteem is self-acceptance and responsibility (Deckers, 2018).
Parental acceptance sets a good foundation for self-acceptance, which catapults open expression, self-love, and the ability to develop healthy relationships that support holistic well-being (Deckers, 2018). In addition, self-esteem is a continuous journey marked by ups and downs, depending on situational factors. Mastery of self-acceptance across the different phases helps people stay hopeful as they navigate life. This spectrum enables continuous growth and progress by fostering healthy processing of difficult times.
Factors That Can Positively or Negatively Impact One’s Self-Esteem and Motivation
Parenting Styles & Genetic Factors
Parenting styles and genetic factors shape self-esteem development and how individuals perceive their value as they grow into independent adults. According to Mruk (2013), a human sense of self-worth begins with their first social experience at home. As children grow up, they interact with their parents, and the quality of the parenting experience has either a positive or negative impact on self-esteem (Deckers, 2018).
A supportive parenting style primarily helps children express themselves freely and develop a sense of belonging. Children raised by nurturing parents gain self-confidence at a very tender age. Also, children raised in a liberal home find it easier to develop a personality that comes off as having solid self-esteem, which is attractive to their peers. They adopt the same self-perception and grow into adults with high self-esteem, compared with those with harsh or absent parents.
Moreover, research indicates a positive correlation between parental warmth/acceptance and high self-esteem. As Mruk (2013) states, parental warmth transcends mere friendliness toward your children. It involves acknowledging a child’s strengths and weaknesses while politely correcting them. On the flip side, parents who are harsh disciplinarians instill the fear of expression and exploration. Over time, the children raised in such backgrounds are withdrawn and live with the fear of living out their full potential.
In the same breadth, parental expectations and consistency significantly impact one’s self-esteem as they develop. Parents around the world generally impose their expectations on their children. When the expectations are unmet, the parents who may not be able to handle the disappointment end up admonishing their kids. However, disappointment is expressed, and the strain on the social relationship undermines self-confidence, leading to a lifelong negative self-perception.
In line with parenting styles, genetic factors predispose people to different levels of self-esteem. The genetic interference on self-esteem intersects with the self-organizing model, which posits that this process emerges from consequential growth in different aspects of life. Theoretically, self-esteem is attributed to 30-%-40% of genetic factors, which are significant (Abdel-Khalek, 2016).
More specifically, the Big Five personality traits are strong predictors of self-esteem. People who score highly on extroversion often have higher self-esteem than introverts. Also, their extroverted nature makes them highly sociable, happy, and appreciative of life, which cultivates high self-esteem.
Social-Cultural Factors
Social-cultural factors strongly impact self-esteem and general motivation for regular day-to-day activities. In the study by Helwig & Ruprecht (2017), age and gender are the primary social factors influencing self-esteem. According to the identity theory of self-esteem development, a person’s identity determines how they present themselves in social settings.
The research of Helwig & Ruprecht (2017) found that girls have considerably lower self-esteem than boys. In the same study, it was found that age does not determine one’s self-esteem. To reflect on this, gender’s role in self-esteem is shaped by socialization across various communities. For example, the expectation that females should be less expressive or less ambitious can foster personality traits that align with low self-esteem, and vice versa.
Cultural factors have a more significant impact on self-esteem, both positive and negative. From general knowledge, cultural factors influencing self-esteem include race, religion, and ethnicity. For the most part, individual comparisons with those around them negatively impact low self-esteem. Case in point, an African teenager attending a predominantly white school may be exposed to low self-esteem due to social stereotypes about black people. Dissecting this reveals that the social concept of minority vs majority fuels low self-esteem for those who identify with minority groups.
Mruk (2013) states that cultural values stem from the humanistic self-esteem approach. This framework explains that competition between self-values and social values often leads to internal conflict and low self-esteem. Further, the perception that one community’s values are inferior decreases the community’s sense of self-worth and ultimately harms self-esteem.
Personal Successes
Throughout a person’s life, success factors have a crucial impact on their self-esteem in all senses. Success factors range from excellent school performance to securing a good job, grasping the most coveted opportunities, achieving fame, power, and marital status, and gaining recognition within a group. Essentially, the impact of success on self-esteem is anchored in their ability to evoke strong negative and positive emotions.
According to motivation theories, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation are crucial to a person’s general outlook on life (De Ruiter et al., 2017). Personal and professional success may be motivated by either factor. When this happens, a person feels uplifted, aligned with positive emotions, and optimistic. Consequently, achieving success at whatever point in life generates emotions that stir confidence and a high sense of self-worth.
Besides this, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs clearly explains the psychology of human needs and their achievement in life. According to Maslow’s hierarchy, people need to attain physiological needs before any other. This lowest level of success entails securing food, shelter, food, and security as the bare minimum for survival (Stets & Burke, 2014). The next level of success cuts across identity needs, which transcend a sense of belonging. At this level, individuals can search for their identity as they have already attained material needs.
Regarding self-esteem, the success of moving up the hierarchy of needs builds self-confidence. It also eases the load of worrying about introductory life provisions. This theory aligns with the identity theory in that essential success is crucial for motivating people to establish their identity as a precursor to high self-esteem.
Personal successes have a trickle-down effect that enhances positive self-image. It is common to see that the most successful people are highly adored. Even though individuals may not want close friends, people seek association to benefit from and identify with successes. In psychology, these phenomena are termed acceptance and rejection sensitivity. The more successful a person is, the higher their acceptance in social circles (Stets & Burke, 2014). This means that they feel readily welcome in crowds or professional spaces.
Similarly, a child’s upbringing, where they are accepted in their household, cultivates a positive self-image. Research established that acceptance has a direct positive impact on high self-esteem. On the contrary, failure can create rejection sensitivity, the fear of rejection.
Failure often causes negative emotions such as self-doubt, inadequacy, stress, and depression. The source of the emotions is the thought that one is not good enough because they did not qualify in their endeavor. As such, a lack of success exacerbates negative emotions, which, if not well processed, can lead to low self-esteem.
Factors That Have Shaped My Current Self-Esteem
In my life, internal factors have had the most significant influence on my self-esteem. The most pronounced internal factor is my bodily appearance. I perceive myself as average in height; my skin color is white, and my body weight is medium. I think not belonging to any minority group boosts my confidence.
I feel comfortable with my body weight and appreciate it (Stets & Burke, 2014). Based on my introspection, if I were on either extreme side, i.e., overweight or skinny, I would have low self-esteem. With this, my outward appearance has a significant, favorable influence on my confidence and self-esteem.
External factors that positively impact my self-esteem stem from my personal relationships. As a hallmark of my self-esteem, my childhood is the foundation of my attachment style (Güss & Dörner, 2017). Mainly, I did not experience complete parental love as a child. Both my parents worked hard and long to provide.
As a result, they were away most of the time. I remember we used to talk about the characters, pick favorites, and spend hours finishing movies. My mother, who has a very bubbly personality, enjoyed playing with me, which allowed us to form a strong bond. From this experience, I felt loved and a sense of belonging. I always had the space to play with toys and other stuff in the kitchen. I attribute my self-confidence to my parents’ efforts to reassure me.
Besides this, I am generally an outgoing person. This is because I quickly developed an interest in the most random things. I can blend into groups easily (Güss & Dörner, 2017). For example, I have made spontaneous decisions to join friends at sports events even though I have no interest in or knowledge of the sports.
As a result, I have many friends and get along well with my peers. I must also acknowledge that I have never been in a culturally discriminatory environment. For most of my life, I have lived in the same country and gotten used to the cultural factors. The stability continues to reinforce my positive self-perception.
The interplay between my childhood, my personality, and environmental factors has impacted my high self-esteem. However, my childhood had the most impact on building my self-confidence. This is because my parents constantly affirmed me and assured me that I was the best, regardless of my social and academic performance.
The assurance instilled in me, self-belief, has been my pillar. This confidence allowed me to develop my personality at a very young age. In elementary school, teachers loved me because I was expressive and helpful to other children (Güss & Dörner, 2017). As a result, I stood out as a good child. In retrospect, my self-esteem is a culmination of all three factors, yet my childhood experience is the foundation of my values, self-worth, and esteem.
My High and Low Moments
My lowest moment when my self-esteem was crushed was in my adulthood. This happened when I did not make it to the top universities globally. My parents always wanted me to excel and join one of the Ivy League Universities. I worked so hard not to disappoint myself and them, but the dream did not come true. What disturbed me the most was that I had failed my parents. I also realize that I subconsciously self-evaluated my academic abilities.
For a few months, I felt my self-worth was low because I no longer thought I had strong academic abilities. This thinking aligns with the theoretical knowledge that human beings tie their abilities to their self-worth (Deckers, 2018). Even though I was still a bright, excellent kid in other areas, missing the opportunity lowered my self-esteem.
My highest moment was when I moved out of my parents’ home and started living independently. This happened when I joined college and had to move closer to school. It is a high self-esteem moment because I graduated from living to meet my physiological needs and living to actualize who I am. The fact that my parents trusted me to live independently was an affirmation of my responsibility. This outward validation increased my self-belief. It also helped me cultivate my financial discipline and work ethic.
Practices to Improve My Self-Esteem
One practice that can help me improve my self-esteem is identifying my negative thoughts about myself. I will write them down and practice positive self-affirmations to reassure myself of my potential. This practice draws on Maslow’s theory, which posits that human beings need affirmation from others and from the inner self to boost self-esteem (Thomas, 2022).
I will also apply cognitive behavioral therapy to challenge my thought patterns. I will do this by examining the cause of negative thoughts and feelings and working to change my self-beliefs. Another way to improve my self-esteem is to practice self-love by doing things I love, such as spending time with friends, playing sports, and baking. Creating more upbeat moments will constantly remind me of my strengths and the joy of life, fostering a positive mindset and higher self-esteem.
Conclusion
Reflecting on the conceptual understanding of self-esteem and self-evaluation has increased my understanding of the concepts. The theoretical definition of self-esteem as one’s perception of their value is intricately tied to motivation and emotional expression. Through research and learning, I have learned that healthy parenting, recognition of personal successes, and a good socio-cultural environment positively impact self-esteem. The introspection part made me realize that I value myself highly, thanks to my sociable personality and pride in my achievements. While I have struggled with academic failure, I endeavor to improve my self-esteem through a cognitive theory that emphasizes self-affirmation, self-love, and appreciation for my successes.
References
Abdel-Khalek, A. M. (2016). Introduction to the psychology of self-esteem. Self-esteem: perspectives, influences, and improvement strategies.
Deckers, L. (2018). Motivation: Biological, psychological, and environmental. Routledge.
De Ruiter, N. M., Van Geert, P. L., & Kunnen, E. S. (2017). Explaining the “how” of self-esteem development: The self-organizing self-esteem model. Review of General Psychology, 21(1), 49-68.
Güss, C. D., & Dörner, D. (2017). The importance of motivation and emotion for explaining human cognition. Behav Brain Sci, 40, 38-39.
Helwig, N. E., & Ruprecht, M. R. (2017). Age, gender, and self-esteem: A socio-cultural look through a nonparametric lens. Archives of Scientific Psychology, 5(1), 19.
Mruk, C. J. (2013). Self-esteem and positive psychology: Research, theory, and practice. Springer Publishing Company.
Stets, J. E., & Burke, P. J. (2014). Self-esteem and identities. Sociological perspectives, 57(4), 409-433.
Thomas, H. R. (2022). Influences and importance of self-awareness, self-evaluation and self-esteem. Nova Medicine and Health.