Impact of Self-esteem on Social behaviour and Relationships(Part-1)

An individual starts accepting failures, underestimating one's self, self-sabotaging, and self-degrading, becoming vulnerable to bullying, mocking, criticism, and humiliation when one doesn't feel, think, or perceive confidence about oneself and their capacities and when they lack self-respect and self-compassion.

Self-esteem is the confidence a person has in one's own abilities and worth; it depends on how an individual treats and perceives themselves.

William James (1892) identified multiple dimensions of the self with two levels of hierarchy:

• The process of knowing the self (which is called "I-Self").
• The resulting knowledge about self (which is called My-Self).

The "I-self" creates three types of knowledge based on the observation of "My-Self" which is collectively called "Me-self". Those three collective "Selves" form the attitude of an individual towards the self.

• Material self (representations of the body and possessions).
• Social self (characteristics recognized by others) is very close to self-esteem.
• Spiritual self (representations and evaluative dispositions about self).

Abraham Maslow included self-esteem in the hierarchy of human needs as it plays a central and key role in attaining self-actualization.

Question: How does a person feel when they have low self-esteem?

A person with low self-esteem experiences the following core beliefs and signs: Cognitive and Behavioral signs that are experienced by a person with low self-esteem include:

• "I do not have adequate skills to cope with social and performance situations."
• "I cannot control my anxiety around people."
• "I'm not enough, or this is not good, or I won't be able to cope."
• "What if they don't like me?"
• "What if they laugh at me?"
• "Hypersensitivity to criticism and heavy self-criticism"
• "Sees temporary setbacks as failures and is intolerant of the failures."
• "Excessive fear and anxiety while interacting with others or during important interactions with groups"
• "Fear of getting blamed for the mistakes and reliving the past failures"
• "I'm weird, I'm boring, and I'm different from others."
• "I won't be able to think of anything to say,"
• "I'll make a fool of myself," and "People will see I'm anxious."
• "I should never be anxious."
• "I have to be beautiful and smart to be liked."
• "It's absolutely essential that I get everyone's approval."

Physical signs that are experienced by a person with low self-esteem during social interactions and during performance situations include:

• Profuse sweating
• Light headedness/dizziness
• Shivering
• Panic Attacks
• Increased Heart rate
• Rapid Breathings

Social signs that are experienced by a person with low self-esteem:

• Avoiding social gatherings and important discussions
• Staying alone or isolating self.
• Shyness and staying quiet, and a lack of the ability to voice their feelings and opinions.
• Postponing the work or opportunity that requires social interactions. . Calling all Staff/Faculty
• Hesitant in asking for and taking help from others.
• Giving up easily.
• Accepting negativity and toxicity.
• Not performing even though it's their turn. To be continued Stay tuned for the next part to understand how to handle and overcome low self-esteem.