Self-concept, Esteem and Worth.
Valerian Paul Ugonabo, OP
To begin, we shall first examine the terms that constitutes this topic. Self-concept, Esteem, and Worth. First, self concept would imply how one sees his or her self, the notion of oneself, the summation of one’s understanding of his or her self. By summation we mean, bringing together of the psychological, biological, sociological, and religious ideas of oneself to a whole. R. F. Baumeister (1999) explains self-concept to mean the individual’s belief about himself or herself, including the person’s attributes and who and what the self is. Esteem on the other hand, according to the oxford dictionary, is the respect and strong believe of one’s capabilities and skills. It is synonymous to self-respect. Self-worth simply implies the feeling of being good enough, it is of intrinsic nature. It is simply put, the value placed on oneself.
From the above, we come to understand that these three concepts are interwoven and compliment each other. Most times, they are even misused and inter changed when expressing thoughts. But it’s good to understand that each of these concepts plays a role in the building and development of the “self” I would like to arrange them in the following order, to show how they complement each other. If this order is followed and successfully understood, I believe it would lead to self-transcendence. Thus, we have this order; self-concept, self-worth, and self-esteem.
As earlier understood, it is in understanding ourselves, who we are, the power we have innate in us that we begin to live. According to Kelvin Michel, “To shift your life in a desired direction, you must powerfully shift your subconscious.” And to achieve this, means understanding yourself internally and externally and be able to accept without regret your total self and the way you are. It is one thing to know oneself, and it is another to accept the knowledge we have of oneself. Knowing oneself, is enlightening, and at same time transcending. For it is the lack of knowledge of oneself that ultimately leads to self crises, which often times leads to catastrophically decisions, such as suicide. For If most of us remain ignorant of ourselves, lacking this knowledge of ourselves, it is because self-knowledge is most times painful and we prefer the pleasures of illusion, we always prefer to be seen in the image of the world, rather than our true self. Our main task becomes pleasing the outer world and gaining for ourselves the consent of the world, which when we come to understand who we are, we begin to realize that we do not need the consent of the world or of anyone to be proud of ourselves. More so, the idealized self is an often unreachable version of ourselves that we and society create while the real self is the chaotic, imperfect, ingenuine, unintelligent, “ugly” inner truth. We want to be the idealized version because we believe that society will then regard us positively, so we struggle to maintain a version that does not really fit.
It is then in understanding ourselves, and most importantly accepting our natural self, that we beginning to develop the second phase of our topic, which is the self-worth. Self-worth as we also clarified earlier begins with accepting ourselves and placing values on our life. When we understand who we are and our composite, what makes us up, the uniqueness of who we are, the “undiminishing” identify we bear. The Catholic Church teaches us that we are created in the image and likeness of God, what other identity can be greater than been identified with the highest, supreme being. Therefore, it is in understanding that we bear the Image and mark of God, that we come to redefine our worth. Self-worth, is independent on what one has achieved, what society expects of one, what friends, family, peers, defines as worth. Rather, self-worth is intrinsically independent. It is internal and not external, although sometimes it is challenged by the externals, we see thing like people being sad over the low likes they have on the social media platforms, persons giving up on their worth, over their appearance, etc. what we should know is that one’s worth is beyond all these externals. For it is When you know who you are—and you’re pleased with the person you’ve become—you’ll experience a sense of peace through life’s inevitable ups and downs (Amy Morin)
.jpeg)
Lastly is the self-esteem, covers a wider range of the self. Consequently, it flows from understanding yourself, who you are, down to your knowing your worth as a human person, your uniqueness and finally your appreciation of who you are, and your worth, is what determines your self-esteem. Having healthy self-esteem can influence one’s motivation, mental well-being, the way one see and take opportunities, and one’s overall quality of life. Put simply, it is one’s level of self appreciation, regardless the circumstances. Some of the qualities of this self-esteem include Self-confidence; Feelings of security, Identity, Sense of belonging, Feeling of competence, etc. according to Abraham Maslow, he suggested that individuals need both appreciation from other people and inner self-respect to build esteem. But prior among this is the acceptance of oneself and skills.
From the above exposition, as early stated, these three aspects of the self, works hand in hand, to build and develop each other. This builds on one and the other builds on another. Coming to an understanding of these three aspects of life, transcend the human person, beyond the chains of natural weaknesses. Hence, a recap; know yourself, understand your worth through your abilities, accept and appreciate yourself as a person and the uniqueness you come with. There are however factors that affects these three chain of self growth, they may include; fear, shame, peer pressure, social media influence, parents, society, education level and background, and so much more. Thus, growing above these will require good levels of introspection, to be able to define one’s worth, value, and abilities. For the knowledge of oneself is the best tool for self growth and development.
Please Leave Your Comments 👇
