Selfesteem

Self-esteem essentially refers to how an individual feels about himself or herself. If the person feels that he or she is a worthwhile individual and feels good about his or her existence, then high self-esteem is experienced. Many psychological experts have proposed that if individuals have high self-esteem, accomplishment and achievement will result. In fact, this is the basis for most self-actualization theories, such as those put forth by Maslow and Rogers. Paper Masters can compose a custom research paper on self-esteem that follows your guidelines.

Self-Esteem Begins Early

Factors that encourage high levels of self-esteem in young adults include:

• Positive childhood relationships foster positive self-esteem
• Positive adult roll models serve as an example for healthy self-esteem
• Positive feedback on successes and failures fosters self-esteem

If self-esteem is the result of someone, such as a teacher or a parent, simply telling the child that they are good, valuable human beings, this may have no real effect upon achievement and behavior. Instead, it may be critical for the child to learn good self-esteem by taking responsibility for his or her actions, and by receiving appropriate rewards for their behavior. The message that any product is good because the student produced it - no matter what the actual quality is - may be a dangerous message for lifelong achievement and behavior. This stance is supported by research revealing that many American children have high self-esteem but hold unrealistic beliefs about their academic capabilities.

Self-Esteem and Achievement

One of the difficulties with the notion that good self-esteem will produce appropriate behavior and high academic achievement is that there are varying kinds of self-esteem. Research from Paper Masters suggests that self-esteem can be of a global sort and an academic sort. Early elementary school children have tremendously high self-esteem that is global.

Although there are no steps devoted directly to self-
esteem building, the entire program is aimed toward creating an environment of healthy self-appreciation that encourages academic performance and appropriate behavior. It is a program dedicated to encouraging evolution of a productive, healthy child who will maintain high-self esteem while experiencing success. In a sense, the child is learning self-esteem maintenance by self-motivation and achievement.

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