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Self-Esteem

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Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences

Synonyms

Self-acceptance; Self-appraisal; Self-evaluation; Sense of self-worth

Definition

Self-esteem is an overall assessment of the value of one’s self or self-worth. It reflects a continuum, with people ranging from “low” to “high” self-esteem. Those with low self-esteem, in extreme cases, actively dislike themselves and feel worthless. Those with high self-esteem like themselves and believe strongly in their inherent worth as individuals.

Introduction

Self-esteem has been a popular topic in psychology for well over a hundred years. Psychologists have now published thousands of articles and books about self-esteem, and the general public seems equally enthralled by it. This intense interest is the result, in part, of early evidence suggesting that self-esteem influences important life outcomes, such as academic performance, social acceptance, and physical health. Although it is now clear that self-esteem is closely related to subjective well-being and psychological adjustment,...

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Correspondence to Christian H. Jordan .

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Jordan, C.H., Zeigler-Hill, V., Cameron, J.J. (2020). Self-Esteem. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T.K. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24612-3_1169

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