Overview of The Issue of Low Self Esteem and Its Impact on One's Life

There are many people struggling with negative expectations which may come from their low self-esteem. “I am going to fail my class even if I try my best.” “I am such an idiot that there is nothing I can do well.” “I am not good enough to do well in this class.” They easily underestimate themselves and often think that they can not improve their self-esteem. Such encouraging words do not seem to help them at all. A lot of people naturally struggle to achieve higher self-esteem. It can work as a motivation for us to get along with others in many relationships such as workplaces and schools. On the other hand, others assume they can never reach a higher level of self-esteem. Self-esteem is a subjective way that we perceive, evaluate, and judge ourselves with self-standard, self-reflection, and self- respect; therefore it highly impacts ones’ lives (Orth & Robins, 2014, p.381). As time goes by, its importance is increasingly emphasized in our society and the psychological field.

In the Orth and Robins’ research (2014), mainly two aspects of self-esteem were conducted: its development and its influence on our lives. To carefully understand these two aspects, three main questions were explained through the experiment: Is it a stable or transient trait? Is it consequential or influential? Is a typical trend of up and down applies to general people? To make a conclusion to those questions, the general trajectile trend of self-esteem throughout the age was conducted through the recent longitudinal studies. Subjects who participated in the studies their age ranged from 16 to 97 and the sample sizes were about from 1,800 to 7,000 participants (Orth & Robins, 2014, p.382-383).

According to Orth and Robins (2014), the general trend from the studies shows that self-esteem increases from age 16 to 51, peaks at age 51, and decreases from age 51 to 97. Results of the studies show a consistent trend from increase to decrease; however, some studies show the inconsistent size of decrease from age to age and person to person. It is because there are different factors that affect their self-esteem. Some of these factors include income, employment status, physical health, and ethnicity. Even though there is no big difference in the trend between males and females, there is a different pattern of self-esteem trend from a minority group and a majority group. For instance, African American adolescents show a more sharp increase in their self-esteem than Americans of European descent. It may be different from person to person because people have their own unique personality that distinguishes them from others. For example, individuals with out-going, confident, and conscientious traits probably have higher self-esteem than individuals who do not have those traits. (Orth & Robins, 2014, p.382-383). Orth and Robins (2014) suggested further research in self-esteem during the developmental stage and old-age trajectory. There is a great influence on developing self-esteem during adolescence/adulthood years. Also, there was an inconsistent finding where the level of self-esteem declines in old age is different from studies to studies (Orth & Robins, 2014, p.382).

Long term stability of an individual's self-esteem is also examined in the research. Trait-like stability is shown in a personality or intelligence which slowly and gradually changes over one’s lifetime or barely changes, whereas state-like stability is found in a mood that changes day to day and time to time (Orth & Robins, 2014, p.383). According to Orth and Robins (2014), self-esteem is more like a trait than a mood that does not fluctuate. They concluded that self-esteem less and less fluctuates as an individual experiences continued successes and failures. It is because an individual tends to achieve more stable willpower and determined aspect through successes and failures.

We can draw a correlation between the level of self-esteem and life outcomes. Orth and Robins concluded that self-esteem works as a strong factor that can mold our future outcomes. It can directly influence how we perceive our situations positively or negatively. People with higher self-esteem tend to have better futures than those with low self-esteem. These outcomes include satisfaction in marriage, physical health, mental health, education, employment status, job success and job satisfaction (Orth & Robins, 2014, p.384). It is because individuals with higher self-esteem tend to have more a stabilized foundation of self-acceptance and self-respect which allows them to keep venturing out and easily overcoming failures. However, it is still dangerous to conclude that there is a direct cause and effect between them.

What if we confront people with low self-esteem? Their negative attitude toward their situation is a result of their low self-esteem, and it drags them to the downward influence of their life. Scientific research by Orth and Robins gives a better understanding of self-esteem which many individuals struggle with during their adolescence and adulthood. Lower self-esteem can be drawn from a continuous comparison to others. However, it is important to understand that higher self-esteem comes from self-acceptance, which is to accept the way we are and to not underestimate ourselves. Accepting failure and working harder after failure is important because failure is not an indication of success. It is also important to remind ourselves that low self-esteem may draw negative conclusions. When we face failure, low self-esteem makes us frustrated and depressed to the point where we stop endeavor. As a result, we end up with more failures in our life, more failures make us less productive, and we finally fall into a dilemma. A lot of challenges and failures may cause a decrease in self-esteem. However, frustration is a naturally occurring feeling that we feel throughout our lives, which should not be an overwhelming feeling that slows down our growth and progress. If I had a friend who struggled with low self-esteem, I would suggest to him that he is in the middle of the time in his life where he has to seek out for true meaning of his life. To motivate himself, to respect himself, and to accept the way he is the true way to love himself.