Personal self-esteem and the level of its aspirations
Definition 1
The level of aspiration is the level that an individual strives to achieve in different spheres of life.
Figure 1. Relationship between self-esteem, level of aspirations and frustrations. Author24 - online exchange of student work
The processes that form a person’s self-awareness include the individual’s self-esteem. Evaluating himself, a person tries to look at himself as if from the outside and evaluate his qualities, properties, capabilities.
Self-esteem can be achieved through introspection, self-report, introspection and comparison of oneself with other people. Self-esteem is based on the motive of self-improvement, pride and the desire for success, and not the simple satisfaction of genetically determined curiosity. Self-esteem helps a person see his present self and connect it with the past and future.
Self-esteem is formed in the early years - this is on the one hand, and on the other hand it is a more stable personality characteristic. Based on this, self-esteem makes it possible to consider the roots of weaknesses and strengths and find more adequate models of one’s behavior in any everyday situations. A person, according to T. Mann, who knows himself becomes completely different.
Too lazy to read?
Ask a question to the experts and get an answer within 15 minutes!
Ask a Question
Self-esteem has a structure that distinguishes cognitive and emotional components:
- The cognitive component reflects what an individual has learned about himself from various sources,
- The emotional component expresses the individual’s own attitude towards different aspects of his personality.
Note 1
A person’s self-esteem becomes higher if he has significant achievements in a particular area. This factor has a close connection with the level of aspirations.
The level of aspirations refers to the complexity and achievability of the goal that a person claims to achieve. If aspirations and real possibilities have a large gap between them, then they may not be realized. The consequence of this is inadequacy of self-esteem and changes in behavior - aggression, anxiety, emotional breakdown, etc. may occur. Realistic goals make a person more confident and persistent in achieving them.
Note 2
According to the level of aspirations, people are divided into two types, according to the American scientist J. Atkinson - some strive, at all costs, to avoid failure, therefore their goals are simple and easily achievable, others, on the contrary, striving for success, choose the most difficult tasks.
Too lazy to read?
Ask a question to the experts and get an answer within 15 minutes!
Ask a Question
This or that achieved level of aspiration influences the formation of an individual’s self-esteem.
To determine self-esteem, W. James, an American psychologist, proposed a formula:
Self-esteem = Success / Level of aspiration.
The formula shows that if you reduce the level of aspirations or increase the effectiveness of actions, then self-esteem can be increased.
In cases where aspirations are not realistic, a person fails and experiences frustration - this is a strong emotional state that arises as a result of a discrepancy between desires and capabilities. Repeated frustration perpetuates aggressiveness and anger in some, while in others it causes indifference, lethargy, and an inferiority complex. Ultimately it can lead to neurosis.
Fundamentals of Success. What are you motivated for in life?
The second feature of a happy person, after positive self-esteem , is SELF-CONFIDENCE!
How important it is to realize that there is no need to expect permanent ideal behavior or results, either from yourself or from “someone else”, without compromising your adequate self-esteem.
“Confidence comes not from always being right, but from the absence of fear of being wrong,” wrote Peter MacIntyre.
A true INDICATOR of whether a person has “SELF-CONFIDENCE” is the ability to maintain his inner attitude in a positive attitude towards himself under almost any circumstances in life.
Under negative circumstances, SELF-ESTEEM may, of course, fluctuate slightly or more strongly, but for a short period of time.
Over time, balance within is restored and the person, as before, perceives himself in an adequate light.
Marianne Williamson said: “Our deepest fear is that we are inadequate. We express fears that we are strong beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us most. We ask ourselves, “Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and famous?” In fact, who can't you be? You are a child of God.
Your little games do not serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shyness, so people won't feel insecure around you.
We were born to SHOW the glory of God that IS WITHIN US!
And when we allow our own Light to shine, we unconsciously give others permission to do the same. When we free ourselves from our fears, our presence automatically frees others.
Self-confidence GIVES you the RIGHT to accept your own mistakes. You can make mistakes and sometimes you “have to” - a person is not ideal.
HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO UNDERSTAND THIS?!
No one has the right to deprive a person of their experience.
The process of learning and development is very important and one must treat mistakes adequately, thanking for the lesson and experience gained.
Everything that God gives in life is deserved, even if it does not logically fit into the framework of our rational thinking and a self-confident person will not panic and complain about life!
“There are three paths to reason before a person: the path of reflection is the noblest; the path of imitation is the easiest; the path of personal experience is the most difficult,” wrote Confucius (Kun Tzu).
The next feature of a happy person is SELF-CONFIDENCE , self-respect, self-esteem.
This topic deserves separate consideration, but, in general, we will touch on it.
You need to be well aware of the difference in these, at first glance, similar concepts!
The fact is that SELF-ESTEEM can show how a person evaluates himself in relation to some individual property, and SELF-ESTEEM expresses a generalized self-esteem.
SELF-RESPECT is a generalized attitude of an individual towards himself, directly proportional to the amount of success achieved and inversely proportional to the level of aspirations (self-esteem = success/aspiration), that is, the higher the aspiration, the greater a person’s achievements must be so that he can respect himself.
On the other hand, Self-esteem is one of the sources of psychological stability and good mood. You can understand how pronounced this feeling is in you by imagining yourself in the following situation:
Let's say you made a mistake, did something wrong... What is your reaction?! If you have a high enough level of self-esteem, you will be able to “calm” yourself and bring your emotions into balance. At the same time, your thoughts: “It’s okay, because in general, I’m not a stupid person and mistakes don’t indicate my limitations. We need to make more efforts and find other sources of solving the problem. I will do this without predicting anything in advance, and then we’ll see,” that is, psychological defense is triggered and the person calms down.
HIGH self-esteem means that a person in his soul does not consider himself “worse” than his environment and has a positive attitude towards himself as an individual. Also, one should not confuse an arrogant attitude towards others with high self-esteem of an individual.
LOW self-esteem implies disrespect for oneself, a negative assessment of one’s own personality.
Self-respect does not mean over-demonstrating your importance. Inner self-confidence does not need “loud” external manifestations, pompous approval of “great” people; it manifests itself in real actions, in the ability to express oneself and defend one’s interests in relation to oneself and, of course, in a respectful attitude towards others, in the ability to clearly and clearly accept your responsibility and realize the results of the actions taken.
Self-esteem includes confidence in one's worth; an affirmative principle in relation to the personal right to live and be happy!
Of course, the question logically arises: “Why, after all, are there people with different personal attitudes towards themselves”?!
The formation of self-esteem and self-esteem is influenced by many factors that already operate in early childhood: the attitude of parents, who created the basis for the formation in the child’s personality of self-confidence, or belief in one’s complete “unsuitability”, position among peers, the attitude of teachers and work colleagues .
Based on what does a person form his self-esteem?!
The answer is amazing! From a comparison of the opinions of people around you about yourself! Like this!
Moreover, what is curious is that a person FIRST LEARNS to evaluate OTHERS, and then to evaluate THEMSELVES! But did each of us do things differently?!
Basically, by the age of 14-15, a teenager masters the skills of introspection, introspection and reflection, analyzes his own results and thereby evaluates himself.
It should be noted that a person’s self-esteem can be ADEQUATE (a person correctly, objectively evaluates himself), or INADDEQUATELY HIGH or INADQUATELY LOW.
When considering issues of self-esteem, self-improvement, self-respect, one cannot ignore another significant concept - LEVEL OF PERSONAL Aspirations . Why?! Because the level of a person’s self-esteem, in turn, will influence the level of a person’s aspirations, which shows a certain degree of difficulty of the goals that a person strives for and the achievement of these goals seems most attractive to the person.
Based on a person’s reasoning about “himself,” we can assume that he has some kind of self-esteem!
So, for example, if a person is “sprayed” that he is “the kindest, the most honest and the very best...” - these are probably people with low or high self-esteem.
People with hysterical manifestations are “given away” by the following judgments: “I am much more hardworking, more decent, and kinder than most people, but I am the unluckiest and most unhappy.” A familiar “picture”?! In our surroundings, we simply do not notice such individuals, but they are always looking for an “interlocutor” to “drain” their negative thoughts.
How many people around us are of exactly this type?! Ask yourself: “What are they doing near you”?! How important and significant are they in your life?!
By regretting and agreeing with such a person, what are you doing for yourself?! Answer?!!
Growing up, year after year, we form for ourselves a certain ideal that we try to live up to...
There is a certain discrepancy between the ideal, formed as a development prospect, and real self-esteem (at the moment), which stimulates another key concept for the individual - SELF-IMPROVEMENT .
The famous French philosopher, idealist, professor Jules Lachelier wrote: “A person can remain himself only if he tirelessly strives to rise above himself.”
Striving for improvement and considering oneself “perfect” are different concepts and, as a rule, find their manifestation in the appropriate conditions of personal development.
Let's return to the question of levels of CLAIMS...
The concept of level of aspiration was introduced into psychology by T. Dembo, a representative of the school of K. Lewin. The first experimental analysis of the phenomenon of claims was also made by a representative of this school, F. Hoppe, who defined the LEVEL OF CLAIM as “a set of shifting, sometimes vague, sometimes more precise expectations, goal setting or fulfillment claims with each fulfillment.”
From the classical definitions of the concept of level of aspiration, one can cite the definition of J. Frank, the main idea of which can be formulated as follows:
“What determines the level of CLAIMS”?! The answer to this question is clear - from “A MAN’S FAITH IN HIS OWN!!! ABILITIES and manifests itself in the desire to gain a certain reputation, to gain recognition in the eyes of a significant group of people.” We can also say that the level of aspirations is the level of the image of “I”, which manifests itself in the degree of difficulty of the goal that a person sets for himself.
So, let's summarize the above.
Obviously, the level of a person’s aspirations is the desire to achieve a goal of the degree of complexity that a person considers himself capable of.
He balances the difficulty of current tasks with his goals, choosing those that seem to him not only surmountable, but also attractive.
It is precisely taking into account the level of aspirations that sometimes allows us to understand why a person does not rejoice after successes and is not upset after failure?!!
You've probably asked yourself this question more than once?! Is everything obvious?!
This seemingly strange reaction is explained by the current level of aspirations.
After all, if the expectation was for great successes, then there is no reason to rejoice, and if successes were not expected, then there is nothing to be upset about. That's the whole secret!
How important it is to adequately assess your ability to achieve your goals!
You CANNOT grasp the reasons for the difficulties and “bad luck” that arise on the way to realizing your goals?! Now is a good chance to try it! To do this, honestly and calmly answer yourself the following questions: Are your abilities real?! Adequately evaluate your aspirations! Analyze your goals! Are you really capable of achieving them?! Do you adequately assess your capabilities?!
The fact is that we rarely ask ourselves such questions, and even less often, for fear of being “disappointed” in ourselves, we answer truthfully and realistically.
You can deceive and “persuade” yourself as much as you like, but you will never get a positive result at a reasonable level!
We often begin to get nervous, offended and look for those “to blame” for what actually depends only on our thoughts and self-esteem!
People with a realistic level of aspirations are distinguished by confidence, persistence in achieving their goals, and greater productivity compared to people whose level of aspirations is not adequate to their abilities and capabilities.
Most people tend to rate themselves slightly above average. This allows us to conclude that a person has a characteristic need for fairly high self-esteem, that is, everyone wants to respect themselves.
A sober and objective attitude towards oneself forms the basis of normal self-esteem. In our environment there will always be people who are superior to us in some way: stronger, more beautiful, charming, intelligent, successful or popular. And in the same way, there will always be those who are inferior to us in this.
The discrepancy between CLAIMS AND REAL POSSIBILITIES leads a person to the fact that he begins to “incorrectly” evaluate himself, his behavior becomes inadequate, emotional breakdowns and increased anxiety occur.
Carefully analyze your behavior and emotional state?! Do you have any of the listed signs?! Don’t you “find” similar reaction reactions in yourself?!
In our modern life, the concepts of “self-esteem” and “success” have long gone hand in hand!
Psychologist James developed a formula that shows the DEPENDENCE of a person’s SELF-ESTEEM on his aspirations.
SELF-ESTEEM = Success/Aspiration.
It follows from this that the level of aspirations is closely related to an individual’s self-esteem and motivation to ACHIEVE SUCCESS in various types of activities.
What else does this formula “tell” us?!
It shows that the desire to increase self-esteem can be realized in two ways: a person can either increase aspirations in order to experience maximum success, or lower them in order to avoid failure.
In case of success, the level of aspirations usually increases, the person shows readiness to solve more complex problems, and in case of failure, it decreases accordingly.
The level of a person’s aspirations in a specific activity can be determined quite accurately.
American scientists D. McClelland and D. Atkinson developed the THEORY OF MOTIVATION FOR ACHIEVEMENT OF SUCCESS in various types of activities.
According to this theory, people who are motivated to succeed set goals, the achievement of which they clearly regard as success.
They strive to achieve success in their activities at any cost, they are courageous and decisive, and expect to receive approval for actions aimed at achieving their goals.
People who are MOTIVATED TO AVOID FAILURE behave completely differently.
For them, the explicit goal of activity is not to achieve success, but to avoid failure.
This is a fundamental difference in the approaches to formulating personal goals.
A person who is initially motivated to fail exhibits self-doubt, does not believe in the possibility of success, is afraid of criticism, and does not enjoy activities in which temporary failures are possible.
So, from the above we can conclude that the behavior of those people who strive for success and those who try to avoid failure differs significantly.
People motivated to succeed usually set themselves certain positive goals, the achievement of which is clearly regarded as success. They try their best to succeed. A person actively engages in activities, chooses appropriate means and methods in order to achieve the goal in the shortest possible way.
The opposite position is taken by people motivated to avoid failure.
The goal of their activities is not to achieve success, but to avoid failure. All their actions are primarily aimed at achieving this goal. Such people are characterized by self-doubt, disbelief in the possibility of achieving success, and fear of criticism. Any job, especially one that is fraught with the possibility of failure, causes negative emotional experiences in them. Therefore, a person does not experience pleasure from his activity, is burdened by it, and avoids it.
Usually, as a result, he turns out not to be a winner, but a loser.
Such people are often called “losers”!
Surely you have encountered such people?!
Another important psychological feature that affects a person’s achievement of success is the REQUIREMENTS THEM places on HIMSELF.
The one who places high demands on himself tries harder to succeed than the one whose demands on himself are low. Of course, as in any issue, here too there must be adequacy and realism of one’s ideas about the existing abilities necessary to solve problems.
It has been confirmed that people who have a high opinion that they have such abilities are less worried in case of failure than those who believe that their corresponding abilities are poorly developed.
The results of most authoritative psychological studies in this area have confirmed the assumptions that a person sets the level of his aspirations somewhere between too “difficult” and too “easy” tasks and goals - so as to maintain his self-esteem at the proper height.
In the formation of aspirations, an important role is played by both the anticipation of success or failure, and the consideration and evaluation of all past successes and failures.
However, in general, people are characterized by a certain overestimation of their abilities, attributing to themselves uniqueness and dissimilarity from others.
Thus, a survey of the adult population by psychologists at the University of California at Berkeley, which is the oldest public research university in the United States, showed that, regardless of social status and gender, the majority of those surveyed consider themselves smarter than the average person; every driver says that he is more careful and careful than the others; women believe that they are more beautiful than most of their friends and the like.
One should ask oneself the question: “If everyone has indicators “above average,” then who then still has “average”, if not “low”?
A stunningly interesting fact that is not realized by our consciousness - intentionally or not, but we ourselves often compare ourselves with the people around us. As a result, we develop for ourselves a fairly stable and “deserved” opinion about our intelligence, appearance, health, position in society, that is, we form for ourselves a “set of self-esteem” on which we will depend: are we modest or arrogant, demanding of ourselves or complacent, shy or arrogant. Many people live with this “set”, “piously” believing in everything that they have created for themselves... The life of such a contingent of the population, frankly speaking, is not the most “fun”!
Is it difficult to live and believe in something that is not true?! Difficulties and difficulties in communicating with other people are an integral part of the lives of people with high self-esteem about themselves!
A person who considers himself much smarter than others, and especially deliberately emphasizes this, inevitably causes, to put it mildly, irritation of those around him. Do you agree that this is logical?!
This is natural, because the thought: “see how super smart I am” implies a dismissive and sometimes contemptuous attitude towards others. And who will like it?! Who likes to feel like a fool at something, in the opinion of a colleague who understands it far “no better”?!
Inadequate self-esteem, emphasizing one’s merits, arrogance, and disregard for others are an inexhaustible source of negativity from others.
Surely you have had to communicate with people who, due to inadequately high self-esteem, were jealous and envious of the successes of their colleagues?!
“The worst and most malicious kind of envy is envy of mental superiority,” said the famous English writer and playwright of the 18th century, Henry Fielding.
I would like to draw the attention of readers to another very important, relevant and always burning topic - human touchiness
So, it is precisely high self-esteem that contributes to such a character trait as excessive touchiness.
Resentment, as a rule, is a feeling that arises in response to the unfair treatment of others.
But what does “unfair” mean to a person?
AND THE FACT THAT SOMEONE'S OPINION ABOUT HIM IS LOWER THAN HIS OWN OPINION ABOUT HIMSELF!!!
From here it is clear that HIGH self-esteem PROMOTES touchiness, intolerance to the slightest remarks (however, there is another extreme - a person from the height of his “I” does not even take serious AND CONSTRUCTIVE criticism to heart).
You need to understand that a person with inadequately high self-esteem (!!!) is potentially conflicted in situations when it comes to rewards and incentives for work!
Such nuances must be taken into account in the work of large teams with a “motley” contingent in relation to personal ambitions, self-esteem and the adequacy of the perception of one’s own abilities.
Although such reasons can provoke personal conflicts among close people.
The discrepancy between the expected and real rewards naturally results in resentment and envy, which gradually accumulate and grow like a “snowball” and, finally, break through with a sharp accusation, and sometimes even an insult addressed to someone.
Personal problems, inability to behave in certain situations, as well as a lack of everyday skills also form a person’s unflattering opinion of himself.
Let's talk a little about the difficulties in communicating with a person with low self-esteem. The set of “bad” and “unworthy” qualities in such people, in their personal opinion, is “abundant” (and they will not always clearly confirm this).
Ideas about oneself as less capable, ugly, unlucky, unhappy, sick are inherent mainly in people with an anxious, stuck and pedantic type of character accentuation; they create a low background mood and perpetuate an “inferiority complex.” Persistent, excessively low self-esteem forms the image of a “worthless” person and carries with it the likelihood of excessive dependence on the opinions and desires of others, lack of independence and even ingratiation (plebeian ingratiation), timidity, isolation, and even a distorted perception of others appear.
The next personality trait that follows from the previous ones is RESPONSIBILITY for one’s life.
“Every person is responsible to all people for all people and for everything,” wrote the great Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky.
Having ADEQUATE ideas about their abilities, RESPECTING their needs, APPRECIATING the natural features of temperament and physique, NOT FEARING mistakes, OPINIONS AND FEEDBACK from others and subjective negative attitudes towards themselves, misunderstandings from loved ones, HAPPY people do not deprive themselves of the RIGHT OF CHOICE, or rather the right at your own WILL, which, by the way, everyone always has!
It should be noted that a happy person makes his choice consciously, not under the pressure of circumstances, but consciously, thoroughly, and not in passing. After weighing all the pros and cons, for your own benefit, protecting your interests and principles.
At the same time, understanding the value of what they want and consciously depriving themselves of something, they understand for what (what more significant values) this choice was made.
The Spanish playwright, poet and prose writer Lope de Vega wrote: “Birth does not add merit to a person and does not take it away from him, for it does not depend on his will, but he is completely responsible for his actions, both good and bad.”
If you want more, you need to thank God for what you have...
It is possible and necessary to ask God for what you want, but only by accepting what is already there with gratitude (deserved) and a conscious sense of the need to learn to recognize and correct mistakes that hinder the development of goodness, “light”, FAITH in oneself - all that does not come with an academic education, but is comprehended over the years through the personal choice of the soul...
M. Veritax.
And, at the end of our acquaintance with the world of personal qualities and human self-esteem, let's talk about another feature of happy people - SELF-REFLECTION.
self-reflection so important ?
In fact, it gives us the opportunity to see the true state of things and even reduce the intensity of passions... Yes, yes!!
SELF-REFLECTION makes it possible to move from fruitless experiences - in the event of a crisis situation - to a constructive search, active and productive solution to the problem.
And in the event of a joyful event, you can better understand yourself, your needs, goals, and value system.
In other words, this term implies that we are aware of our feelings, thoughts, are able to objectively look at ourselves from the outside, observe and purposefully describe our experiences and behavior in the third person. That is, not “I feel good or bad,” but “he (s) felt joy, sadness, for this reason and for that reason.” This, if you like, is a conscious “split personality”!!
Self-reflection is most developed and accessible to a person who has a sense of self-esteem, self-confidence and adequate positive self-esteem.
Self-reflection saturates and makes our positive emotions brighter, but at the same time it has the ability to highlight those emotions that are not “welcome” by society’s stereotypes!
The entire spectrum of human feelings and emotions is accessible to almost any person; another thing is that not everyone realizes or understands their “legitimate” natural right to any emotions, as well as the right to express them. Think about it!?
And now the most interesting and long-awaited...
Let's return to the test with the letter "E", which we looked at in the first part of this topic . You all successfully “drew” this letter, and maybe more than once - great! Now check “how” you did it?!
If you wrote the letter “E” in such a way that it was convenient for you to read and, for example, for the interlocutor opposite, it is visible as a mirror image, then in this case self-esteem is dominant; if, on the contrary, the letter is written correctly from the point of view of someone looking at you from the outside, the opinion of others is more significant. Hope this helps you!
And most importantly, remember:
NO ONE WILL EVER LIVE YOUR LIFE FOR YOU!
NO ONE WILL EVER CHANGE ANYTHING from the reality that YOU CREATE...
NO ONE WILL EVER MAKE YOU HAPPY AND COMPLETELY SATISFIED!!! But there is always a grain of Wisdom in everything and it is GIVEN TO EVERYONE, which means to you too...
If you haven’t seen it yet and haven’t been able to “germinate” it, DO IT!!!
God gives you a choice, which means YOU HAVE A WAY...
It is difficult to resist foundations, systems, attitudes and even traditions... But that’s why we and people are multifaceted particles of the Universe, to search and find, fight and win!
Decide in the name of the “light” in yourself, and not in spite of the “darkness” in others!!!
What does everyone want to get for themselves?!
This is exactly “what” he can have only by defeating “everything” in himself that is on the opposite side of the scale of his Choice!
BELIEVE IN YOURSELF... AND LIFE WILL BELIEVE IN YOU!... AND THE WORLD WILL BELIEVE IN YOU!
Good luck to you, CO-creation and Blessings!
The relationship between self-esteem and level of aspirations
Despite the fact that psychologists have to work with such widespread constructs as self-esteem and level of aspiration, little space is given to the question of the nature of their relationship in numerous works on the study of these formations.
For a long time, self-esteem was identified with the level of aspirations or even considered to be reflected in a goal-setting situation. This gave researchers the opportunity to use the technique of measuring aspirations in order to diagnose self-esteem, but signs of mismatch in the levels of these constructs were found.
Today, the relationship between self-esteem and the level of aspirations has been studied using the height parameter and the connection of various options with a number of personal characteristics. Experts have come to the conclusion that a balanced personality can be formed with a harmonious combination of high-level characteristics of self-esteem and level of aspirations.
Divergence in the level of aspirations can lead to internal discomfort with increased anxiety and aggressiveness. An increase in the level of aspirations will be an additional motivational variable, which will be reflected in productivity.
Increased self-esteem and level of aspirations will have a positive impact on productivity. Increasing the level of aspirations regarding adequate self-esteem increases the productivity of educational activities, but is associated with an increase in the level of anxiety. Of course, this will ultimately affect your health.
Average self-esteem and low aspirations are an unfavorable combination. The effectiveness of educational activities will be low due to weakened motivation. On the other hand, this can lead to an increase in morbidity. The discrepancy between these parameters arises as a result of a common type of intrapersonal conflict for them.
The reason for the conflict is that the current self-esteem based on current achievements does not coincide with the internal standard that was realized in the past.
Claims that exceed self-esteem are a coping strategy, because a person strives to confirm the desired level of real self-esteem with actual achievements.
A defensive strategy aimed at avoiding failure will dominate in raising self-esteem over aspirations. A coping strategy is adequate if it is expressed in raising self-esteem by achieving success in an area of high difficulty. On the other hand, due to the risk of failure, it will not be fully effective, and this can once again lead to a decrease in self-esteem and deepening of the conflict. As for the defensive strategy, by definition it is not effective because it does not allow the activity to test the declared level of self-esteem, does not perform the function of coping and leaves the conflict unresolved.
