Self-esteem

Self-esteem refers to a person's evaluation of their own worth. The best-known form is global self-esteem: general, dispositional, and consciously accessible self-evaluation. Psychologists have argued that self-esteem is important because it signals how well accepted or culturally valued one is. Accordingly, people are motivated to seek and maintain high self-esteem using diverse strategies. Most people have relatively high self-esteem, although levels vary across the life span and depend on experiences of interpersonal acceptance. Although self-esteem was long assumed to dictate many life outcomes, the evidence is mixed: self-esteem level influences interpersonal relationships, well-being and some psychopathologies, but not other outcomes. For several outcomes, self-esteem fragility or narcissism are more relevant than self-esteem level. Understanding the complexities of self-esteem can be valuable for informing clinical treatment.