Self esteem is usually thought as a subjective appraisal of one’s self. It is generally believed that self-esteem is nothing but your own opinion of yourself. It is not something outside of you, but something internal. Self esteem is about how we feel on the inside, and such feeling will affect how we act on outside. Our self-esteem helps to determine our personality and shapes our character, decides how we react to the experiences and challenges we face in our lives and certainly affect our interaction with other people too. Especially living in a healthy environment for a pretty long period, positive thinking, constructive efforts, and feel-good activities enhance not only ones confidence and learning rather provide us a strong base for our future goals and achievements. So one can easily deal with obstacles with courage required and maintain high level of self esteem. As a result, the level of satisfaction and esteem would be so high that to achieve lofty aims such as self actualization, self enhancement, and the level of ‘ideal’ self.
Self esteem is not an independent concept; it is intermixed with other significant concepts like self respect, self-pride, self-confidence, self dignity etc. All these concepts could never be separated from self esteem. Like when we are capable of writing alphabets, able of reading alphabets, of joining them together in a meaningful sentence that we could understand what it means, we can finally say that we can read and write in English to some extent or to some level. Likewise when we are capable of making decisions, when we achieve some goals based on our confidence and efforts, when we are being appreciated by the people we consider important, we earn some good position in our society, we feel we are respectable human beings. Such feelings ultimately lead us towards high self-esteem. In other words, we are enjoying/gaining a higher level of self-esteem.
In this article, we focus on the environmental factors affecting ones self-esteem tremendously. Although to change ones environment is next to impossible task but it is fact that if we go into a different situation or we change our situation temporarily, we feel different. When we are in the company of strangers, we feel scared/ composed, and when we are in the company of friends, we feel secured and happy. We can choose a better company very easily. In the same way, when we set attainable goals and achieve them at last, we feel confident and successful, conversely, if we choose goals which we could not achieve by some way or the other, we feel discouraged, low and segregated. Here it could be wisely said that we should choose our goals intelligently and carefully. In short, the crux of the discussion is that whether it is matter of choosing friends or setting goals, we can try our best to change our present situation to raise our self esteem.
Now the question is why to change our environment? After all, we can change our thinking and feelings only to get higher self esteem. In fact, only change in thinking and feeling cannot solve our problem at all. We need to do something else that would be considered as a significant change in our environment otherwise our overall self esteem would never be so high to protect us. The more change (good or positive) in our environment, the more our self esteem would be.
The environmental factors which could be changed by human strives can also be discussed separately. Such as status (marital, educational, professional, social, health, financial), place of living, clothing or dressing style, people we met or communicate with, tasks we love to perform, and being positive would be thought as the critical/basic levels of change.
Hierarchically, in the process of change, the most important factor is ‘finance’ by which you would be able to change your place, company, and tasks easily. It is the basics of all changes you could think and implement. So in this chain of steps, being financially strong (to its basic level) is the first step, and then comes other steps to follow. However without being financially strong, you could find other ways to change your environment but this process is very tricky and time consuming.
In the second stage of change, if you are capable of earning good money already, you must strive for a good place where you can not only live comfortably rather have interaction with people whom you like and who like you and where you could also achieve more success and set new goals to achieve more confidence and resilience as well. In other words, in this stage, while having enough money, proper place (in terms of weather conditions, facilities, beauty) and high status, if you don’t have good friends, you would need to change that place too to have new friends who could appreciate/encourage you and enhance your self esteem. Naturally, you would enhance their self esteem too in return. This interaction is most important otherwise we would never be satisfied with our selves and with others. Here it is important to argue that good friends can also be found while living at the same place if we try our best but in most of the cases it is next to impossible due to different limitations present around us. Under extreme limitations, temporary replacement of living could also solve the problem.
After having a change in our social surroundings, the most powerful feelings we would need is ‘to be loved’ or to be with loving people in our circles where we move. It’s true that everybody has loving families to take care of them, but after certain age when we need independence, liberty, and status, we need others (not immediate relatives) who could appreciate us, recognize our efforts and value them to enhance our self esteem. Those “others” could be anybody, among our friends/ colleges or just outsiders whose names we sometimes even don’t remember. In the new environment, there are ample chances to find some ‘others’ more appreciating and loving than we have presently. Even if we don’t find our desired social circle, we should not desperate and keep on moving until or unless we find it as we deserve.
In the third stage of change, if we have first three things (good income, good place, and good company), and don’t have any desired goal to achieve in our life, we will also feel unsatisfied, uncomfortable, empty, dull and boredom. Since there is no improvement in our learning status, we would never be happy by pretending/appreciating remarks of our friends/colleges. Lastly these three factors/things would provide us the basics of our self-satisfaction and are essentials to our self esteem.
Although it looks ridiculous to take a step to change our environment, but it is reality that sometimes, things we need (loving, friendly, and accepting people, good weather, new opportunities, rising status, higher income, etc.), could only be dramatically and easily achieved by changing the environment- especially the place with different culture ( most suitable environment for you ). It is the most important step towards high self esteem and of course it will bring more rapid and expected results as well. Other changes/benefits related to your social status enhancement and self satisfaction would follow this action and reactions of the particular environment would decide your behavior in turn which would lead you towards higher self esteem that is your ultimate goal.
Here it is very essential to mention that such decisions would require a deep understanding of our nature too. There are people who never consider it important to change a place to get an adjustment rather they are very contented and satisfied with the position they have. Such persons need no change and may need something else to uplift their self esteem (to discuss such needs is out of scope of this article). But for most of us, we don’t recognize what is our basic problem; we need a change, not in our thinking rather in our environment. We need better ‘others’ to provide us positive feedback, to make us happy and satisfied in a way we wish. Such change is not very easy to manipulate, rather it would need a lot of courage and decision power. Realistically it would need us to be financially strong enough to take measures accordingly as well as being mentally fit/strong enough to make decisions of our choice.
In rare circumstances, due to our specific limitations, if we can’t change our location as well as our fellow beings, it would be strongly suggested to better change our attitude or behavior (not thinking or beliefs). Although it is very easy to say to change our self but it is the most difficult task in our journey to achieve high self esteem especially to adults. Unfortunately, there isn’t enough literature, movies or plays for our youngsters to follow good roles in their lives about how to react on negative remarks/attitudes of others. Rather habits that are typical to low esteemed people are very much prevalent and appreciated and those with high esteemed people are mostly neglected and uncommon. That is why; change in self esteem for adults becomes a challenge.
Realistically speaking, after achieving goals described above, we need to practice more on how to get and maintain higher and higher self esteem under present environmental factors. We need to know that in case, something desired/required could not be achieved/changed, how this problem should be tackled to protect our self esteem. There is a vast literature available in the books of self esteem everywhere in the world that will provide us the rules of thinking and enhancing our self esteem by just putting efforts at our level best.
We also need to develop new ideas/concepts/beliefs based on which we could set tv serials or school curriculum to teach our children about how to deal with self esteem issues and how to enhance self esteem in its real sense that could guide them throughout their life and even modify their environment instead of letting environment change/raise their self esteem. Additionally there should be very specific examples of events from our daily life in the curriculum of children which cause low self esteem among people or children, and then there must be specific solutions to that. Otherwise only books or teaching material on raising self esteem would never be the solution of the problem.
In deed every new adjustment in life is a crisis in self esteem and as a result, we, as human beings, by nature, always strive for good/positive self esteem. It is just like a war: a war between our true self, expected self and interpretations of our environmental experiences. It is a kind of a continuous struggle that would never end and will always push us towards higher and higher self esteem (provided we acknowledge it as a positive phenomenon of nature ) until the time of death.
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FAQs
Environmental Factors vs Self-Esteem? ›
Environmental factors that will affect your selfesteem are family, friends, school, and media. Family can affect you positively and negatively. Compliments, encouragement, and positive nature can affect your selfesteem positively.
What are the 4 major factors that influence self-esteem? ›There are 4 components that define the esteem you might feel for yourself: self-confidence, identity, feeling of belonging, and feeling of competence.
Is self-esteem genetic or environmental? ›Previous studies therefore suggest that adult self-esteem and personality are both stable over time, as a result of common genetic factors. Self-esteem and personality are significantly correlated, again because of a common genetic factor.
What are the environmental factors that affect your self-esteem quizlet? ›Family, school, friends, and media are all environmental factors that affect someone's self-esteem. An environmental factor is an external factor from a person's surroundings.
What are the 5 factors of self-esteem? ›Self-concept is widely conceptualized as multidimensional (Shavelson et al., 1976). The Five-Factor Self-Concept Questionnaire (AF5, García and Musitu, 2009) assesses five specific dimensions (i.e., academic, social, emotional, family, and physical).
How does environment affect self-esteem? ›The environment tends to influence every aspect of your life, including your self-esteem. If you have a stressful and overly demanding position, it can often contribute to low self-esteem.
What are the environmental factors that affect your self-esteem? ›Environmental factors that will affect your selfesteem are family, friends, school, and media. Family can affect you positively and negatively. Compliments, encouragement, and positive nature can affect your selfesteem positively.
What is environmental factors in self identity? ›Personal identity formation and evolution are impacted by various internal and external factors like society, family, friends, ethnicity, race, culture, location, opportunities, media, interests, appearance, self-expression, and life experiences. For example, think about how your friends and family impact you.
How the environmental factor defines the self? ›Environmental factors are the factors in the development of a person that includes the environmental structure, events, and such, which might give an impact on how a person could grow in all the aspects of his/her life.
How does family environment affect self-esteem? ›Quality of Parental Relationship
The quality of the relationship between parents could be an important influence on children's self-esteem. Cross-sectional studies indicate that the quality of parental relationship is positively associated with children's self-esteem (Amato, 1986; Doyle & Markiewicz, 2005).
What factor has the biggest impact on self-esteem? ›
What influences self esteem? Your self esteem can be influenced by your beliefs on the type of person you are, what you can do, your strengths, your weaknesses and your expectations of your future. There may be particular people in your life whose messages about you can also contribute to your self esteem.
How do environmental factors affect me? ›Environmental pollutants can cause health problems like respiratory diseases, heart disease, and some types of cancer. People with low incomes are more likely to live in polluted areas and have unsafe drinking water. And children and pregnant women are at higher risk of health problems related to pollution.
What are environmental factors affect? ›Environmental factors, as related to genetics, refers to exposures to substances (such as pesticides or industrial waste) where we live or work, behaviors (such as smoking or poor diet) that can increase an individual's risk of disease or stressful situations (such as racism).
What is the major contributor to self-esteem? ›Experiences in a person's life are a major source of how self-esteem develops. In the early years of a child's life, parents have a significant influence on self-esteem and can be considered the main source of positive and negative experiences a child will have.
What are the three C's of self-esteem? ›if you want to be successful, focus on the three Cs: confidence, competence and connections. Whether you're at the beginning of your journey, or ready to take your next bold step, you might be preoccupied with the same question that plagues all of us: what can I do to turn this into a success?
What are the three main sources of self-esteem? ›Two studies identified three major sources of self-esteem: benevolence, merit, and bias.
Does your environment affect your behavior? ›The environment can facilitate or discourage interactions among people (and the subsequent benefits of social support). For example, an inviting space with comfortable chairs and privacy can encourage a family to stay and visit with a patient. The environment can influence peoples' behavior and motivation to act.
What are the five environmental factors that affect? ›Air, water, climate, soil, natural vegetation and landforms are all environmental factors. By definition, the environmental factors affect everyday living, and play a key role in bringing health differences across the geographic areas.
What are five environmental factors that influence personality? ›Environmental factors, such as upbringing, culture, geographic location, and life experiences, greatly influence our personality. For example, a child raised in a harmonious environment may have a more positive or calm outlook and disposition.
What are 5 environmental factors that can cause stress? ›- Noise.
- Crowding.
- Air quality.
- Colors.
- Tornadoes and other natural disasters.
- War and other manmade disasters.
- Light.
- Insects.
What are three environmental factors that can affect our characteristics? ›
The environment in which an organism lives can affect many of its inherited traits. Food, temperature, sunlight, and water are examples of environmental factors that can affect an organism's traits.
What are the environmental factors that influence human behavior? ›the environment - heat, light, noise, privacy. the response of other people, which is affected by their own physical factors, personal and emotional factors, life experiences, wants and needs.
What are the environmental factors in psychology? ›Social environmental factors include socioeconomic, racial, ethnic, and related conditions that may influence your ability to cope with stress. Imagine not having a strong social support system. If you lose your job or go through a divorce, you may not get the support you need.
How environmental factors influence individual differences? ›Environment consists of physical, intellectual, social, moral, political, economic and cultural forces. All these forces cause individual differences. Modern psychologists believe that individual differences are caused by both heredity and environment.
What causes low self-esteem in childhood? ›Most children will have dips in self-esteem as they go through different stages or challenges in life, and there are different pressures that may affect them - including social media, bullying, exams, family problems and abuse.
Does a child's early environment influence their self-esteem? ›Like many aspects of child development, self-esteem is a product of two interacting forces often described as nature and nurture. Children's biological strengths and weaknesses (nature) influence their developing self-esteem, but so too do their interactions with family and the social environment (nurture).
Did my parents cause my low self-esteem? ›Parents and/or caregivers' ways of upbringing determines the way a child builds their idea of themselves. Overinvolved and neglectful parents both play a key role in child's self-esteem. Harsh and strict parenting conditions a child to believe that they are not good enough.
What is the strongest factor for success is self-esteem? ›The STRONGEST factor for success is self-esteem: Believing you can do it, believing you deserve it, and believing you will get it.
What is one factor that can contribute to poor self-esteem? ›Low self-esteem may stem from experiences in early childhood. If you didn't fit in at school, had difficulty meeting your parents' expectations or were neglected or abused, this can lead a person to have negative core beliefs about themselves. These are ingrained beliefs a person has about themselves.
What are the 6 areas that impact self-esteem? ›Most researchers agree that we can influence our self-esteem, and Nathaniel Branden suggests six practices that form our self-esteem: living consciously, self-acceptance, self-responsibility, self-assertiveness, living purposefully, and personal integrity.
What are the 10 environmental factors? ›
- Osmolarity.
- pH.
- Temperature.
- Oxygen Concentration.
- Pressure.
- Radiation. Key Words. Essential Questions/Objectives. Exploratory Questions (OPTIONAL)
Environmental factors significantly impact human livelihoods, health, and well-being. About one quarter of the global disease burden and one quarter of all deaths result from modifiable environmental factors.
How do environmental factors affect human growth? ›Examples of Environmental Factors Influencing Development
Social: friends, stimulation, recreation. Emotional: stress, moral reasoning, empathy. Economic: class, access to basic needs, social and recreational amenities. Physical: housing, weather, climate, and hygiene.
An environmental factor, ecological factor or eco factor is any factor, abiotic or biotic, that influences living organisms. Abiotic factors include ambient temperature, amount of sunlight, and pH of the water soil in which an organism lives.
How does environment affect mental health? ›How does environment affect mental health? The environment can affect your sense of social support, comfort, and level of stimulation. Factors such as crime, racism, and pollution can influence your health and safety, which can have a profound impact on your mental well-being.
How does the environment affect human behavior psychology? ›Human behavior depends on the environment in which it takes place, while in turn people also influence the environment by their presence and activities [1,2]. As part of the environment, people behave in response to both physical and social settings [3].
Where does self-esteem develop from? ›Self-esteem comes from learning to accept who we are by seeing the insufficiencies and still choosing to like ourselves. Every child's self-esteem grows with each experience of successful interactions through positive words. It is important to build a child's belief that they can handle their life and handle it well.
What are the 7 components of self-esteem? ›- A feeling of personal and interpersonal security. ...
- A sense of social belonging. ...
- A sense of purpose. ...
- A feeling of being capable. ...
- A feeling of having trust and being trusted. ...
- A sense of contribution. ...
- A feeling of influence.
The CSW scale measures seven domains of self-esteem contingency: others' approval, physical appearance, outdoing others in competition, academic competence, family love and support, being a virtuous or moral person, and God's love.
What are the 4 domains of self-esteem? ›For the purposes of these lessons, we have chosen to use Daniel Goleman's model with four domains: self- awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship management.
What are 4 ways to improve self-esteem? ›
- Be kind to yourself.
- Try to recognise positives.
- Build a support network.
- Try talking therapy.
- Set yourself a challenge.
- Look after yourself.
What are the 4 components of self-esteem? Your self-esteem is made up from four attitudes you have about yourself: your confidence, your sense of identity, feeling a sense of belonging and being self-assured in your abilities.
What are the 4 components of self-esteem? ›What are the 4 components of self-esteem? Your self-esteem is made up from four attitudes you have about yourself: your confidence, your sense of identity, feeling a sense of belonging and being self-assured in your abilities.
What are the 4 self-esteem needs? ›Esteem needs encompass confidence, strength, self-belief, personal and social acceptance, and respect from others.
What are the 4 levels of self-esteem? ›- Self-acceptance: Your ability to accept yourself as you are.
- Self-compassion: Your ability to treat yourself kindly and offer yourself grace and forgiveness in the face of difficulty.
- Self-respect: Your belief that you have and deserve dignity and respect.
Various factors believed to influence our self-esteem include: Genetics. Personality. Life experiences.
What are the 6 categories of self-esteem? ›- Living Consciously.
- Self-Acceptance.
- Self-Responsibility.
- Self-Assertiveness.
- Living Purposefully.
- Personal Integrity.
The six pillars are: living consciously, self-acceptance, self-responsibility, self-assertiveness, living purposefully, and personal integrity.
What are 3 characteristics of low self-esteem? ›- saying negative things and being critical about yourself.
- joking about yourself in a negative way.
- focusing on your negatives and ignoring your achievements.
- blaming yourself when things go wrong.
- thinking other people are better than you.
- thinking you don't deserve to have fun.
Five stages in the development of the self-concept can be recognized, with a different type of self-esteem being appropriate to each stage. These stages are: the dynamic self; self-as-object; self-as- knower; self-as-integrated-whole; and the 'selfless' self.
What are some 4 strategies for building a person's self-esteem? ›
- Recognise what you're good at. We're all good at something, whether it's cooking, singing, doing puzzles or being a friend. ...
- Build positive relationships. ...
- Be kind to yourself. ...
- Learn to be assertive. ...
- Start saying "no" ...
- Give yourself a challenge.