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I. Context and Rationale

Self-esteem is often seen as a personality trait, which means that it tends to be

stable and enduring. It can involve a variety of beliefs about yourself, such as the

appraisal of your own appearance, beliefs, emotions, and behaviors. It can play a

significant role in your motivation and success throughout your life. Low self-esteem

may hold you back from succeeding at school or work because you don't believe

yourself to be capable of success. Those who consistently receive overly critical or

negative assessments from caregivers, family members, and friends, for example, will

likely experience problems with low self-esteem.

The research study entitled “Effects of lack of self-esteem on Grade 8 students in

Bauan Technical High School” refers on how the lack of self-esteem can affect grade

8 students. The researchers choose grade 8 as their subjects, since most of the

students experienced low self-esteem, the researchers focusses on grade 8 students

because they are already in their second year as high school which means more

activities and more presentations are waiting for them. When they were on their first

year it is more on coping up stage, and now they need to have more confidence in

facing all the struggles waiting for them. Low self-esteem is characterized by a lack

of confidence and feeling badly about oneself. People with low self-esteem often feel

unlovable, awkward, or incompetent

According to researchers Morris Rosenberg and Timothy J. Owens, who

wrote Low Self-Esteem People: A Collective Portrait, people with low self-esteem

tend to be hypersensitive. They have a fragile sense of self that can easily be wounded

by others.
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Furthermore, people with low self-esteem are “hyper vigilant and hyper alert to

signs of rejection, inadequacy, and rebuff,” write Rosenberg and Owens. Often,

individuals lacking self-esteem see rejection and disapproval even when there isn’t

any. “The danger always lurks that they will make a mistake, use poor judgement, do

something embarrassing, expose themselves to ridicule, behave immorally or

contemptibly. Life, in all its variety, poses on ongoing threat to the self-esteem.”

Self-esteem is not self-confidence; self-confidence is about your trust in yourself

and your ability to deal with challenges, solve problems, and engage successfully

with the world (Burton, 2015). Self-confidence is based more on external measures of

success and value than the internal measures that contribute to self-esteem. One can

have high self-confidence, particularly in a certain area or field, but still lack a healthy

sense of overall value or self-esteem

In this paper, the researchers attempt to shed light on the nature of, relevance of,

and relationship between global self-esteem and specific self-esteem. The researcher

marshal evidence that the two types of self-esteem may have strikingly different

consequences, global self-esteem being more relevant to psychological well-being,

and specific self-esteem being more relevant to behavior. They use linear structural

equation causal modeling to test this hypothesis for the case of global self-esteem

(Rosenberg 1979) and specific (academic) self-esteem. Our findings show that, while

global self-esteem is more strongly related to measures of psychological well-being,

specific (academic) self-esteem is a much better predictor of school performance.

Other findings indicate that the degree to which specific academic self-esteem affects
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global self-esteem, particularly the positive component of global self-esteem, is a

function of how highly academic performance is personally valued.

Low self-esteem in students may seem to be a normal trait or quality as we often

see shy, timid and unsociable learners sitting alone at the back of the classroom.

However, this should not be ignored especially by the teachers since sociologists

attest to its many ill effects on students.

Moreover, the school can be a place where children can discover their skills and

capabilities given the rights and opportunities by the teachers. Teachers can help

students with low self-esteem by being generous with praises directed to efforts

exerted whether it is small or big. Allowing them to speak without interference inspite

of mistakes will also help as corrections may be done after. Teachers must also be

patient in explaining what and how the mistake committed in a way which tells them

that it is normal to not meet other’s expectations from time to time. Criticisms must

be in the form of advice or suggestions so that they won’t feel like being attacked or

threatened for their imperfections. (Francisco, 2018)

As observers of our own behavior, thoughts, and feelings, we not only register

these phenomena in consciousness but also pass judgement on them. Thus, we may be

our most severe critic, berating ourselves mercilessly when we find ourselves making

an error in judgement, forgetting what we should remember, expressing ourselves

awkwardly, breaking our most sacred promises to ourselves, losing our self-control,

acting childishly—in short, behaving in ways that we regret and may deplore.” This

harsh inner critic, which Dr. Robert Firestone refers to as the Critical Inner Voice,

contributes to a negative perceived self. Having a negative perception of oneself can

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have serious consequences. For example, if someone believes that other people don’t

like them, they are more likely to avoid interactions with others and are quicker to

react defensively, cynically, or even lash out. Rosenberg and Owen argue that “the

nature and degree to which we interact with others is strongly influenced by these

perceived selves, regardless of their accuracy. Indeed, our perceived selves represent

one of the most important foundations on which our interpersonal behavior rests.”

Furthermore, when we perceive ourselves negatively, whether we label ourselves

awkward, unlovable, obnoxious, shy, etc., it becomes more and more difficult to

believe that others could possibly see us in a positive light.

Self-esteem is simply how you feel about yourself and how you judge your

worth. This evaluation has a profound impact on the choices you make since it

determines, to a great extent, what you consider yourself capable and worthy of

doing. The quote above by psychiatrist and author M. Scott Peck shows the cyclical

relationships between self-esteem and our actions. If we value ourselves and,

therefore, our time, we’ll do things that are meaningful, which in turn makes us more

valuable to ourselves (as well as the world around us). Without a proper amount of

self-valuing, we don’t pursue meaningful activities. Instead, we get stuck in a cycle of

de-valuing ourselves and not doing anything meaningful to boost our sense of self-

worth.

People with low self-esteem who feel poorly about themselves and judge

themselves to be inferior to others – are at risk, then, of not fulfilling their true

potential in life. They may not take the initiative to set and pursue personal goals;
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they may not put any effort into their education or careers; they may accept poor

treatment from family, friends and romantic partners.

Low self-esteem can easily carry on into adulthood, interfering with a person’s

ability to lead a fulfilling, healthy life. One of the most important things to know is

that low self-esteem is not an accurate reflection of reality or something set in stone.

Sometimes the cause of low self-esteem may be rooted, to some degree, in reality, but

the idea that your feelings about yourself can’t be changed is simply not accurate.

Self-esteem is a state of mind, and it can be changed. However, you can only

improve your self-esteem if you’re first willing to challenge the negative feelings and

judgments you have toward yourself. No matter how convinced you are of your

current evaluation of yourself, you have nothing to lose and the world to gain by

considering that you have much more control over your self-esteem than you think.

Making the choice to challenge your thinking may change how you think and what

you do, now and in the future