Saturday, August 20, 2011

The Self-Esteem Maximizer

People try to protect and increase their self-esteem.  We have been taught in all grades at school the importance of high self-esteem.  Schools and organizations go out of their way to create and promote self-esteem.  We find that people will do many things to maintain a favorable view of themselves and will strive to not appear inconsistent because that makes one look bad. 

The Self-Esteem Maximizer seeks above everything else to avoid losing their self-esteem.  They fear anything that will make them look in a bad or that could make others create a poor opinion. Therefore, people will avoid certain situations or certain people that might cause them to have to reappraise their high self-regard.  This is one cause of aggressive reaction to criticism.

Few people will argue that people enjoy thinking well of themselves and avoid criticism at all costs.  We see this in every aspect of life.  People seem to idealize themselves.  Maybe this comes from the fact that since babyhood (or birth) all children have been video-recorded and see themselves on TV.  Most adults, teens, and children have facebook pages so that anyone can look at their pictures and learn their profile which may lead to a tad bit of self-aggrandizement.  And of course their are tweets, blogs, and websites to promote oneself further.  Does all this maximize self-esteem?  Of course it does.  Well, unless it all backfires. 

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