Impact of Physical Appearance on Self-Esteem and Self-Worth - Research Paper

Introduction

Physical appearance is one of the most significant aspects that impact how individuals perceive themselves. Self-esteem can be defined as how an individual subject himself or herself to different evaluations involving emotions, beliefs, and self-concept Leary (64). Self-esteem is often portrayed as how an individual perceives their body image in what is termed as appearance. This personal evaluation is a measure of self-worth based on success and how much value one thinks they have in the eyes of their peers. As an integral part of social life, human beings create relationships in settings such as families, work, school, and other places, and the nature of their connection affects everyone. Many people, especially adolescents, often feel unsatisfied and unhappy with a particular look in their body or their general appearance. Therefore, because people in a social setting pass different looks, the judgment may affect the way that individuals compare themselves to others individually. When people concentrate on what they do not like in their physical bodies, the feeling affects their self-esteem. This paper discusses the relationship between self-esteem and body image.

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Self-esteem is a psychological make that affects human beings in different ways. Self-esteem is viewed as a personality trait that tends to steady and long-term. According to Abdel-Khalek, most of the time, low self-esteem is considered to be a course of evil, while high self-esteem is the result of good (4). Abdel-Khalek also explains that every individual must love and value themselves above or at least the same measure to another person (3). The perceptions may lead to either positive or negative evaluations of individuals. The positive assessments lead to high self-esteem, while negative evaluations lead to low self-esteem in individuals. Adolescents tend to experience significant changes in their physical bodies, and thus they are more likely to experience more personal opinions regarding their bodies. These perceptions may be harmful or positive. Developing low self-esteem may cause one's performance in what they are doing to reduce. According to Bhatt, self-esteem is directly related to an individual's motivation (7). Therefore, as a result of low self-esteem, a person will perceive oneself as unworthy and incapable of doing whatever could have been possible. Additionally, low self-esteem as a result of negative motivation causes an individual to undergo negative emotions, which course discomfort and feeling dejected. Self-esteem is psychological because it defines an individual's self-worth.

Confidence and self-belief, on the other hand, boosts the performance of an individual and provides a sense of worthiness, which is essential in everyone's life. People are often told that they can achieve anything when they believe in themselves. Body image perception is the primary determinant of self-esteem. Pop elucidates that body image is one of the first characteristics observed by others and has an impact on the individual's social interaction (38). It is vital for everyone to accept their appearance and stop using other people's attitudes to evaluate oneself. Often, individuals with poor body image may be compelled to listen to other people's opinions and strive to make corrections they are given to feel they fit in society. Individuals' perceptions may be positive or negative, depending on the sociodemographic status (Hampson 189). To avoid evaluating oneself with other people's opinions, it is essential that to build self-belief that comes through positive personal motivation. Aforementioned, self-confidence is improved when individuals believe in themselves and view themselves as successful. Additionally, it is also important to avoid stereotypes that prejudice different appearance in people. In today's society, there is a tendency to connect physical appeal with positive individual qualities. For instance, among adolescents, girls have strong concerns about their body shape and weight more than their male counterparts. This is because adolescent girls with more weight may perceive themselves as unworthy when they compare themselves to their slim peers. Slim bodies being associated with beauty is another common categorization that significantly affects self-perception. This rising stereotype of linking what is good with physical attractiveness is burdensome to the subconscious mind and may lead to low self-esteem. Confidence is vital in boosting an individual's performance and providing a sense of worthiness, which is essential in life.

Conclusion

In conclusion, self-esteem and body image are co-related, where the latter is determined by the perception of an individual towards their appearance. Self-esteem starts within an individual by choosing to evaluate him or herself positively or negatively. Individual opinions of their body image vary, and these opinions affect their self-motivation. Self-motivation is the primary building block of healthy self-esteem. Self-esteem is deeply rooted in human psychology because it starts with a person mentally assessing themselves of how much good or bad they look in comparison with others in society. Opinions on body image significantly affect a person's self-esteem. Thus, everyone needs to accept their appearance and stop using other people's attitudes to evaluate oneself. However, there is a lot of arguments about looks and self-esteem, which is subject to research.

Work Cited

Abdel-Khalek, Ahmed M. "Introduction to The Psychology of Self Esteem." SELF-ESTEEM (2017): 3-8. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/311440256_Introduction_to_the_Psychology_of_self-esteem

Bhatt, Sandhya, and Anshubhi Bahadur. "Role of Self Esteem & Self Efficacy in Achievement Motivation among College Students." International Journal of Indian Psychology, Volume 6, Issue 2,(No. 4) 6 (2018): 1-12. Retrieved from

Hampson, Sarah E. The construction of personality: An introduction. Routledge, 2019.

Leary, Mark R. Self-presentation: Impression management and interpersonal behavior. Routledge, 2019.

Pop, Cristiana. "Self-Esteem and Body Image Perception in a Sample of University Students." Eurasian Journal of Educational Research 64 (2016): 31-44. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1121976.pdf