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What is Self Esteem ?

Self esteem is the belief in your worth or value.

 Low self esteem is the belief that you are worthless or inadequate.

eg. If someone is abused as a child (physical beating or sexual abuse) they may be are more likely to suffer unrealistic low self esteem as adults.
This is because in their minds is a there has been a constant repetition that they are of little value or just an object to be used.
The Canadian Mental Health Association expresses it quite well in the following article

Self Esteem

Self-esteem has become a trendy term often referred to in many health and self-improvement magazines and books with good reason.
Self-esteem is the most important principle which determines a person’s mental health.
As important as it is, self-esteem is not well understood outside the mental health field.

Self-esteem is feeling competent and capable to deal with life’s challenges and being worthy of happiness.

There are two components to self-esteem: self-efficacy and self-respect.

Self Efficacy

Self-efficacy means that there is a trust in your mental processes and abilities.
It does not mean that you believe you will never make an error, but rather that when you do make mistakes you can learn from them.
It is deeper than confidence in a specific knowledge or skill.
If we are lacking in self-efficacy then we would expect to fail at everything we try, and feel unable to make decisions.

Self-efficacy is nurtured in a rational, predictable home environment where we grow to understand what is around us.

Self Respect

Self-respect is a belief that you have an inherent value and that you will have friendship, love and happiness.
It is our realization that we deserve the respect of others, that our well-being is worth acting to support, protect and nuture.

We can only have self-respect as adults if we were treated with respect by parents and family members as children.
Self-efficacy and self-respect are both necessary to healthy self-esteem. No matter what achievements a person has accomplished, if they feel unworthy of the love and respect of others, they do not have self-esteem.

Self-esteem cannot be considered in isolation, however. It is dependent on social, psychological, physical, and economic factors. Therefore, a wholistic approach to improving self-esteem, addressing family, school/work and community, will be much more effective in the long run than an individual approach.