Key Takeaways
- Self esteem is a person’s evaluation of their worth, while self actualization is the fulfillment of one’s talents and potentialities.
- Both self esteem and self actualization are tiers in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs, with self actualization being the final tier.
- Self esteem includes confidence, respect, and achievement, while self actualization includes morality, creativity, spontaneity, problem solving, lack of prejudice, and acceptance of facts.
Self esteem and self actualization are two related psychological concepts with slightly different meanings. Self esteem refers to a person’s overall subjective emotional evaluation of their own worth, while self actualization refers to the realization or fulfillment of one’s talents and potentialities. Both of these concepts are considered as tiers in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs, with self actualization being the final tier and all other human needs, including esteem, having to be achieved in order to attain self actualization.
What is Self Esteem?
Self esteem reflects a person’s overall subjective emotional evaluation of their own worth. It is an attitude towards oneself and encompasses beliefs and emotional states such as shame, pride, and despair. Self esteem can be simply described as the way we think of ourselves. In psychology, self esteem helps determine whether a person likes themselves or not, and can be described as low self esteem or high self esteem. A person with high self esteem may feel that they are good at things and worthwhile, while a person with low self esteem may feel that they are bad at things and worthless. Low self esteem is often associated with eating disorders, depression, self-harm, and bullying.
Many psychological theories include the concept of self esteem. Abraham Maslow, an American psychologist, included self esteem in his hierarchy of human needs. According to Maslow, the healthiest expression of self-esteem is the one that manifests in the respect we deserve for others, more than renown, fame, and flattery. Carl Rogers theorized that low self esteem is the origin of many people’s problems.
In psychology, self esteem is assessed in self-report inventories. The Rosenberg self-esteem scale (RSES) is the most commonly used instrument to measure one’s self esteem.
What is Self Actualization?
Self actualization is a person’s desire to use all their abilities to achieve and be everything that they possibly can. It is the realization or fulfillment of one’s talents and potentialities. Self actualization is considered a need or drive present in everyone.
The term self actualization was originally introduced by Kurt Goldstein but came into prominence with Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs. In Maslow’s theory, self actualization is the final level of psychological development that can be attained when all basic and mental needs have been fulfilled. He describes this as “What a man can be, he must be”.
According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs, human needs can be put into five levels: physiological needs, safety, love and belonging, esteem, and self actualization. Self actualization is the final tier of the hierarchy, and all other needs, including self esteem, have to be fulfilled in order to reach this final stage.
Maslow once named personalities who he considered to have reached the stage of self actualization, including Abraham Lincoln, Albert Einstein, and Thomas Jefferson. A person who has achieved self actualization displays qualities such as morality, creativity, spontaneity, problem solving, lack of prejudice, and acceptance of facts.
What is the Difference Between Self Esteem and Self Actualization?
The difference between self esteem and self actualization lies in their basic meaning: self esteem is a reflection of a person’s own evaluation of their worth, while self actualization is the realization or fulfillment of one’s talents and potentialities. Esteem is included in the fourth tier of Maslow’s hierarchy, while self actualization is the final tier. In order to gain esteem, a person must achieve basic physiological needs, security, and a feeling of love and belonging. To gain self actualization, a person must achieve all those needs as well as esteem.
Summary – Self Esteem vs Self Actualization
Self esteem and self actualization are two related concepts in psychology. The difference between self esteem and self actualization is in their basic meaning; self esteem is a reflection of a person’s own evaluation of their worth, while self actualization is the realization or fulfillment of one’s talents and potentialities.
