Custom «Thought Questions / Comments: Self-Esteem» Essay Paper Sample

Case 1: Is It Possible to Influence Personal Self-Esteem?

In accordance with social psychology, a self-assessment phenomenon signifies the process of self-evaluation directed at defining important aspects of an individual’s identity. Importantly, self-assessment is dynamic and ever-changing, hence depends on an extent to which external factors affects the process of self-evaluation. In the research study on the domain of self-assessment and related issues, Kruger and Dunning (1999) provided ample support for the claim that the lack of skills and knowledge in intellectual and social domains implicitly leads to inflated self-assessment. Particularly, an individual is highly inclined to overestimate or exaggerate one’s abilities should one be incompetent, or have deficits in metacognitive skill (Kruger & Dunning, 1999). 

In essence, the crucial theoretical premise behind Kruger and Dunning (1999) is that incompetence is the reason for not only insufficient and inadequate performance, but also the cause of the inability to recognize the fact of poor performance. There is no denying that there is a cause-effect relationship between knowledge and competence. Basically, the acquisition and further application of knowledge engender the development and extension of skills and experience. However, the research study also establishes a connection between high performance and underestimation. The study found that high skilled well-performing individuals tend to belittle their comparative abilities, whereas never address their absolute abilities (Kruger & Dunning, 1999). In this case, self-underestimation may be a strong urge to self-development, namely improving one’s skills and extending one’s knowledge in order to foster competitive advantages. Overall, the presence of vast knowledge begets incessant growth, high performance and multidomain success, although it entails self-underestimation and discomfort. Notwithstanding, the lack of knowledge constantly leads to permanent failure, though it induces self-overestimation. Therefore, it is mandatory to extend a knowledge warehouse permanently in order not to fall prey to a vicious miracle, namely being a poor performer and being unable to recognize it at the same time.

Case 2: Is it Possible to Influence Someone Else’s Self-Esteem?

The phenomenon of feedback is a powerful tool used for controversial reasons. Mostly, feedback, which is mainly expressed in a written from, is designated for either encouraging or pointing out drawbacks and necessity to address them to the fullest. It is well worth indicating that feedback should be used with the purpose of teaching, but the methods of teaching process must be carefully selected depending on the level of confidence an individual has in subject matter. The upshot is that there is a strong cause-effect relationship between the extent of knowledge, skills and experience and the level of confidence in a particular domain. Particularly, the more expertise an individual has gained, the more confidence one expresses (Tugend, 2013). Associated with the argument aforementioned is a claim that an individual of high expertise and knowledge storage prefers to receive negative feedbacks, whereas a beginner looks forward to a positive feedback only (Tugend, 2013).

Presumably, feedback may be regarded as a tremendous weapon in the hands of an individual who is at right to inform about reactions to a product or person’s performance of a task. Significantly, it is of vital importance to go into details while composing feedback. The upshot is that feedback is a recommendation of what should be done in order to reach a particular result, but never the statement of the possible outcome if the result is not accomplished. Moreover, it is mandatory to put emphasis on the positive aspects of a person’s performance first before moving on to making a recommendation. Thus, feedback is also the tool of psychological influence, the application of which may result in rapid and profound development, as well as in sharp decline and inevitable failure.