Self-worth means how much you think you’re valuable as a person (Crocker & Knight, 2005). It’s really important with some research indicating that if you think you’re valuable, you’re more likely to do well in life and be happy whereas if you don’t think you’re valuable, you might not do as well and even get into trouble (Crocker & Knight, 2005). However, if you care too much about your self-worth, it can also cause problems (Baumeister et al., 1996; Crocker & Nuer, 2003). People with high self-esteem who believe in themselves tend to have a healthy sense of perfectionism and feel good when they achieve their goals (Koivula et al., 2002). On the other hand, people with low self-esteem tend to have a negative sense of perfectionism, where they worry too much about making mistakes and are afraid of failure (Koivula et al., 2002).
Baumeister, R. F., Smart, L., & Boden, J. M. (1996). Relation of threatened egotism to violence and aggression: The dark side of high self-esteem. Psychological Review, 103, 533.
Crocker, J., & Knight, M. K. (2005). Contingencies of self- worth. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 14, 200203.
Crocker, J., & Nuer, N. (2003). The insatiable quest for self- worth. Psychological Inquiry, 14, 3134.
Koivula, N., Hassmén, P., & Fallby, J. (2002). Self-esteem and perfectionism in elite athletes: effects on competitive anxiety and self-confidence. Personality and Individual Differences, 32, 865875.
