essay on self confidence

Essay On Self Confidence

500 words essay on self confidence.

Self-confidence refers to the state of mind where a person pushes their boundaries and encourages belief within oneself. It is something which comes from self-love. In order to have confidence in yourself, one must love oneself to get freedom from constant doubt. This essay on self confidence will help you learn more about it in detail.

The Key to Success

It won’t be far-fetched to say that self-confidence is the key to success. If not, it is definitely the first step towards success. When a person has self-confidence, they are halfway through their battle.

People in school and workplaces achieve success by taking more initiatives and being more forward and active in life. Moreover, they tend to make better decisions because of having confidence in oneself.

Thus, it makes them stand out of the crowd. When you stand apart, people will definitely notice you. Thus, it increases your chances of attaining success in life. Alternatively, if there is a person who does not trust or believe in himself, it will be tough.

They will find it hard to achieve success because they will be exposed to failure as well as criticism. Thus, without self-confidence, they may not get back on their feet as fast as someone who possesses self-confidence.

In addition to gaining success, one also enjoys a variety of perks as well. For instance, you can find a job more easily. Similarly, you may find the magnitude of a difficult job lesser than it is.

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Importance of Self Confidence

Self-confidence allows us to face our failure and own up to it in a positive light. Moreover, it helps us to raise many times. This helps instil a quality in use which ensures we do not give up till we succeed.

Similarly, self-confidence instils optimism in us. People who have self-confidence are not lucky, they are smart. They do not rely on others to achieve success , they rely on their own abilities to do that.

While self-confidence is important, it is also important to not become overconfident. As we know, anything in excess can be bad for us. Similarly, overconfidence is also no exception.

When you become overconfident, you do not acknowledge the criticism. When you don’t do that, you do not work on yourself. Thus, it stops your growth. Overlooking all this will prove to be harmful.

So it is essential to have moderation which can let you attain just the right amount of self-confidence and self-love which will assure you success and happiness in life.

Conclusion of the Essay on Self Confidence

All in all, a person will gain self-confidence from their own personal experience and decision. No one speech or conversation can bring an overnight change. It is a gradual but constant process we must all participate in. It will take time but once you achieve it, nothing can stop you from conquering every height in life.

FAQ on Essay on Self Confidence

Question 1: What is the importance of self-confidence?

Answer 1: Self-confidence allows a person to free themselves from self-doubt and negative thoughts about oneself. When you are more fearless, you will have less  anxiety . This is what self-confidence can offer you. It will also help you take smart risks and get rid of social anxiety.

Question 2: How do you develop self-confidence paragraph?

Answer 2: To develop self-confidence, one must first look at what they have achieved so far. Then, never forget the things you are good at. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses, so focus on your strengths. Set up some goals and get a hobby as well. Give yourself the pep talk to hype up your confidence.

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Self Confidence Essay

500 words self confidence essay.

Self-confidence is essential in achieving goals and success in your life. A person needs to have self-confidence to achieve success. Self-confidence is something that comes from within. It helps people think freely without any negativity and focus on their goals. A self-confident person has fewer chances of failure. People cannot achieve their goals without self-confidence because they are optimistic, eager, and positive by nature. It is also vital in leading a healthy and happy life. This Essay on Self Confidencewill help students know the importance of self confidence and boost their confidence.

Knowledge is the key to self-confidence. It helps you to understand your capabilities. The power of knowledge can be used to protect yourself from failure. If knowledgeable people surround you, they will support you and even advise you with good ideas and suggestions.

Definition of Self-Confidence

Self-confidence is a term defined to explain people’s state of mind that makes them push boundaries and encourages them to believe in themselves. Self-confidence has the power to motivate people to do things that seemed to be impossible for them. A self-confident person possesses an attitude that nothing is impossible, and they accomplish everything in life. It is important to have strong self-confidence, to avoid failure in life.

The concept of self-confidence is divided into three levels; self-confidence based on feeling, self-confidence based on belief and self-confidence based on knowledge. These three levels are used in different combinations, and a person who lacks these three levels would typically be less confident.

Self-confidence helps a person improve their career, as it is simple for them to follow the rules and regulations of their job. It helps them to achieve success in their life. It also helps to strengthen relationships and work on leadership and communication skills. Overall, we can say that self-confidence is necessary to become independent in life.

The Key to Success

It won’t be wrong to say that self-confidence is the key to success or the initial step towards success. People in workplaces and schools achieve success when they voluntarily take the initiative and come forward actively in life. They even participate actively in the decision-making process, as they feel confident in themselves. If a person is self-confident about himself, he has won half the battle.

People will notice you when you make yourself unique and stand apart from the crowd. Thus, it helps in attaining success in life. A person should believe in himself to gain self-confidence. Self-confidence is necessary if you want to move forward in your career, too. Success comes with lots of perks. For example, you can find your desired job efficiently.

People with less self-confidence are scared of getting criticised and exposed to failure. So, you should work on your self-confidence to get back on your feet and succeed in life.

Importance of Self Confidence

A person with self-confidence can face any kind of challenge in life. They are not scared of hurdles because they are confident that they can handle any situation. On the other hand, some people are afraid of failure, making them under-confident. A person who lacks self-confidence will get scared and leave the task midway.

Self-confidence is considered the first step towards success. In today’s society, people who lack confidence are looked down upon. They are always neglected and left behind in the race of life.

However, many people are famous because of their extraordinary achievements. Success cannot be achieved overnight. It is a long process of hard work, patience and passion towards your desired field.

Conclusion of the Essay on Self Confidence

To live a successful and healthy life, self-confidence is an essential trait. For people who keep themselves calm and compose, everything seems more straightforward. People face challenges at some point, but they remain confident enough to trust their abilities and work accordingly.

A person gains self-confidence with their own experience. No one can bring changes overnight, nor can they be obtained from others. It is a slow and constant process, and we all should participate in it. It takes time, but once you achieve it, nothing can stop you from conquering every height in life. So, to hype up your confidence, always give yourself a pep talk.

From our BYJU’S website, students can also access CBSE Essays related to different topics. It will help students to get good marks in their exams.

Frequently Asked Questions on Self confidence Essay

How to build self-confidence.

One can build self-confidence by setting achievable goals, thinking positively and through constant practice and hard work.

Why is self-confidence important?

Self-confidence helps us to move freely with other people and also improves our communication in the workplace.

How does self-confidence affect success?

People who are confident automatically spread an aura and are more likely to get hikes and promotions.

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Self Confidence Essay | Essay on Self Confidence for Students and Children in English

February 7, 2024 by Prasanna

Self Confidence Essay: Self-confidence can be defined as the belief and assurance you feel towards yourself. It is not something you are taught in school, as confidence has to come from inside. In a way, it’s freedom from doubting about every step you take in life.

Self-confidence is one of the most important routes you have to take in your path to success. It makes a person independent, eager, optimistic, loving and positive.

You can also find more  Essay Writing  articles on events, persons, sports, technology and many more.

Long and Short Essays on Self Confidence for Students and Kids in English

We provide children and students with essay samples on a long essay of 500 words and a short essay of 150 words on the topic “Self Confidence” for reference.

Long Essay on Self Confidence 500 Words in English

Long Essay on Self Confidence is usually given to classes 7, 8, 9, and 10.

Self-confidence is a state of mind where someone pushes their boundaries and encourages belief from the very beginning, and this comes from a place of self-love. You ought to love yourself to gain that freedom from doubting your actions.

Self Confidence is the key to success, or we can say it the first step towards success. If a person possesses self-confidence, then he/she has inevitably won half the battle.

We see people in school, workplaces and public sectors who have achieved success be more initiative, more forward and active, and more confident with their decisions, making them stand out from the crowd.

But when it comes to a person who cannot trust themselves or believe in themselves, success is a hard gain for them. They become more vulnerable to criticism and failure. They also find it super hard to get back on their feet and carry on.

Everyone who has self-confidence gets to enjoy various perks that come along with that state of mind. One of them being is finding the magnitude of a difficult job lesser than it is.

It helps you face your failure and own up to it in a positive light. It helps you rise multiple times to believe that you will excel and improve in your next attempt.

If you somehow lack this ability, there are high chances of you overcoming with pessimism. Simple jobs and daily chores feel like a challenge in every way. It’s harder for them to take a stand and they are most likely not to be taken seriously.

You can now access more Essay Writing on the topic Self Confidence and many more topics.

But one why does it make a self-confidence person more persist-able to success? — It’s not because they are lucky, or smarter, or because of something external. It’s because self-confident people understand the impact of believing in themselves and relying on their abilities.

Though being confident in themselves is one of the best abilities to acquire, but one must also be familiar with the fine line separating self-confidence with overconfidence. Excess of anything is bad, and self-confidence is no exception to that rule.

Overconfident people tend not to acknowledge every form of criticism and work on it. People who are experiencing tend to overlook the other side of the coin and embrace themselves now and then, which at some point in time proves harmful. Their narcissism leads them to spiral down in the tunnel of failure.

So having moderation helps one attain just the right amount of self-confidence and self-love that will assure them success and satisfaction and happiness that we’d all love to experience from life.

The way to gain self-confidence is completely personal and an internal decision, so no speech or essay or conversation will leave a person lacking; it changes all at once.

Just like self-love, self-confidence takes time to acquire. But once you start believing in yourself, no one can stop you from conquering all the heights in your life and career.

Short Essay on Self Confidence 150 Words in English

Short Essay on Self Confidence is usually given to classes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.

See yourself as the self-confident person you want to be, and before you know it, you will become that person. That’s how self-confidence works! Once you decide your mindset, nobody can stop you.

You have to start deciding for yourself as this comes from within. Exude confidence even if you don’t feel like it. Encouragingly talk to yourself and try to stay away from negative thoughts and people. Surround yourself with positive and confident people. This will become a habit and will build confidence.

This confidence will ultimately form opportunities for success, and their success builds up another block of self-confidence within a person, and the cycle repeats.

Therefore we come to see, self-confident people perceive themselves as able to achieve those things they set out to do, and this perception creates reality in their lives.

So start looking at yourself differently, in a positive way. It can change your life and help your confidence level to rise.

10 Lines on Self Confidence Essay in English

1. Self-confidence is the key to success. 2. The confidence of a person can be seen in the work done by that person. 3. A person with self-confidence can alone face the biggest problems or challenges in his/her life. 4. A self-confident rarely give up as they strive to achieve success even if it takes multiple tries. 5. We should overcome your fears and weaknesses to become self-confident. 6. One should avoid negativity and try to get surrounded by positivity to do much better. 7. Self-confident people should always be careful not to become overconfident. 8. To develop self-confidence, one must also start loving themselves. 9.  Every person should have self-confidence because it is essential for us to have confidence in us for doing any work. 10. We all should have faith in ourselves, and that will become the reason for our success.

FAQ’s on Self Confidence Essay

Question 1. What’s the difference between self-confidence and self-esteem?

Answer: Self-confidence is the belief that you have in yourself, and self-esteem is how much you love yourself.

Question 2. Can you “fake” self-confidence?

Answer: When you first start building your self-confidence, it’s okay to fake it a bit. There is a famous saying — “fake it until you make it.”

Question 3. Can self-confidence lead you to success?

Answer: Absolutely! The more self-confident you are, the more attracted you will be to success.

Question 4. Can meditation increase self-confidence?

Answer: Yes, meditation can help you to develop this skill, but it is you who needs to believe in yourself to become self-confident.

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Essays About Confidence: Top 5 Examples and 7 Prompts

Confidence is an important quality everyone should have; if you are writing essays about confidence, have a look at our featured examples and writing prompts.

What is confidence? This quality shows a belief that we are enough; we are happy with who we are and proud of every part of ourselves. When we are confident, we do not doubt ourselves or others, and to an extent, we are quite brave and trusting.

We can be confident in ourselves or others; however, it is important to remember that too much confidence is detrimental. When we are too confident in others, we can fail to see their shortcomings. This applies to ourselves as well; in this case, we are also much more likely to develop negative traits such as arrogance.

5 Top Essay Examples

1. the dark side of having confidence by tomas chamorro-premuzic, 2. self confidence essay by stanley graves, 3. what real confidence looks like by jessica wildfire.

• 4.  Where Confidence Comes From by John Gorman
• 5. ​​Personal reflections on self-confidence by Jeremy Jordan

1. What Does it Mean to Be Confident?

2. what makes you feel confident, 3. how do you lose confidence, 4. who embodies confidence for you, 5. why is confidence important, 6. confidence vs. arrogance, 7. a time you showed confidence.

“Although Asian cultures are much more prone to foment self-criticism, humility, and self-knowledge (over self-confidence, arrogance, and narcissism), the West may be globalizing narcissism, probably not in a deliberate attempt to reduce the work ethic and humility of the East, though it may well have that effect. One of the most toxic and problematic cocktails combines high aspirations with a low work ethic—the very definition of narcissistic entitlement. The only fix is to get a reality check and risk becoming depressed, unless you distort reality forever.”

Chamorro-Premuzic discusses a phenomenon by which people have so much confidence that it transforms into narcissism and arrogance. He enumerates some of the negative effects of too much confidence, including a lack of self-awareness and humility, while commenting on society’s almost toxic obsession with confidence and self-esteem. In this essay, he stresses that not everyone needs to be super confident and that humility is a useful attribute to have as well. 

Looking for more? Check out these essays about empathy and essays about gratitude .

“Self-confidence is something that cannot be taught. It is up to someone to decide how much belief that they possess inside of themselves. I am at the point where I realize that I must first believe in myself before others will believe in me. Nobody teaches us to be happy or sad. They are natural feelings that come along as we develop mentally, physically, emotionally and psychologically.”

In his essay, Graves explains the aspects of self-confidence. Fake self-confidence is when people project themselves as proud and confident when in reality, this is a front to make them seem more impressive than they are. Temporary self-confidence is when an achievement of yours helps you feel confident, even if this feeling fades after a while. The author discusses that true self-confidence is when one truly believes in themselves and their capabilities. 

“Nobody forges confidence that we can just slip on like a bat suit. It would be great if it were that easy. Instead, we demonstrate confidence through actions. We perform acts of confidence, even when we’re feeling nervous. We do it every time we make a plan, take a chance, seek out solid advice, confront our faults, and handle a tough situation because others depend on us.”

Wildfire explains the difference between fake and real confidence and some ways to build the latter. She gives examples of things confident people do, such as exploring new opportunities, taking feedback, whether good or bad and admitting when they are wrong or uncertain. Rather than thinking of confidence as something possessed, Wildfire encourages readers to think of it as exercised through our actions. 

4.   Where Confidence Comes From by John Gorman

“It isn’t entirely translatable to every area of my life, but more of it exists now than there did before I’d started falling. Confidence is, in fact, a product of repetition … but not a product of success — it’s a product of failure. It’s knowing what the fall feels like and being familiar enough with it that you can be comfortable with the risk.”

Gorman discusses his idea of confidence, both what it is not and what it should be. It is not inherent, nor comes from our successes; instead, it is a product of a healthy mindset and learning from one’s mistakes, using those mistakes to improve oneself. The key to confidence, Gorman says, is to take our failures as opportunities to improve ourselves rather than defeat. You might also be interested in our list of essays about effective leadership and essays about attitude .

5. ​​ Personal reflections on self-confidence by Jeremy Jordan

“A great deal of learning takes place while you’re struggling; when you do something new, your brain is taking in a lot of information that may not be immediately processed. The way I see it is that I should load up my brain with as much information as possible so there’s more data to learn from. Rather than not seeing results and giving up, I place trust in the learning process and know that my efforts will be rewarded.”

Jordan gives readers tips on improving one’s confidence. He says to surround yourself with supportive people, have good communication skills, and sometimes take risks, among other tips. Most importantly, however, he explains the importance of understanding failure, pain, and struggle, embracing them, learning from our setbacks, and using them to improve. 

7 Writing Prompts on Essays About Confidence

People have many ideas of what confidence is or should be. Define confidence in your own words, describe what it means, and discuss what you think a healthy expression of confidence is. Draw inspiration from personal experience and give anecdotes describing certain people in your life to support your position. 

What inspires confidence in you? It may be someone in your life, a personal achievement, or other factors. Reflect on what makes you feel confident and describe it in your essay. Explain how it allows you to be more confident and give tips to people looking to find their confidence. 

Confidence can be lost just as quickly, if not faster than it is built up. Especially in the 21st century, various factors cause people to lose confidence, particularly among the youth. Research some of these and discuss each one in detail. Explain how each can make someone feel less confident and how one can regain this confidence. Check out these articles about beauty .

We all have role models we look up to. Regarding confidence, reflect on who you look to when you need a boost of confidence. It may be a loved one, a public figure, or even a fictional character; no answer is bad as long as it is adequately explained.

Confidence is said to be essential for success. In your essay, explain why confidence is so important in life. Support your explanation with ample evidence from your opinions and other sources; describe some situations in which confidence would be beneficial such as in interviews, public speaking, and social situations. 

Arrogance is often considered the “negative form” or “negative effect” of confidence; there is a strong correlation between the two. Look into their similarities and connection, then differentiate the two. Also, explain how you can express confidence without being confident to the extent that it comes off as arrogant. 

For an exciting essay, look back on a time you are proud of wherein you showed confidence. Retell the story in detail, such as the events leading up to it and what made you “behave confidently.” Explain why you felt the way you did, how exactly confidence was manifested, and the effects of your confidence or confident actions. 

If you’re looking for more ideas, check out our essays about bullying topic guide ! If you still need help, our guide to grammar and punctuation explains more.

Essay on Self Confidence

Students are often asked to write an essay on Self Confidence in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Self Confidence

Understanding self-confidence.

Self-confidence is the belief in oneself and one’s abilities. It’s about knowing your worth and capabilities. When you are self-confident, you trust your skills and are not afraid of failure.

Importance of Self-Confidence

Self-confidence is important for success. It helps you to face challenges and overcome obstacles. It also encourages you to try new things and reach your potential.

Building Self-Confidence

Building self-confidence takes time and practice. It involves setting realistic goals, celebrating achievements, and learning from failures. Remember, everyone makes mistakes, but it’s how we learn from them that matters.

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250 Words Essay on Self Confidence

Introduction.

Self-confidence, a fundamental aspect of human personality, is the bedrock on which individuals construct their identities. It is an inner strength that propels us towards achieving our aspirations, overcoming challenges, and realizing our full potential.

Self-confidence is a belief in one’s abilities, skills, and experiences. It is a cognitive process that instills a sense of self-assuredness and certainty in our actions. It’s not about being arrogant or reckless, but about understanding and accepting our strengths and weaknesses.

Self-confidence is pivotal for success in various life domains. It enables us to face our fears, take risks, and push boundaries, thereby fostering personal growth and development. Moreover, it enhances our resilience, equipping us to bounce back from setbacks and failures.

Cultivating self-confidence is a continuous process. It involves setting realistic goals, celebrating small victories, and maintaining a positive outlook. Regular self-reflection and constructive criticism are also vital in identifying areas for improvement and charting the path to self-improvement.

In essence, self-confidence is a vital tool that can unlock doors to opportunities, enrich our experiences, and lead us to a fulfilling life. It’s not an innate trait but a skill that can be honed with practice, patience, and perseverance. Thus, each one of us has the potential to foster self-confidence and harness its power to shape our destiny.

500 Words Essay on Self Confidence

Introduction to self-confidence.

The term self-confidence can be defined as an individual’s trust in their abilities, qualities, and judgment. It is the foundation upon which we build our lives, influencing our decisions, interactions, and achievements. Self-confidence is not a static measure; rather, it’s a mindset that takes effort to maintain when the going gets tough. It must be nurtured so that it can grow and evolve.

The Essence of Self-Confidence

The origin of self-confidence.

Self-confidence originates from within, and it is influenced by several factors, including our upbringing, experiences, and the feedback we receive from others. Positive reinforcement, such as praise and recognition, can boost our self-confidence. On the other hand, constant criticism or negative feedback can erode it. It is essential to understand that while external factors can influence our self-confidence, the ultimate control lies within us.

Building and Maintaining Self-Confidence

Building and maintaining self-confidence is a continuous process. It begins with self-awareness – recognizing our strengths and weaknesses, and understanding our capabilities. This can be achieved through introspection and reflection.

Impact of Self-Confidence on Success

Self-confidence has a significant impact on our success. It enables us to believe in our abilities and to pursue our goals with determination and perseverance. It allows us to view failures not as setbacks, but as opportunities for growth and learning. Self-confidence also influences how we interact with others. It can help us to communicate effectively, build strong relationships, and inspire trust and respect.

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Essay on Self Confidence

Introduction to Self-Confidence

Welcome to the exhilarating world of self-confidence, where belief meets brilliance, and every step is a dance of self-discovery! Picture yourself strutting onto life’s grand stage with a swagger that screams, “I’ve got this!” self-confidence, that magical elixir of self-assurance and spunk, is your ticket to the ultimate adventure – a rollercoaster ride of triumphs, challenges, and endless possibilities. The secret sauce turns dreams into reality and transforms obstacles into stepping stones. So grab a seat, my dear reader, and join me as we set out to solve the riddles around self-confidence. We’ll arm ourselves with magic, humor, and curiosity. Get ready to dazzle because your confidence game is about to reach legendary status!

Importance of Self-Confidence in various aspects of Life

Self-confidence is a superpower that permeates every facet of our lives, catalyzing personal growth, professional success, and overall well-being. Its significance resonates in various aspects of life, shaping our attitudes, behaviors, and interactions with the world. Here’s a closer look at the importance of self-confidence in different domains:

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Professional Success:

• Career Advancement: Confidence is a magnet for opportunities. Individuals with self-assurance are more likely to seize opportunities, take on challenges, and climb the professional ladder.
• Leadership: Confident leaders inspire trust and respect. Their belief in their abilities motivates teams, fosters innovation, and creates a positive work culture.

Personal Relationships:

• Communication: Confidence enhances effective communication . Building good relationships requires being assertive and having clear communication of one’s opinions and feelings.
• Attractiveness: Confidence is inherently attractive. It draws people in, making individuals more appealing and engaging in social interactions.

Mental Health and Well-being:

• Resilience: Confident individuals bounce back from setbacks with resilience. They view challenges as opportunities for growth rather than insurmountable obstacles.
• Reduced Stress: A strong sense of self-confidence helps in managing stress. Confident individuals are more likely to approach problems with a positive mindset, reducing the impact of stressors.

Educational Achievements:

• Learning Engagement: Confidence fosters a willingness to participate and engage in learning activities. Students with higher confidence levels are more likely to take risks in their studies.
• Academic Performance: Confidence positively influences academic performance. Students who believe in their abilities are more likely to set and achieve educational goals.

Health and Lifestyle:

• Healthy Choices: Confident individuals tend to make healthier lifestyle choices. Regular exercise, a balanced diet, and an emphasis on their general well-being are more common among them.
• Risk-taking: Healthy risk-taking behaviors are often associated with confidence. This can lead to personal growth and exploring new, beneficial experiences.

Goal Achievement:

• Goal Setting: Confidence empowers individuals to set ambitious and achievable goals. A strong belief in oneself fuels the determination to persevere in facing challenges.
• Motivation: Confident individuals are intrinsically motivated. They believe in their capacity to achieve their goals, maintaining focus and dedication throughout their journey.

Benefits of Self-Confidence

Self-confidence is akin to a magic potion that unlocks many benefits, enriching every aspect of our lives. Here are some of the key benefits of cultivating and nurturing self-confidence:

• Enhanced Performance: Self-confidence is the engine that drives people to succeed in various activities and reach their goals. Believing in one’s abilities and competencies enables individuals to perform at their peak potential, whether in academics, career, sports, or creative pursuits.
• Improved Mental Health: A strong sense of self-confidence serves as a shield against the onslaught of negative emotions and mental health issues. Confident individuals are better equipped to cope with stress, anxiety, and depression as they possess the resilience and inner strength to navigate life’s challenges with grace and optimism.
• Better Relationships: Confidence breeds charisma and magnetism, making individuals more attractive and engaging in interpersonal relationships. Confident individuals exude warmth, authenticity, and assertiveness, fostering deeper connections and healthier communication with others.
• Increased Resilience: Self-confidence is a buffer against setbacks and failures, transforming them into valuable learning experiences. Confident individuals view obstacles as opportunities for growth and innovation, bouncing back from adversity with resilience and determination.
• Greater Assertiveness: Confidence empowers individuals to assertively and respectfully assert their needs, boundaries, and opinions. Assertive communication fosters mutual respect and understanding in relationships, leading to more meaningful and fulfilling interactions.
• Heightened Creativity: Self-confidence allows people to explore novel concepts, try novel strategies, and think beyond the box by igniting their dormant creative potential. Confidence fuels innovation and imagination, driving progress and ingenuity in all endeavors.
• Increased Motivation: Confident individuals possess an unwavering belief in their ability to achieve their goals, fueling their motivation and perseverance in facing challenges. The self-assurance derived from confidence instills a sense of purpose and direction, inspiring individuals to pursue their aspirations with passion and dedication.
• Positive Self-Image: Self-confidence cultivates a positive self-image and self-esteem, enabling individuals to appreciate their strengths, accept their flaws, and embrace their uniqueness. A healthy self-concept lays the foundation for self-acceptance, self-love, and inner peace.
• Opportunities for Growth: Confidence opens doors to new opportunities and experiences, as individuals are more inclined to step out of their comfort zones and embrace uncertainty. Confident individuals embark on continuous growth and self-discovery by embracing challenges and embracing change .

Factors Influencing Self-Confidence

Self-confidence, that elusive yet empowering quality, is influenced by many factors that shape our perceptions of ourselves and the world around us. Understanding these influences is crucial for nurturing and bolstering self-confidence. Here are some key factors that play a pivotal role in shaping self-confidence:

• Childhood Experiences: Our formative years lay the groundwork for our self-confidence levels. Encouragement, praise, and validation from caregivers and authority figures foster a sense of worth and competence in children. Conversely, criticism, neglect, or abuse can erode self-esteem and confidence, leaving lasting scars into adulthood.
• Social Comparisons: Comparing ourselves to others is a double-edged sword that can either boost or undermine self-confidence. Constantly measuring ourselves against unrealistic standards or idealized images portrayed in the media can lead to feelings of inadequacy and inferiority. Conversely, surrounding ourselves with supportive peers and role models who celebrate our strengths and encourage our growth can bolster our self-confidence.
• Personal Achievements and Setbacks: Our past successes and failures significantly impact our self-confidence levels. Accomplishments reinforce our belief in our abilities and fuel our confidence to take on new challenges. Conversely, experiencing setbacks or failures can dent our confidence and trigger self-doubt. But one way to lessen the detrimental effects of failures on confidence is to see them as chances for development and education.
• Social and Cultural Norms: Societal expectations and cultural norms shape our beliefs about ourselves and our capabilities. Gender stereotypes, racial biases, and societal pressure to conform to specific standards can either bolster or undermine self-confidence. Challenging and transcending these norms is essential for cultivating authentic self-confidence that transcends societal expectations.
• Peer and Family Support: The support and validation we receive from our social networks, mainly family and friends, profoundly impact our self-confidence. Encouragement, affirmation, and constructive feedback from loved ones nurture a sense of belonging and acceptance, bolstering our confidence to navigate life’s challenges.
• Internal Dialogue: The way we talk to ourselves internally, also known as self-talk, significantly influences our self-confidence levels. Positive self-talk involves cultivating a supportive inner dialogue that acknowledges our strengths, celebrates our achievements, and offers self-compassion in times of struggle. Conversely, negative self-talk characterized by self-criticism, self-doubt, and harsh judgments can erode self-confidence and perpetuate feelings of unworthiness.
• Physical Appearance and Body Image: Our perceptions of our physical appearance and body image can impact our self-confidence. Reduced self-esteem and confidence are caused by body shaming and the pressure from society to meet unattainable beauty standards. Adopting a body-positivity mindset and engaging in self-care can foster a better relationship with our bodies and increase self-confidence.
• Educational and Professional Environment: Our experiences in educational and professional settings can shape our self-confidence levels. Supportive mentors, opportunities for skill development, and a nurturing learning environment can foster confidence and competence. Conversely, experiencing discrimination, microaggressions, or imposter syndrome in academic or workplace settings can undermine self-confidence.

Strategies to Build and Maintain Self-Confidence

Gaining and retaining self-confidence calls for commitment, awareness of oneself, and purposeful practice. Here are some effective strategies to help individuals cultivate and sustain a strong sense of self-confidence:

• Set Realistic Goals: Set quantifiable, attainable goals that complement your abilities, values, and interests. Divide more ambitious objectives into more doable tasks, and acknowledge each accomplishment as it occurs. Success breeds confidence, and accomplishing goals reinforces your belief in your abilities.
• Challenge Negative Self-Talk: Be mindful of your conversation with yourself and confront any negative self-talk. Replace self-critical thoughts with positive affirmations and self-encouragement. Cultivate a compassionate and supportive inner voice that reinforces your worth and capabilities.
• Celebrate Your Strengths: Identify and celebrate your unique strengths, talents, and accomplishments. Recognize the value you bring to various aspects of your life, whether in your relationships, career, hobbies, or personal achievements. Embrace your strengths and leverage them to build confidence in yourself.
• Step Out of Your Comfort Zone: Beyond your comfort zone is where confidence and growth bloom. Make it a challenge to embrace uncertainty, try new things, and take measured risks. Every step you take outside your comfort zone increases your resilience and boosts your self-assurance in your capacity to adjust and prosper.
• Practice Self-Compassion: Treat yourself with kindness , understanding, and self-compassion, especially in moments of failure or setbacks. Recognize that obstacles are a necessary component of education and a chance for personal development. Treat yourself with the same compassion and strength you would extend to a friend in a comparable situation.
• Visualize Success: Use visualization tools to see yourself achieving your goals. Visualize yourself confidently navigating challenges, achieving your goals, and overcoming obstacles. Visualization primes your mind for success and instills confidence and belief in your abilities.
• Seek Support and Feedback: Be in the company of encouraging peers, mentors, family, and friends who support you and believe in your ability to progress. Seek constructive feedback and guidance from trusted individuals who can offer insights, perspective, and encouragement to help you build confidence and improve.
• Focus on Progress, Not Perfection: Embrace a growth mindset that values progress over perfection. Instead of striving for flawless performance, focus on continuous improvement and learning from mistakes. Accept failure as a chance to improve, learn, and hone your abilities.
• Practice Assertiveness: Assertively communicate your needs, opinions, and boundaries in various situations. Practice saying no when necessary and advocating for yourself respectfully and assertively. Assertiveness builds self-respect and earns the respect of others, fostering confidence in your ability to assert your needs and values.
• Celebrate Your Achievements: Recognizing and commemorating your accomplishments, regardless of how minor they may appear, is essential. Celebrating your successes reinforces positive behavior and boosts your self-confidence. Keep a journal of your accomplishments and reflect on how far you have come.

Overcoming Obstacles to Self-Confidence

Overcoming obstacles to self-confidence is an essential aspect of personal growth and development . While challenges may arise, there are effective strategies to help individuals overcome barriers and cultivate a strong sense of self-assurance. Here are some key obstacles to self-confidence and strategies for overcoming them:

  Fear of Failure: One significant barrier that often keeps people from taking chances or achieving their goals is their fear of failing. To overcome this fear:

• Embrace a growth mindset: Consider failure a chance for personal development and advancement and a normal component of the learning process.
• Reframe failure: Instead of focusing on the negative outcomes of failure, focus on the lessons learned and the progress made.
• Set realistic expectations: Recognize that failures are a typical part of the road to success and that perfection is unachievable.

  Negative Self-Perceptions: Negative self-perceptions, such as low self-esteem or feelings of inadequacy, can undermine self-confidence. To combat negative self-perceptions:

• Practice self-compassion: Recognize everyone has strengths and shortcomings, and treat oneself with compassion and understanding.
• Challenge self-limiting beliefs: Identify and challenge negative thoughts and beliefs about yourself. Replace them with positive affirmations and evidence of your abilities and accomplishments.
• Surround yourself with positivity: Surround yourself with supportive people who uplift and encourage you. Limit exposure to negative influences and environments that reinforce self-doubt.

  Comparison with Others: Constantly comparing yourself to others can diminish self-confidence and breed feelings of inadequacy. To overcome the comparison trap:

• Focus on your journey: Shift your focus inward and concentrate on your progress and growth rather than comparing yourself to others.
• Celebrate your uniqueness: Recognize and celebrate your strengths, talents, and accomplishments. Embrace what sets you apart from others.
• Use comparison as motivation: Instead of viewing others as competition, use their successes as inspiration and motivation to strive for your goals and aspirations.

  Perfectionism: Pursuing perfection can be a significant barrier to self-confidence, often leading to unrealistic expectations and fear of failure. To overcome perfectionism:

• Set realistic goals: Establish achievable and measurable goals that allow growth and progress rather than striving for perfection.
• Embrace imperfection: Accept that mistakes and imperfections are a natural part of the human experience. Embrace the process of learning and growth, even if it means making mistakes along the way.
• Practice self-acceptance: Value yourself and your efforts, regardless of whether you meet arbitrary standards of perfection. Accept the quirks and flaws that make you unique and precious.

Imposter Syndrome: Imposter syndrome manifests as inadequacy and self-doubt despite evidence of success and competence. To overcome imposter syndrome:

• Acknowledge your accomplishments: Recognize and internalize them, attributing them to your skills, talents, and hard work.
• Seek support and validation: Talk to trustworthy friends, mentors, or coworkers about your self-doubt so they can provide perspective and assurance.
• Reframe negative thoughts: Challenge the validity of your self-doubt and replace negative thoughts with positive affirmations and evidence of your capabilities.

Cultivating a Growth Mindset

Psychologist Carol S. Dweck coined the term “growth mindset,” emphasizing that commitment, diligence, and experience-based learning can enhance aptitude and intelligence. Unlike a fixed mindset, which sees abilities as innate and unchangeable, a growth mindset fosters adaptability and resilience in facing challenges.

• Understanding the Growth Mindset: The idea that obstacles present chances for growth and learning is the foundation of a growth mindset. Growth-minded people embrace challenges rather than run from them, seeing effort as the route to mastery. Acknowledge the mindset shift that lies in cultivating talents over time through dedication and perseverance.
• Embracing Challenges as Opportunities: Individuals with a development mindset perceive obstacles as opportunities to enhance and perfect their abilities. Instead of fearing failure, they understand that setbacks are part of the learning process and offer valuable insights for improvement. This perspective transforms challenges from intimidating obstacles into stepping stones for personal and professional development.
• The Role of Effort and Persistence: In a growth mindset, individuals perceive effort as a positive indicator of their commitment to improvement. Individuals are more likely to persist in facing challenges, recognizing that hard work contributes directly to skill development. This focus on effort promotes a positive attitude toward learning and encourages a deeper engagement with tasks.
• Adopting a Positive Self-Talk: People who have a growth mindset typically have an optimistic internal monologue. Instead of self-criticism or negative self-talk, they approach challenges with a constructive mindset, emphasizing the potential for growth and improvement. This shift in self-talk contributes to increased self-confidence by fostering a belief in one’s ability to overcome obstacles.
• Learning from Feedback: Individuals with a growth mentality see criticism not as a judgment of their intrinsic abilities but as a crucial tool for personal improvement. Since it offers suggestions for improvement, constructive criticism is crucial to the learning process. This openness to feedback contributes to a continuous cycle of improvement, reinforcing self-confidence through a commitment to growth.
• Instilling a Growth Mindset in Others: Cultivating a growth mindset is not only a personal endeavor but can also be encouraged in others. Praise hard work, tenacity, and persistence to foster a culture of learning and development within groups, households, or communities. Honor those who have overcome obstacles and shown a growth attitude, serving as role models for others.

Case Studies

Here are a few case studies that exemplify the importance and impact of self-confidence:

1. Case Study: Overcoming Public Speaking Anxiety

• Background: Sarah, a marketing professional, struggled with public speaking anxiety throughout her career. Despite her expertise in her field, she would often avoid speaking engagements and presentations due to fear of judgment and failure.
• Intervention: Sarah decided to confront her fear of public speaking by enrolling in a public speaking course and seeking support from a mentor. Through guided practice and constructive feedback, she gradually learned to manage her anxiety and build confidence in her speaking abilities.
• Outcome: With perseverance and determination, Sarah gradually overcame her public speaking anxiety and began to thrive in professional settings. She was recognized for her knowledge and leadership abilities, made powerful presentations, and confidently interacted with audiences. Sarah’s journey illustrates the transformative power of self-confidence in overcoming obstacles and seizing opportunities for growth and development.

2. Case Study: Career Transition and Self-Confidence

• Background: John, an accountant, felt stuck in his career and yearned for a change. Despite harboring aspirations of pursuing a career in entrepreneurship, he lacked the self-confidence to take the leap and pursue his dreams.
• Intervention: John sought guidance from career coaches and mentors to explore his passions and identify potential opportunities for career transition. Through introspection and self-discovery exercises, he clarified his goals and developed a roadmap for transitioning into entrepreneurship.
• Outcome: With renewed confidence and determination, John launched his consulting firm, specializing in financial management for small businesses. Despite facing challenges and uncertainties, he remained resilient and focused on his vision. Today, John’s business is thriving, and he credits his success to his unwavering belief in himself and his abilities to navigate challenges and pursue his entrepreneurial dreams.

3. Case Study: Building Confidence in Academic Achievement

• Background: Emily, a high school student, Emily struggled with low self-confidence and academic performance. Despite her intelligence and potential, she doubted her abilities and often felt overwhelmed by academic pressures.
• Intervention: Emily sought support from teachers, counselors, and tutors to address her academic challenges and boost her self-confidence. Through personalized academic support and encouragement, she developed effective study habits, learned to manage stress, and gained confidence in her ability to succeed academically.
• Outcome: With determination and support, Emily’s academic performance improved significantly, and she began to excel in her studies. She embraced challenges as opportunities for growth, participated actively in extracurricular activities, and pursued her passions with newfound confidence. Emily’s journey exemplifies the transformative power of self-confidence in academic achievement and personal fulfillment.

Self-confidence is the cornerstone of personal growth, resilience, and success. Through introspection, determination, and a willingness to confront challenges, individuals can cultivate a mindset of self-assurance and belief in their abilities. Real-life examples, such as Oprah Winfrey, Serena Williams, Steve Jobs, and Malala Yousafzai, highlight the transformative power of self-confidence in overcoming adversity and achieving greatness. We can realize our full potential and have happy, satisfying lives by accepting our strengths, growing from our mistakes, and steadfastly pursuing our objectives. Let self-confidence be the guiding force that empowers us to navigate life’s complexities and seize opportunities with courage and conviction.

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Self-Confidence Essay: Writing Guide, Topics, & Sample

Problems with self-confidence are relatively common, especially among teenagers and young adults. We all have experienced a lack of self-confidence in certain situations.

What can be the main factors causing low self-esteem?

• Fear and anxiety. It comes from self-doubt and the comparison of yourself to others.
• Lack of motivation. It happens because of criticism or other factors.
• Lack of support. Approval or help from peers or mentors is essential.
• No sense of authenticity. Feeling confident in who you are, gives a great source of power.

It is essential to address these issues as soon as possible. They can lead to problems with communication, personal growth, and difficulties in studies or career.

In this article, our expert team explains how to write a paper about self-confidence. You’ll find writing tips, topics, and an essay example at the end.

• ✍️ Writing a Self-Confidence Essay
• 🧾 82 Topics
• ✒️ Essay Sample

✍️ Essay on Self-Confidence – How to Write

Let’s start with the basics. Follow the steps below to prepare your paper smartly.

1. Choose a Topic

When you write about self-confidence, try to make your topic more specific .

Example of a bad topic: Why is self-confidence important to every person?

Example of a good topic: The connection between self-confidence and studying performance among first-year students.

The first topic is rather general and probably very common. The second one is narrower and implies that you have researched and prepared the paper.

2. Make an Outline

Planning your essay will save you some time and help you focus on the essential aspects.

Here is how to build an outline:

3. Research

Depending on the topic, you might need to conduct research. Don’t choose sources like Wikipedia or forums in your paper; read them only to overview the issue.

Here is why research is always beneficial:

• Information inspires, even if you don’t plan to use particular materials.
• Sources will add your writing some quality and competence.
• It will help you define if your topic is overused or too narrow.

Use these tips to write an essay easily:

• Start with body paragraphs and finish with a conclusion or introduction.
• Create several drafts or versions of your essay and choose the best one.
• Proofread and check for plagiarism.
• If you write a narrative essay based on personal experience, don’t forget about the academic requirements.

🧾 82 Self-Confidence Essay Topics

Here is our selection of the best self-confidence essay topics.

• The correlation between self-confidence and career expectations. Use research to show the connection between ambitions and confidence.
• How does stereotyping affect self-confidence in communication? Explain your opinion about popular stereotypes and people’s ability to confront them using their confidence. 
• The reasons why self-esteem is as important as intelligence in the educational sphere. Describe your experience or use statistics to prove this statement.
• The factors that influence the formation of children’s self-esteem. Describe the aspects connected with family, peers, education, hobbies, etc. 
• What professions demand a high level of self-confidence? Choose from one to three careers and explain the role of confidence in them.
• What are the negative sides of being too self-confident? Use something you have experienced, a real story, or a book or film plot to develop this topic.
• Why are many people confident only in some spheres of their life? Describe this phenomenon and connect it with your life or research data. 
• Discuss the impact of self-confidence in relationships with family members. Write about the competition that often takes place in families and how it is connected with confidence.
• How not to let criticism harm self-confidence. Explain how to embrace problems and use criticism for your personal growth.
• What is the difference between having high self-esteem and being selfish? Compare these concepts and provide your readers with similarities and differences. 
• How do bullying and discrimination affect teenagers’ self-esteem? 
• Describe the situation when you wish you had more self-confidence.
• Adolescents’ depression: Issue analysis.
• The factors that show that a child has problems with self-confidence.
• Teachers’ sense of self-efficacy.
• Is it easier for self-confident people to succeed in life?
• Low self-esteem women and their relationships with men.  
• How to prepare for a public speech if you are not confident enough?
• Depression development and its causes.
• How does self-esteem affect romantic relationships?
• Digital self-harm, causes, and interventions: Annotated bibliography.
• Define the importance of self-confidence in stressful situations.
• Motivational strategies to enhance the student’s self-efficacy.
• What are the best strategies to boost self-confidence as a student?
• How does a divorce affect children’s self-esteem?
• Digital self-harm overview: Causes and interventions.
• How does self-confidence influence people who work in creative industries?
• Social psychology: Group influence on the self.
• Define the word “confidence” using your life experiences.
• Depression in adolescents.
• Is it possible to lose your confidence completely?
• The developing discipline and self-concept in early to mid-adolescence.
• The importance of counseling in educational institutions.
• Competence and self-esteem in human relations.
• How to define if you have issues with self-confidence?
• Is self-confidence a character feature you have naturally or need to develop?
• Self-harm and suicide among adolescents .
• How to define if the person is confident based on their body language?
• How does child neglect affect a child’s self-esteem in adulthood?
• Is it easier for confident people to make friends?
• Suicide prevention: Bullying and depression.
• Do you consider yourself a confident person?
• What are the negative outcomes of being too self-confident?
• Define what is meant by “child neglect becomes self-esteem.”
• How does capitalism regard individualism and self-confident people?
• What are the things self-confidence depends on?
• Childhood bullying: Depression and suicidal attempts.
• Do you need a specialist to eliminate problems with self-confidence?
• Native American adolescent females and self-esteem concerns.
• How does self-confidence influence life choices?
• How would you explain the word “self-confidence” to someone who doesn’t speak English?
• Bullying and participation in classes.
• How does learning new things boost students’ self-confidence?
• Instagram addiction and self-esteem in high school students.
• Why should teachers do their best to boost their students’ self-confidence?
• How does lack of self-confidence affect kids’ motivation to learn?
• Childhood trauma and bullying: Adulthood effects.
• The connection between self-confidence and social acknowledgment in high school.
• Obesity and self-esteem in children and adolescents.
• How does lack of self-confidence affect mental health?
• How to embrace failures as a self-confident person?
• The relationship between bullying and participation in physical education classes.
• How can parents influence children’s self-esteem?
• The role of self-confidence in nursing clinical practice.
• How does external motivation help to build self-confidence?
• Teenage suicide: The silent killer of the youth.
• How do sports help to build your self-confidence?
• Bullying in schools: History, causes, and solutions.
• What is the difference between self-love and self-confidence?
• Self-esteem measurement scale proposal.
• What are the challenges underconfident teenagers face at school?
• The influence of a toxic social environment on self-confidence. 
• Teenage suicide factors and psychological aspects.
• The connection between stress resilience and self-confidence among young adults.
• Risk factors for deliberate self-harm.
• How to practice self-confidence daily?
• The relationship between teenage suicide and depression.
• Does overcoming challenges and solving problems make you more self-confident?
• LGBTQ students’ bullying in schools.
• Describe your experience when self-confidence helped you to succeed.
• Statistics: Teachers’ self-efficacy and gender.
• The importance of self-confidence in a highly competitive environment.

✒️ Self-Confidence and Healthy Life Essay

In the end, check our examples of a self-confidence essay.

When we start thinking about leading a healthy lifestyle, the first things that come to our minds might be nutritious food, regular sports, and getting enough sleep. It can be not so obvious, but having enough self-confidence is a reasonable basis for a healthy lifestyle. Self-confidence influences mental and physical health because it defines how you treat yourself and your relationships and enables you to enjoy your accomplishments fully. If you are self-confident, you value and treat yourself the way you deserve it. Wasting your time and effort on the things you do not need becomes redundant. It also means that you are optimistic and know what you want most of the time. Such an approach helps to reduce anxiety and stress levels. Self-confident people surround themselves with positive relationships that are beneficial for their health. They are not afraid to say “no” to those they do not like. Self-confidence also helps you establish relationships based on mutual respect and understanding each other’s self-worth. This is how you can protect yourself from toxic people and useless interactions. Knowing that you succeeded because you deserve it brings more positive emotions. When you lack self-confidence, you might undervalue your effort and think that you simply got lucky. Confident people know that they invested their resources and received a particular reward. Establishing this logical connection not only maintains but also boosts confidence. Self-confidence can be a great thing to start with if you want to improve your health. It also makes you surround yourself with the right people and experiences. Knowing your self-worth, having a positive social circle, and appreciating your achievements are always beneficial to mental health.

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How to Develop Self Confidence Essay

• To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
• As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
• As a template for you assignment

The first step is preparing for the journey

The second step is setting out to begin the journey, the third and the final step is accelerating towards success.

Self-confidence is ones status of being assured and having a strong belief in himself and his abilities. A person who is self-confident does not struggle too much to make decisions. This essay paper focuses on the three main steps of developing self-confidence. They include; initial preparation, setting out for the process, and accelerating towards success. The final success is determined by both self-efficacy and esteem.

This is the journey to self-confidence that may be long or short depending on the person in question. It’s good for a person to identify first where he is, and his destination. The person should focus on what he has already achieved, at least ten of his best achievements. These should be written somewhere for references.

While still preparing for the journey, it’s good to think about your strengths. This part should include weaknesses, opportunities and threats, but put emphasis on strengths. The other important aspect is managing ones mind by defeating inner talks that can deter the confidence. The final part of preparing for the journey is, committing yourself to succeed.

The right way should be towards the set goals. At this stage one should gather all the knowledge he or she requires so as to succeed. This involves looking for the required skills and acquiring them to be fully equipped. Let the basics be the starting point of the whole process, thus one should not emphasis on perfection but do simple things successfully.

The main objective here would be to set small goals, achieving them successfully, and rejoicing for the achievements. There is no need of setting big challenging goals at this point. While still setting up for the journey, one should keep his or her mind on the positive side. This can be achieved through rejoicing for the attained success. On the other hand, ones mind should also have some techniques of handling failure. Mistakes are inevitable especially when one is trying something for the first time.

At this stage one start feeling some self-confidence developing. There will be several achieved small goals in step 2 to be celebrated in this stage. One feels there is a room for making bigger goals with tougher challenges. Here the person feels more committed than before. At this point some people tend to be over confident due to over stretching themselves.

This should not be the case, as one should stay grounded. Its advisable now for one to evaluate himself or her to see how far is the development. While doing self-evaluation, one finds it simple to identify some unique strategies for developing self-confidence. Stretching bit by bit without overdoing it will lead to a top level of self-confidence.

In conclusion , each step of the three main steps is connected to the other. The first step of preparing for the journey is setting the base for the next step. The crucial aspects set in step two are the ones being celebrated in step three making the process a success.

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IvyPanda. (2018, July 22). How to Develop Self Confidence. https://ivypanda.com/essays/how-to-develop-self-confidence/

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1. IvyPanda . "How to Develop Self Confidence." July 22, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/how-to-develop-self-confidence/.

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Essay on Self Confidence 500+ Words

Self-confidence is like the key that unlocks our potential and helps us navigate the challenges of life with resilience and determination. It is our belief in our abilities and our faith that we can overcome obstacles. In this essay, we will explore the significance of self-confidence and how it can positively impact our lives.

Self-Confidence and Success

Self-confidence is closely linked to success in various aspects of life. Studies have shown that individuals who believe in themselves and their abilities are more likely to set and achieve ambitious goals. For example, a survey of successful entrepreneurs revealed that 95% attributed their success to their high levels of self-confidence.

Overcoming Challenges

Life is full of challenges and setbacks. However, self-confidence equips us with the strength to face these challenges head-on. When we believe in ourselves, we are more likely to persevere and find solutions to difficult problems. Expert opinions emphasize the role of self-confidence in building resilience. Psychologists suggest that self-confidence helps individuals bounce back from adversity more effectively.

Positive Self-Image

Self-confidence is closely tied to a positive self-image. When we have confidence in ourselves, we tend to view ourselves in a more positive light. This self-assurance can boost self-esteem and lead to a happier and more fulfilling life. According to research, individuals with high self-confidence often report higher levels of life satisfaction.

Healthy Relationships

Self-confidence also plays a crucial role in building healthy relationships with others. When we believe in ourselves, we are better at asserting our needs and boundaries. This leads to more balanced and mutually respectful relationships. Studies have shown that individuals with self-confidence are more likely to communicate effectively and maintain strong connections with others.

Academic Success

Self-confidence is a key factor in academic achievement. Students who believe in their abilities tend to perform better in school. They are more likely to participate in class discussions, seek help when needed, and persevere through challenging subjects. A study found a strong correlation between self-confidence and higher academic grades.

Career Advancement

In the professional world, self-confidence is a valuable asset. It can lead to career advancement and opportunities. Individuals with high self-confidence tend to be more assertive, willing to take on leadership roles, and better at handling workplace challenges. Research has shown that self-confident employees are more likely to be promoted and achieve career success.

Building Self-Confidence

While some people may naturally possess self-confidence, it is a skill that can be developed and nurtured. Techniques such as setting achievable goals, practicing positive self-talk, and seeking support from mentors or counselors can help build self-confidence. Education experts stress the importance of fostering self-confidence in students to help them excel academically and socially.

Conclusion of Essay on Self Confidence

In conclusion, self-confidence is the foundation upon which we build our success, happiness, and resilience. It empowers us to overcome challenges, maintain healthy relationships, and achieve our goals. It is a valuable asset in academic and professional settings, and it contributes to a positive self-image. As a fifth-grader, you are at a stage where developing self-confidence can have a profound impact on your life.

Remember that self-confidence is not about being perfect or never facing doubts. It’s about believing in yourself and your abilities, even when you encounter setbacks. It’s about knowing that you have the strength to face challenges and the resilience to bounce back from failures. So, nurture your self-confidence, set ambitious goals, and believe in your potential. With self-confidence as your ally, you can embark on a journey of personal growth and success, turning your dreams into reality.

Also Check: List of 500+ Topics for Writing Essay

Essay on Self Confidence

Essay generator.

Self-confidence is the inner belief in one’s own abilities and judgment. It is a vital aspect of personal development, influencing success, mental health, and overall happiness. This essay delves into the essence of self-confidence, its significance, how it can be built and maintained, and its impact on an individual’s life.

Self-Confidence

Self-confidence is not merely a trait one is born with but a quality that is nurtured over time. It involves trust in one’s capabilities, decisions, and ability to face challenges. Unlike arrogance, which may stem from an overestimation of one’s abilities, self-confidence is a balanced and realistic appraisal of one’s own worth and capabilities.

The Significance of Self-Confidence

Self-confidence is crucial for several reasons. It empowers individuals to take risks, embrace new challenges, and pursue their goals with perseverance. Confident individuals are more likely to succeed in various aspects of life, including academic achievements, careers, and personal relationships. Furthermore, self-confidence contributes to mental well-being, reducing the likelihood of issues such as anxiety and depression.

Building Self-Confidence

Building self-confidence is a process that involves various strategies:

• Positive Self-Talk : Replacing negative thoughts with positive affirmations can significantly impact self-perception and confidence levels.
• Setting and Achieving Goals : Achieving small goals can boost confidence by providing evidence of one’s capabilities.
• Learning New Skills : Acquiring new skills enhances self-efficacy, contributing to higher self-confidence.
• Overcoming Challenges : Facing and overcoming challenges reinforce the belief in one’s abilities.
• Seeking Support : Encouragement from friends, family, and mentors can bolster self-confidence.

Maintaining Self-Confidence

Maintaining self-confidence requires consistency in practicing self-affirmation, seeking new challenges, and embracing lifelong learning. It’s also essential to avoid comparing oneself to others, as this can undermine self-confidence. Instead, focusing on personal growth and achievements can help maintain a healthy level of self-confidence.

The Role of Self-Confidence in Success

Self-confidence plays a pivotal role in achieving success. It enables individuals to approach tasks with a positive mindset and resilience, significantly increasing the likelihood of success. In the academic realm, confident students are more likely to participate in class, seek help when needed, and excel in their studies. In the professional world, self-confidence facilitates effective communication, leadership, and the ability to navigate challenges.

Self-Confidence and Mental Health

There is a strong link between self-confidence and mental health. High self-confidence can reduce stress, anxiety, and depression, leading to a more fulfilling life. Conversely, low self-confidence can contribute to mental health challenges. Therefore, fostering self-confidence is not only beneficial for achieving external success but also for maintaining mental and emotional well-being.

Challenges to Self-Confidence

Despite its importance, building and maintaining self-confidence can be challenging. External factors such as failure, criticism, and societal pressures can diminish self-confidence. Internal factors, such as perfectionism and self-doubt, can also hinder its development. Recognizing and addressing these challenges is crucial for fostering a healthy level of self-confidence.

Strategies for Overcoming Challenges

To overcome challenges to self-confidence, individuals can adopt several strategies:

• Embrace Failure as a Learning Opportunity : Viewing failure as a chance to learn and grow can mitigate its negative impact on self-confidence.
• Seek Constructive Feedback : Instead of avoiding criticism, seeking and using constructive feedback can be a powerful tool for improvement and confidence-building.
• Practice Self-Compassion : Being kind to oneself during difficult times can prevent self-criticism from eroding self-confidence.
• Set Realistic Expectations : Setting achievable goals and acknowledging one’s limitations can prevent disappointment and bolster self-confidence.

In conclusion, self-confidence empowers individuals to face life’s challenges with resilience and optimism. It is not a fixed trait but a quality that can be developed and enhanced over time. As such, fostering self-confidence is an investment in one’s future, laying the foundation for success, well-being, and personal satisfaction.

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What Is Self-Confidence? (+ 9 Proven Ways to Increase It)

This movement started with a book published in 1969, in which psychologist Nathaniel Branden argued that most mental or emotional problems people faced could be traced back to low self-esteem. Branden laid the foundation for the Self-Esteem Movement with his assertion that improving an individual’s self-esteem could not only result in better performance but could even cure pathology.

Since then, there have been thousands of papers published and studies conducted on the relationship between success and self-esteem. This is a popular idea not only in literature but in more mainstream mediums as well. Before we begin exploring the complexities of self-esteem it is essential to unpack the differences between the overlapping concepts of self-efficacy , self-confidence, and self-esteem .

“Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit.”

E.E. Cummings

Before you read on, we thought you might like to download our three Self-Compassion Exercises for free . These detailed, science-based exercises will not only increase your compassion and self-esteem but will also give you the tools to help your clients, students or employees show more kindness and compassion towards themselves.

This Article Contains

Defining the difference: self-efficacy, self-confidence, and self-esteem, popular theories of self-confidence, the importance of self-confidence, too much of good thing: the consequences of self-esteem education, the benefits of fear: practicing courage and building confidence, 9 lessons for practicing self-confidence, a take-home message: it’s a process, frequently asked questions.

While most people generally think of self-esteem and self-confidence as two names for the same thing, and probably rarely think about the term “self-efficacy,” these three terms hold slightly different meanings for the psychologists who study them (Druckman & Bjork, 1994; Oney, & Oksuzoglu-Guven, 2015).

What is Self-Efficacy?

Albert Bandura is arguably the most cited author on the subject of self-efficacy, and he defines self-efficacy as an individual’s beliefs about their capacity to influence the events in their own lives (Bandura, 1977).

This differs from self-esteem in an important way: the definition of self-esteem often rests on ideas about an individual’s worth or worthiness, while self-efficacy is rooted in beliefs about an individual’s capabilities to handle future situations . In this sense, self-esteem is more of a present-focused belief while self-efficacy is more of a forward-looking belief.

What is Self-Confidence?

This is likely the most used term for these related concepts outside of psychological research, but there is still some confusion about what exactly self-confidence is. One of the most cited sources about self-confidence refers to it as simply believing in oneself (Bénabou & Tirole, 2002).

Another popular article defines self-confidence as an individual’s expectations of performance and self-evaluations of abilities and prior performance (Lenney, 1977).

Finally, Psychology Dictionary Online defines self-confidence as an individual’s trust in his or her own abilities, capacities, and judgments, or belief that he or she can successfully face day to day challenges and demands (Psychology Dictionary Online).

Self-confidence also brings about more happiness. Typically, when you are confident in your abilities, you are happier due to your successes. When you are feeling better about your capabilities, the more energized and motivated you are to take action and achieve your goals .

Self-confidence, then, is similar to self-efficacy in that it tends to focus on the individual’s future performance; however, it seems to be based on prior performance, and so in a sense, it also focuses on the past.

Many psychologists tend to refer to self-efficacy when considering an individual’s beliefs about their abilities concerning a specific task or set of tasks, while self-confidence is more often referred to as a broader and more stable trait concerning an individual’s perceptions of overall capability.

What is Self-Esteem?

The most influential voices in self-esteem research were, arguably, Morris Rosenberg and Nathaniel Branden. In his 1965 book, Society and the Adolescent Self-Image, Rosenberg discussed his take on self-esteem and introduced his widely used accepted Self-Esteem Scale.

A Free PDF of the Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem Scale is available here .

His definition of self-esteem rested on the assumption that it was a relatively stable belief about one’s overall self-worth. This is a broad definition of self-esteem, defining it as a trait that is influenced by many different factors and is relatively difficult to change.

In contrast, Branden believes self-esteem is made up of two distinct components: self-efficacy, or the confidence we have in our ability to cope with life’s challenges, and self-respect, or the belief that we are deserving of happiness, love, and success (1969).

The definitions are similar, but it is worth noting that Rosenberg’s definition relies on beliefs about self-worth, a belief which can have wildly different meanings to different people, while Branden is more specific about which beliefs are involved in self-esteem.

What about those who have too much self-esteem? Could narcissism be the result of having too much self-esteem? A psychological definition would be that narcissism is an extreme amount of selfishness, with a grandiose view of one’s own talents and a craving for admiration.

Self-esteem at high and low levels can be damaging, so it is important to strike a balance in the middle. A realistic but positive view of the self is often ideal.

Where does self-esteem come from? What influence does it have on our lives? Self-esteem is often seen as a personality trait, which means it tends to be stable and enduring.

There are typically three components which make up self-esteem:

• Self-esteem is an essential human need that is vital for survival and normal, healthy development
• Self-esteem arises automatically from within based on a person’s beliefs and consciousness
• Self-esteem occurs in conjunction with a person’s thoughts, behaviors, feelings, and actions.

Self-esteem is one of the basic human motivations in Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Maslow would suggest that individuals need both esteem from other people as well as inner self-respect. These needs must be fulfilled in order for an individual to grow and thrive.

These needs must be fulfilled in order for an individual to grow and achieve self-actualization . Self-confidence and self-esteem are two closely related psychological phenomena, both based on past experiences and both looking forward at future performance.

With these definitions in hand, we can take a closer look at common beliefs and popular theories surrounding self-confidence and self-esteem.

As noted earlier, Branden’s theory of self-esteem became a widely referenced and understood theory, but there were also other theories and frameworks for understanding self-esteem in the psychological literature.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, an iconic although somewhat out-of-date framework in psychology, theorizes that there are several needs that humans must have met to be truly fulfilled, but, generally, the most basic needs must be met before more complex needs can be met (1943). In his pyramid, self-esteem is the second highest level of need, just under self-actualization.

According to Maslow, humans must have their needs of physiological stability, safety, love and belonging met before they can develop healthy self-esteem. He also noted that there are two kinds of self-esteem, a “higher” and a “lower,” the lower self-esteem derived from the respect of others, while the higher self-esteem comes from within.

In the years following his introduction of the hierarchy of needs, Maslow refined his theory to accommodate the instances of highly self-actualized people who are homeless or individuals who live in a dangerous area or war zone but are also high in self-esteem.

This hierarchy is no longer considered as a strict theory of unidirectional growth, but a more general explanation of how basic needs being met allow individuals the freedom and ability to achieve their more complex ones.

Terror Management Theory

A darker theory that delves a bit deeper into the human experience to explain self-confidence is the Terror Management Theory .

Terror Management Theory (TMT) is based on the idea that humans hold great potential for responding with terror to the awareness of their own mortality, and that worldviews that emphasize peoples’ beliefs in their own significance as humans protect them against this terror (Greenberg & Arndt, 2011).

TMT posits that self-esteem forms as a way to protect and buffer against anxiety, and subsequently, people strive for self-confidence and react negatively to anyone or anything that could undermine their beliefs in their comforting worldview.

Sociometer Theory

Mark Leary, a social psychologist who researches self-esteem in the context of evolutionary psychology, also contributed a theory of self-esteem to the literature.

The Sociometer Theory suggests that self-esteem is an internal gauge of the degree to which one is included vs. excluded by others (Leary, 2006). This theory rests on the conception of self-esteem as an internal individual perception of social acceptance and rejection.

There is some strong evidence for the accuracy and applicability of this theory. For example, studies have shown that the outcomes of events on people’s self-esteem generally match up with their assumptions about how the same events would cause other people to accept or reject them (Leary, Tambor, Terdal, & Downs, 1995).

Finally, evidence shows that social exclusion based on personal characteristics decreases self-esteem (Leary et al., 1995).

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“Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Regardless of which theory you may personally subscribe to, the outcomes of high self-confidence are generally agreed upon by researchers.

A broad review of the correlates of self-esteem found that high self-esteem is associated with better health, better social lives, protection against mental disorders and social problems, healthy coping, and mental well-being (Mann, Hosman, Schaalma, & de Vries, 2004).

Children with high self-confidence perform better at school and, later in life, have higher job satisfaction in middle age. Self-esteem is also strongly linked to happiness, with higher levels of self-esteem predicting higher levels of happiness. High self-confidence has even been found to increase the chances of survival after a serious surgical procedure (Mann et al., 2004).

As noted earlier, there have been thousands of papers published on self-confidence or self-esteem, and many of these papers connect self-confidence with success in life.

Some studies show a strong relationship between self-confidence and positive mental health (Atherton et al., 2016; Clark & Gakuru, 2014; Gloppen, David-Ferdon, & Bates, 2010; Skenderis, 2015; Stankov, 2013; Stankov & Lee, 2014). The success of individuals with high self-esteem lies in these six attributes:

• A greater sense of self-worth
• Greater enjoyment in life and in activities
• Freedom from self-doubt
• Freedom from fear and anxiety, freedom from social anxiety, and less stress
• More energy and motivation to act
• More enjoyable time interacting with other people at social gatherings. When you are relaxed and confident others will feel at ease around you.

In less hopeful news, some research has shown that increasing confidence does not always lead to enhanced positive outcomes (Brinkman, Tichelaar, van Agtmael, de Vries, & Richir, 2015; Forsyth, Lawrence, Burnette, & Baumeister, 2007).

Journalists in mainstream media have pointed out that there are also negative correlates with self-confidence. For example, self-confidence has steadily increased over the last 50 years, and with it, narcissism and unrealistic expectations have also increased (Kremer, 2013). Maybe there is such a thing as “too much a good thing,” when we are building our children’s self-esteem.

Self-confidence or self-esteem has been praised in Western society for the past 25 years. During this time, it was believed that a positive self-image was the key to a happy and successful life, leading to the birth of the self-esteem era of education.

Children of this generation are taught in schools and at home to consider themselves to be special, to only focus on their positive traits , and to receive praise for very little accomplishment.

Recent research, however, suggests that these practices and beliefs, rather than protecting people from depression, may contribute to low motivation and a decrease in goal-directed behavior (Dweck, 2007).

If boosting self-confidence is better at increasing narcissism and ambition than achievement and success, what should we do? Do we ditch the idea of improving self-confidence?

Baumeister and colleagues have an answer. There are certain contexts where a boost of self-confidence can improve performance, and these opportunities should not be ignored.

They recommend continuing to boost self-esteem, but in a more measured and cautious manner (Baumeister et al., 2003). They encourage parents and teachers to give children praise in order to increase their self-confidence, but only as a reward for socially desirable behavior.

This method ensures that children receive some positive attention and have the opportunity to develop healthy self-esteem, and it does not run the risk of convincing children that they are exceedingly competent whether they work hard or not.

Steve Baskin (2011) lays out another positive move parents can take: letting their children fail.  Recently, parents have taken great care in shielding their children from pain and problems and forming a protective bubble of love and esteem-building around them. This often has the unintended consequence of not only protecting children from struggle but also from growth.

Baskin suggests taking a step back as parents, and letting children figure out how to deal with disappointment and pain, an undertaking that will likely result in the development of resilience and successful coping skills. If we want to encourage all children to not only feel their best but to also do their best, these seem like good solutions.

In his TED Talk Dr. Ivan Joseph (2012), a former athletic director and soccer coach connects his dedication to building self-confidence with his subsequent career success and encourages the audience to follow some tips to build healthy self-confidence in their children.

Fear exists to protect us from physical danger; it is our instinct to prevent ourselves from being eaten by a predator. However, in the absence of such predators and with protection designed into our homes, cars and parenting styles, fear has adapted to respond instead to modern day stresses, which can trigger past negative feelings of shame , hurt or fear.

These experiences operate in the background of our psyche, taking up mental bandwidth and memory, just like mobile apps which run in the background of your phone using memory and battery power.

When we stay in our comfort zone protected from these experiences by the familiarity of routine activities, we live life unaware of our ability to grow and develop new strengths and skills. The less we experience opportunities for mistakes and failure, the more scared we become of what could happen if we were to step outside of our comfort zone.

However, when we do take that plunge, even without confidence in our abilities, courage takes over. In the realm of the known, confidence operates without any hindrance, but in the realm of fear of the unknown courage takes over.

Courage is typically a more noble attribute than confidence because it requires greater strength, and typically a courageous person is one without limits for growth and success.

We can be grateful for fear. We can learn to eagerly embrace it, understand its origin and use it as a signpost for what needs to be dealt with, a powerful tool to declutter the mental closets. And just like actually cleaning out our closets, we can sort through what we want to keep and what no longer fits us . And when it’s cleared out we can feel renewed and energized.

But fear can’t always be overcome just by crossing your fingers and hoping for the best.

We, humans, are strange creatures. We expect our fear to disappear in an instant, however, we accept that we cannot just pick up the violin and play Vivaldi in an instant.

“To build confidence, you have to practice confidence”

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Martin Seligman reminds us that a positive self-image by itself does not produce anything. A sustainable sense of security in oneself arises from positive and productive behavior (Seligman, 1996).

This is not to say that feeling secure and trusting in yourself is not important for wellbeing. High self-confidence or self-efficacy has been linked to many positive physical and mental health outcomes (Pajares, 1996).

Many of us would like to have higher self-confidence but struggle to overcome insecurity, fear, and negative self-talk. With some reflection, hard work, and perhaps a shift in perception we can work towards a strong and stable belief in ourselves.

“Wellbeing cannot just exist in our own head. It is a combination of actually having meaning, good relationships, and accomplishment.”

 Martin Seligman

1. Stand or Sit in a Posture of Confidence

Harvard psychologist Amy Cuddy and others have studied the positive effects of confident body postures on our hormones.

Look for the sensations of confidence and practice feeling them more in your body. Feel your feet on the ground, keep your body relaxed and open. Think regal.

Watch Amy Cuddy’s TED Talk about all about the effect of posture on self-confidence.

Her basic message in the video is that an individual’s posture does not just reflect the level of confidence or insecurity. Posture sends messages to the brain that can actually change the way you feel. So, if you want to feel more powerful, sit up straight, smile, or stand in a “power pose,” and that message will be sent to your brain.

2. Practice Presence

Mindfulness is proven to have significant benefits for your physical and psychological wellbeing. You can practice mindfulness anytime, anywhere. You can give try it right now by following these steps:

• Become aware of your awareness; that is, begin to observe yourself and your surroundings.
• Start with your body sensations, feeling your feet and legs, your belly and chest, your arms, neck, and head.
• Notice your breath flowing in and out, the many sensations that you are experiencing.
• Let your eyes notice what is in your visual field, your ears, what they are hearing. Perhaps sensations of smell and taste will come to awareness as well.
• Go beyond these simple sensations to feel the energy, the quiet, or the noises that surround you. Feel your presence.

3. Build Your Capacity for Energy

What does this mean? A bit of stress can be useful to keep us alert and give us the extra energy needed to perform. Try reframing your nervous jitters as excitement! Knowing how to engage with these feelings in your body will expand your presence rather than shrinking it down.

4. Exercise Regularly

Exercise has a powerful effect on confidence. Regular exercise releases endorphins which in turn interact with the opiate receptors in the brain, which produces a pleasurable state of mind and, in turn, you’ll view yourself in a more positive light.

When you exercise regularly, you will not only get better physically but you will feel more motivated to act in ways that build your self-confidence.

5. Visualize: Imagine Confidence

Close your eyes and relax your body completely. Stay firmly connected to the sensation of relaxation and in your mind’s eye, see yourself speaking on camera or doing whatever activity for which you would like more confidence. Allow the feelings of a comfortable presence to pervade your body and your mind.

6. Give Yourself Permission To Be In The Process, Take Risks and Make Mistakes

From the outside, we often think, “wow, everybody else is more happy, beautiful, creative, successful, active, etc. than me. I’m just not good enough to be like them.” What we don’t tend to consider is that failure is inherent in accomplishment and that in order to pursue our goals, we have to work hard and face our weaknesses. Even those who are exceptional in some areas of life are likely struggling in others.

Allow yourself to be a learner, to be a novice. Trust that it’s okay not to be perfect; in fact, you’ll likely provide inspiration to others in similar situations.

When breaking out of your comfort zone and starting something new, you are expanding your own limitations. When you successfully complete something that is out of your confidence zone, you are building confidence in yourself.

7. Clarify Your Goals

Making progress towards personally meaningful goals is the scaffolding upon which healthy self-confidence is built. In his book, Flourish Seligman proposes PERMA , a five-factor framework for wellbeing in which the “A” stands for accomplishment.

The S.M.A.R.T goals system offers a guideline for goal-setting in which goals are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. This system is based on research that suggests that these types of goals lead to greater and more consistent achievement (Locke, 1968).

When considering what goals you’d like to set for yourself, it may be helpful to start big considering your core values and life goals . Then you can come up with actionable steps to work toward these. Writing a personal mission statement is a great way to give yourself some direction.

“Happiness does not simply happen to us. It’s something that we make happen and it comes from doing our best.”

Mihali Csikszentmihalyi

8. Speak Well to Yourself

It’s always delightful to get good feedback from others. However, always seeking approval from outside yourself is an easy trap.

“Approve of yourself; be the one that says the words of encouragement you long to hear.”

Speak to yourself with self-compassion , kindness, and encouragement. After all, the most important relationship you have in your life is with yourself- make it a good one!

9. Ask For Help and Offer Your Help to Others

Many of us struggle to ask for help due to fear of rejection or being seen as incompetent. In Western cultures, the high value placed on self-reliance gets in the way of reaching out to others even though this is a necessary part of working toward our goals. However, conversely, a core feature of self-confidence also lies in being valued by others.

A sense of belonging within our social system is fundamental to personal wellbeing (Baumeister & Leary, 1995).

In a recent review of contemporary literature, Stephen Post, head of Case Western Reserve University Medical School, found a profound connection between giving, altruism, and happiness (2008). When we play a positive role in our families, friendships, and communities we rightly feel good about ourselves. We feel that we are fulfilling a greater more meaningful purpose in our lives.

A study by Frank Flynn, professor of organizational behavior at Stanford, revealed that people tend to grossly underestimate the willingness of others to help (2008). Flynn says “our research should encourage people to ask for help and not to assume that others are disinclined to comply” (2008).

Collaboration among people creates the most powerful results. When we reach out to others, we can see our efforts flourish in ways that we could never achieve on our own.

“Doing a kindness produces the single most reliable increase in momentary wellbeing than any other exercise we have tested.”

Martin Seligman

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The bottom line is that a healthy sense of self-confidence is not something that we achieve once and then just have for the rest of our lives. If you are a parent, teacher, or someone else who interacts with children frequently, notice whether you are trying to build children’s self-esteem through protecting and praising them.

Consider what you are encouraging the child to learn from their actions, provide them with enough opportunities to safely learn through failure and offer them space to build their courage and express their self-efficacy.

No matter how confident they are, there will be a moment when they will need to draw from a deep well of self-esteem, resilience, and problem-solving to successfully navigate a complex and challenging world.

Self-confidence waxes and wanes and takes work to build, develop and maintain. We all experience moments which challenge our confidence. However, when we understand the sources of healthy self-confidence we can always work on cultivating it within ourselves.

What do you think about the challenge of building self-confidence? How do you feel about building self-confidence in education? What is your greatest confidence maker or breaker? Let us know in the comments box below.

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don’t forget to download our three Self Compassion Exercises for free .

There are many reasons why someone may lack confidence, including:

• past experiences of failure or criticism,
• negative self-talk or beliefs,
• comparison to others, or
• lack of experience or knowledge in a particular area.

The 3 types of self-confidence are:

• Task-specific: confidence in your ability to perform a specific task or skill
• General: overall confidence in yourself and your abilities
• Situational: confidence that varies depending on the situation or context, such as public speaking or social situations

You can stop being insecure by:

• Challenging negative self-talk and beliefs
• Focusing on your strengths and accomplishments
• Practicing self-care and self-compassion
• Seeking out positive and supportive relationships
• Practicing mindfulness or meditation to increase self-awareness and decrease anxiety
• Developing new skills and knowledge to increase competence and confidence
• Seeking professional help if necessary, such as therapy or counseling.
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It’s a really helpfull article. I must apply in my daily life. Thanku so much for giving me this knowledge.

This is really useful article. Helps to apply this points in my corporate life. Thanks!

Sorry i mistakenly clicked on the number 1 to evaluate this article. On the contrary to my evaluation, the article was very useful to me. On the scale of 1 to 10, i will choose 9

Great article and I appreciate the references to other resources!

I disagree with “What about those who have too much self-esteem? Narcissism is the result of having too much self-esteem.” No, Narcissism is an extreme form of selfishness, entitlement and self-delusion – not self-esteem.

As your paragraph continues: “A psychological definition (of narcissism) would be an extreme amount of selfishness, with a grandiose view of one’s own talents and a craving for admiration.” Confident people don’t need to be selfish, and don’t need to crave admiration.

Perhaps the greater point, we can agree on, is that self-confidence needs to be aligned with reality, not self-delusion.

Aside from this one point of disagreement, thank you for a great article and the nine ways to build self-esteem.

Self confidence is so important especially in the workplace when surrounded by great talent.

Hi, Dr. Nathaniel Branden and I disagree with the research involving, “too much self-esteem.” Branden ( 2011) states the following, “The question is sometimes asked, “Is it possible to have too much self-esteem?” No, it is not; no more than it is possible to have too much physical health or too powerful an immune system. Sometimes self-esteem is confused with boasting or bragging or arrogance; but such traits reflect not too much self-esteem, but too little; they reflect a lack of self-esteem. Persons of high self-esteem are not driven to make themselves superior to others; they do not seek to prove their value by measuring themselves against a comparative standard. Their joy is in being who they are, not in being better than someone else. I recall reflecting on this issue one day while watching my dog playing in the backyard. She was running about, sniffing flowers, chasing squirrels, leaping into the air, showing great joy in being alive (from my anthropomorphic perspective). She was not thinking (I am sure) that she was more glad to be alive than was the dog next door. She was simply delighting in her own existence. That image captures something essential of how I understand the experience of healthy self-esteem. People with troubled self-esteem are often uncomfortable in the presence of those with higher self-esteem and may feel resentful and declare, “They have too much self-esteem.” But what they are really making is a statement about themselves. Insecure men, for instance, often feel more insecure in the presence of self-confident women. Low-self-esteem individuals often feel irritable in the presence of people who are enthusiastic about life. If one partner in a marriage whose self-esteem is deteriorating sees that the partner’s self-esteem is growing, the response is sometimes anxiety and an attempt to sabotage the growth process. The sad truth is, whoever is successful in this world runs the risk of being a target. People of low achievement often envy and resent people of high achievement. Those who are unhappy often envy and resent those who are happy. And those of low self-esteem sometimes like to talk about the danger of having “too much self-esteem.”” (p. 33).

Branden, N. (2011). The six pillars of self-esteem. Bantam.

Hi Joe, Thanks for sharing your thoughts and yours and Dr Branden’s thinking. I quite liked the analogy regarding the dog running amongst the flowers. You make a great point about the conceptual confusion regarding arrogance and self-esteem. Just because a person is highly content wth themselves, it doesn’t mean that will translate into comparison or arrogant behaviors. As you note, such behaviors would likely suggest underlying problems with self-esteem. – Nicole | Community Manager

Hello Nicole, thanks for your perspective! I find it somewhat upsetting that self-esteem is not clearly defined by the general sources that I have researched. I have found that the most logical and precise meaning of self-esteem has been explained by Dr. Nathaniel Branden in his book mentioned in my post.

Confidence is like an artist/journey, the more an expert one becomes, the more one can unravel: there is no limit to it. However, it’s important that one keeps a balance through the journey.

Hi there, I should have added, it was due to your article, I came up with the thought

nice one to the world

Your 9 ways made feel as if I was surfing a big long wave, (and I don’t surf) . What you have compiled here I have known about, but I enjoyed how you wrote and how you referenced. I am 64 and just beginning a bachelor of psychology course online with no prior tertiary education(scary). I’m very interested in self-confidence as in education because of how much it strangles potential, in my observations of self & the more I listen to many deprive themselves because of this

The best of learning on your new path, Rocky!! I love how you are putting yourself out there for your new educational path! 🙂

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Essay on Self Confidence for Students and Children in 1000+ Words

In this article, you will read an Essay on Self Confidence for Students and Children in 1000+ Words.

Table of Contents

Essay on Self Confidence (1000+ Words)

What do you mean by self confidence.

Fearlessness implies trust in oneself. To play out any undertaking, it is significant for an individual to believe in himself because with the assistance of this conviction, he can get accomplishment in that work.

While taking care of any responsibility, you should have total self-confidence and no dread of fizzling. Fearlessness is the greatest mystery of progress.

Inception of Self confidence 

In certain individuals, self-confidence originates from the youth, while in certain individuals, self-confidence emerges after some time. Guardians ought to consistently empower youngsters and increment their self confidence.

Self Confidence is key to progress 

The individual who has self-confidence alone is equivalent to a hundred. There have been numerous such individuals in history who have made progress on the quality of their hard work and self-confidence. 

Self confidence helps to think 

He isn’t apprehensive about disappointments; regardless of whether he fizzles, he will have the fortitude to stand up and buckle down for what he needs. Fearlessness causes you to center on the things that make you feeble. 

What happens in the absence of Self confidence? 

How to increase self confidence.

Individuals should have positive musings to manufacture fearlessness. An individual loaded with self-confidence is consistent in energy and eagerness. 

Advantage of Self confidence 

Each individual ought to conquer their dread and increment their fearlessness with the goal that achievement can be accomplished without any problem.

For what reason is Self-confidence significant? 

Step by step instructions to pick up your confidence , improve your aptitudes  .

Thusly, to make progress in any meeting, it is significant that you improve your capacity. It is critical to keep refreshed with the additional difficulties in your field to propel one’s vocation. 

Try not to fear difficulties 

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How to Be More Confident: 9 Tips That Work

Believing in yourself will take you far

Verywell / Jiaqi Zhou

Ways to Be More Confident

Confidence vs. insecurity, being more confident has a lot of benefits, frequently asked questions.

The majority of us probably want to be a little more confident. A feeling of trust in your abilities, qualities, and judgment? Sign us up. The American Psychological Association defines self-confidence as "a belief that one is capable of successfully meeting the demands of a task."

It can refer to a general sense of trust in your ability to control your life , or it might be more situation-specific. For example, you might have high self-confidence in a particular area of expertise but feel less confident in other areas. Research suggests that confidence is important to health and psychological well-being .

But cultivating and maintaining confidence isn't easy and it's an easy thing to lose when you feel like you've failed or made a mistake. That's why actively working on building up your self-confidence is so crucial, it's something you have to maintain. As cheesy as it sounds, you do have to believe in yourself!

"The doubt that comes with second-guessing yourself has both internal and external repercussions," explains Hannah Owens, LMSW. "Confidence not only affects you and how you feel about yourself, but it also communicates to others that you are trustworthy and capable—which can be helpful both socially and at work."

Having a healthy level of self-confidence can help you become more successful in your personal and professional life. Research has found, for example, that more confident people tend to achieve more academically. Your level of confidence even affects how you present yourself to others.

Fortunately, there are several ways you can increase your self-confidence. Whether you lack confidence in one specific area or struggle to feel confident about anything, these nine tips can help you be more confident.

Stop Comparing Yourself to Others

Do you compare how you look to people you follow on Instagram? Or maybe you compare your salary to what your friend earns. Social comparison theory explains that making comparisons is natural. But it isn't likely to help boost your self-confidence. It may even have the opposite effect. 

A 2018 study published in Personality and Individual Differences found a direct link between envy and the way we feel about ourselves. Specifically, researchers noted that when people compare themselves to others, they experience envy. And the more envy they have, the worse they feel about themselves.

How do you build self-confidence when you notice that you are drawing comparisons? First, remind yourself that doing so isn’t helpful. Everyone is running their own race and life isn’t a competition.

If you’re feeling envious of someone else’s life, it's also helpful to remember your own strengths and successes. Keep a  gratitude journal to better recall the areas in life where you are blessed. This can help you focus on your own life versus focusing on the lives of others.

"Social media is especially nefarious in this way," says Owens. "It is a system practically designed to foster comparison. But remembering that people generally only post the very best and the very worst of their experiences can help you celebrate your daily victories, which can boost your confidence."

Surround Yourself With Positive People

Take a moment and think about how your friends make you feel. Do they lift you up, or do they bring you down? Are they constantly judging you, or do they accept you for who you are? 

The people you spend time with can influence your thoughts and attitudes about yourself, perhaps more than you realize. So, pay attention to how others make you feel. If you feel bad about yourself after hanging out with a particular person, it may be time to say goodbye . 

Instead, surround yourself with people who love you and want the best for you. Seek out others who are positive and can help build your confidence. Self-confidence and a positive attitude go hand-in-hand.

Take Care of Your Body

This tip for how to be more confident is based on the idea that it’s hard to feel good about yourself if you’re abusing your body. When you practice self-care , you know you're doing something positive for your mind, body, and spirit—and you'll naturally feel more confident as a result.

Here are a few self-care practices linked to higher levels of self-confidence:

• Diet : Healthy eating comes with many benefits, including higher levels of confidence and self-esteem. When you fuel your body with nutrient-dense foods, you feel healthier, stronger, and more energized, which can result in feeling better about yourself.
• Exercise : Studies consistently show that physical exercise boosts self-confidence. For instance, a 2016 study found that regular physical activity improved participants’ body image. And when their body image improved, they felt more confident.
• Meditation : More than just a relaxation practice, meditation can help boost self-confidence in several ways. For one, it helps you to recognize and accept yourself. Meditation also teaches you to stop negative self-talk and disconnect from unhelpful mental chatter interfering with your confidence.
• Sleep : Skimping on sleep can take a toll on your emotions. Conversely, good-quality sleep has been linked with positive personality traits, including optimism and self-esteem.

Caring for yourself is important to self-confidence. Make sure you are getting what you need to feel good about yourself and your abilities.

"Taking care of your body doesn't just mean looking good," explains Owens. "When you make yourself and your self-care a priority, you are projecting to the world that you matter—which convinces others to feel the same way about you."

Be Kind to Yourself

Self-compassion involves treating yourself with kindness when you make a mistake, fail, or experience a setback. It allows you to become more emotionally flexible and helps you better navigate challenging emotions, enhancing your connection to yourself and others.

Hannah Owens, LMSW

Taking care of your body doesn't just mean looking good...When you make yourself and your self-care a priority, you are projecting to the world that you matter—which convinces others to feel the same way about you.

A 2015 study connects self-compassion with self-confidence. So the next time you're in a challenging situation, recognize that being imperfect or falling short at times is a part of being human. Do your best to navigate these experiences with compassion toward yourself.

Practice Positive Self-Talk

Negative self-talk can limit your abilities and lessen your self-confidence by convincing your subconscious that you "can't handle" something or that it is "too hard" and you "shouldn't even try." Self-talk that is optimistic, on the other hand, can foster self-compassion and help you overcome self-doubt and take on new challenges.

The next time you begin to think that you have no business speaking up in a meeting or that you are too out of shape to work out, remind yourself that your thoughts aren’t always accurate. Then find a way to turn those thoughts around into more positive self-talk .

Here are a few examples of ways to challenge pessimistic self-talk and reframe your thoughts into a more positive way of thinking, increasing your self-confidence along the way:

• "I can't handle this" or "This is impossible" becomes "I can do this" or "All I have to do is try."
• "I can't do anything right" becomes "I can do better next time" or "At least I learned something."
• "I hate public speaking" becomes "I don't like public speaking" and "Everyone has strengths and weaknesses."

Face Your Fears

Stop putting things off until you feel more self-confident—like asking someone on a date or applying for a promotion. One of the best ways to build your confidence in these situations is by facing your fears head-on .

Practice facing some of your fears that stem from a lack of self-confidence. If you’re afraid you’ll embarrass yourself or think that you’re going to mess up, try anyway. A little self-doubt can even help improve performance. Tell yourself it’s just an experiment and see what happens.

You might learn that being a little anxious or making a few mistakes isn’t as bad as you thought. And each time you move forward, you gain more confidence in yourself. In the end, this can help prevent you from taking risks that will result in major negative consequences.

"This is, of course, easier said than done," says Owens, "but even small victories can help. Consider this a kind of exposure therapy - even a little progress is still progress!"

Do Things You're Good At

What happens when you do things that you are good at? Your self-confidence starts to soar. Your strengths become even stronger, which helps improve your belief in yourself. Taking this approach also has another benefit: it can increase how satisfied you are with your life.

One study found that believing in your ability to build on your personal strengths is moderately related to life satisfaction levels. This starts with identifying what those strengths are. Then, work to make them stronger by engaging with them regularly.

If you're good at a certain sport, for instance, make it a point to train or play at least once a week. If you're good at a particular task at work, try to do that task more often. Building on your strengths can also help you build your self-confidence.

Know When to Say No

While doing things you're good at can give your self-confidence a boost, it's equally important to recognize situations that can cause your confidence to plummet. Maybe you find that every time you participate in a certain activity, you feel worse about yourself instead of better.

Saying no to activities that tend to zap your self-confidence is okay. Certainly, you don't want to avoid doing anything that makes you feel uncomfortable because discomfort is often part of the personal growth process. At the same time, there's nothing wrong with knowing your boundaries and sticking to them.

Setting social and emotional boundaries enables you to feel safer psychologically. It can also help you feel more in control. Self-confidence is, in part, feeling like you have control over your life. Boundaries help establish this feeling of control.

The next time someone suggests doing something that you know will lower your self-confidence, respectfully decline. You don't have to avoid that activity forever either. Once you learn how to be more confident, you may feel strong enough to try it again—without hurting the confidence you have in yourself.

Set Realistic Goals

Pursuing your goals often involves failing several times until you figure out what works. This can make you wonder if you have what it takes to succeed. It can also leave you questioning how to be more confident while still achieving your dreams. The answer lies in setting realistic goals.

Setting high-reaching goals and failing to achieve them has been found to damage confidence levels. Conversely, realistic goals are achievable. And the more you achieve your goals, the greater your confidence in yourself and your abilities.

To set realistic goals , write down what you want to achieve. Next, ask yourself what chance you have of attaining it. (Be honest!) If the answer is slim to none, the goal may be a bit too lofty. Dial it back so it is more realistic and more achievable.

This may require doing a bit of research on your part. For instance, if you have a goal to lose weight, experts recommend losing one to two pounds per week for healthy, long-term weight loss. Knowing this helps you set a goal in line with this guideline, boosting your self-confidence when you hit it.

Press Play for Advice on Confidence

Hosted by therapist Amy Morin, LCSW, this episode of The Verywell Mind Podcast shares strategies that can help you learn to truly believe in yourself, featuring IT Cosmetics founder Jamie Kern Lima. Click below to listen now.

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When learning how to be more confident, it can be helpful to understand how someone with self-confidence is different from someone who is more insecure. Here are just some of the differences between the two.

Celebrate other people's success

Open-minded

Willing to take risks

Laugh at themselves

Always learning and growing

Admit mistakes

Accept responsibility

Judge and are jealous of others

Close-minded

Pessimistic

Afraid of change

Act like a know-it-all

Make excuses

Blame others

Being confident in yourself just feels good. That said, having self-confidence can also bring many additional benefits at home, at work, and within your relationships. Here's a look at a few of the positive effects of learning how to be confident:

• Better performance : Rather than waste time and energy worrying that you aren't good enough , you can devote your energy to your efforts. Ultimately, you'll perform better when you have more self-confidence.
• Healthier relationships : Having self-confidence not only impacts how you feel about yourself, but it helps you better understand and love others. It also gives you the strength to walk away from a relationship if you're not getting what you want or deserve.
• Openness to try new things : When you believe in yourself, you're more willing to try new things. Whether you apply for a promotion or sign up for a cooking class, putting yourself out there is a lot easier when you have confidence in yourself and your abilities.
• Resilience : Believing in yourself can enhance your resilience or ability to bounce back from any challenges or adversities you face in life.

Learning how to be more confident can have a range of positive effects on your life. In addition to helping you feel better about yourself and your abilities, self-confidence can make your relationships stronger and make you more resilient to stress.

Keep in Mind

Everyone struggles with confidence issues at one time or another. Fortunately, there are several things that you can do to boost self-confidence. In many cases, learning how to act confident can actually help you feel more confident.

"This is similar to the adage that the physical act of smiling can trick your brain into feeling happier," says Owens. "If you exude confidence, even when you don't feel that way, others will treat you differently, which will boost your confidence—and thus the cycle continues."

Sometimes low self-confidence is a sign of a mental health condition such as depression or anxiety . If your self-confidence interferes with your work, social life, or education, consider talking to a mental health professional. A therapist can help you better understand the issue, recommend treatment, and work with you to develop skills to build your self-confidence.

If your confidence tends to lag in social situations, try to change your perspective. Instead of looking at group interactions as a stressor, view them as an opportunity to work on building your self-confidence. Taking someone with you who makes you feel confident can also give you the self-belief needed to feel more comfortable around groups of people.

Creating the social event yourself may help as well because you will know what to expect and have some level of control. If social situations cause you great anxiety along with reduced self-confidence, talking to a mental health professional can help.

One way to develop self-confidence in a relationship is to recognize your worth. When you know the value you bring to others, it helps you feel more confident in yourself. It can also be helpful to stay in the present and not worry about the past or the future.

If your lack of confidence in relationships is due to a fear of being rejected, remember that not everyone is compatible. Just as you might not be for them, they might also not be for you—it's nothing personal.

If your lack of confidence in the workplace is tied to concerns about your performance, check in regularly with a superior to see how you're doing. Ask for feedback about areas where you can improve, then work on them to feel more confident in your duties.

It can also be helpful to consider where you excel at work and perform these activities as often as possible. If you do make a mistake, admit it, learn from it, and move on. No one is perfect, so you shouldn't expect yourself to be either.

If your self-confidence is tied to your physical appearance, developing a more positive body image can help. Instead of focusing on areas of your body that you dislike, spend more time appreciating the areas you feel good about.

Another tip for how to become more confident is to not compare your body to anyone else's. No two bodies are the same and each has its own strengths. Remember that there is room in this world for people of all shapes and sizes.

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By Amy Morin, LCSW Amy Morin, LCSW, is a psychotherapist and international bestselling author. Her books, including "13 Things Mentally Strong People Don't Do," have been translated into more than 40 languages. Her TEDx talk,  "The Secret of Becoming Mentally Strong," is one of the most viewed talks of all time.

Learning, Remembering, Believing: Enhancing Human Performance (1994)

Chapter: self-confidence and performance, 8 self-confidence and performance.

Self-confidence is considered one of the most influential motivators and regulators of behavior in people's everyday lives (Bandura, 1986). A growing body of evidence suggests that one's perception of ability or self-confidence is the central mediating construct of achievement strivings (e.g., Bandura, 1977; Ericsson et al., 1993; Harter, 1978; Kuhl, 1992; Nicholls, 1984). Ericsson and his colleagues have taken the position that the major influence in the acquisition of expert performance is the confidence and motivation to persist in deliberate practice for a minimum of 10 years.

Self-confidence is not a motivational perspective by itself. It is a judgment about capabilities for accomplishment of some goal, and, therefore, must be considered within a broader conceptualization of motivation that provides the goal context. Kanfer (1990a) provides an example of one cognitively based framework of motivation for such a discussion. She suggests that motivation is composed of two components: goal choice and self-regulation. Self-regulation, in turn, consists of three related sets of activities: self-monitoring, self-evaluation, and self-reactions. Self-monitoring provides information about current performance, which is then evaluated by comparing that performance with one's goal. The comparison between performance and goal results in two distinct types of self-reactions: self-satisfaction or -dissatisfaction and self-confidence expectations. Satisfaction or dissatisfaction is an affective response to past actions; self-confidence expectations are judgments about one's future capabilities to attain one's goal. This framework allows a discussion of self-confidence as it relates to a number of motivational processes, including setting goals and causal attributions.

One theoretical perspective of self-confidence that fits well in Kanfer's (1990b) framework of motivation and has particular relevance to enhancing self-confidence in a variety of domains of psychosocial functioning is self-efficacy theory (Bandura, 1977, 1986). Self-efficacy theory is also useful in guiding the development of motivational programs because self-beliefs of confidence operate in most of the approaches to cognitive theories of motivation, particularly goal-setting theory and attribution theory (Bandura, 1990).

This chapter provides an overview of the self-efficacy concept of self-confidence and its relationship to other cognitively based motivational processes that influence learning and performance; it does not attempt to integrate the different theories of motivation that incorporate self-confidence constructs. (For summaries and comparisons of cognitive theories of motivation, see Frese and Sabini, 1985; Halisch and Kuhl, 1987; Kanfer, 1990b; Pervin, 1989.) We first define self-confidence and related concepts. Next, an overview of self-efficacy theory is given, along with a review of the relevant research. The third section covers applications of techniques for enhancing self-confidence. Lastly, we note the research questions that follow from what is currently known.

''SELF-CONFIDENCE" AND RELATED CONCEPTS

Terms such as "self-confidence," "self-efficacy," "perceived ability," and "perceived competence" have been used to describe a person's perceived capability to accomplish a certain level of performance. Bandura (1977) uses the term "self-efficacy" to describe the belief one has in being able to execute a specific task successfully (e.g., solving a math problem) in order to obtain a certain outcome (e.g., self-satisfaction or teacher recognition) and, thus, can be considered as situationally specific self-confidence. 1 Self-efficacy is not concerned with an individual's skills, but, rather, with the judgments of what an individual can accomplish with those skills (Bandura, 1986). Bandura (1986, 1990) distinguishes between "self-efficacy" and "self-confidence": self-confidence refers to firmness or strength of belief but does not specify its direction; self-efficacy implies that a goal has been set. We do not adopt Bandura's distinction, but use the term "self-confidence" because it is more familiar to most individuals. "Self-confidence," as the term is used here, is the belief that one can successfully execute a specific activity, rather than a global trait that accounts for overall performance optimism. For example, one may have a lot of self-confidence in one's ability at golf but very little self-confidence in one's tennis skills.

"Perceived competence" and "perceived ability" are terms that have been used in the research literature on achievement and mastery motivation. They indicate the perception that one has the ability to master a task resulting from cumulative interactions with the environment (Harter, 1981; Nicholls,

1984). In sports and physical movement, Griffin and Keogh (1982) developed the concept of "movement confidence" to describe a person's feeling of adequacy in a movement situation; Vealey (1986) used the term "sport confidence" to define the belief or degree of certainty individuals possess about their ability to be successful in sport. Some organizational psychologists use the term "state expectancy'' in essentially the same manner as Bandura's (1977) concept of self-efficacy (Eden, 1990).

Some terms related to self-confidence are occasionally confused with the construct. Some authors (e.g., Kirsch, 1985) have tried to implement Bandura's (1977) concept of self-confidence (self-efficacy) as an expectancy construct. Bandura distinguishes judgments of personal efficacy from the expectancy construct in expectancy-by-value theories (e.g., Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975; Triandis, 1977): self-confidence is a judgment of one's ability to perform at a certain level; expectancies pertain to the outcomes one expects from a given level of effort. In essence, confidence expectations are concerned with beliefs about one's competence and outcome expectations are concerned with beliefs about one's environment. For example, a person may believe that running a marathon in less than 2 hours will lead to social recognition, money, and self-satisfaction (outcome belief), but may question whether she can actually run that fast (confidence belief). Similarly, a woman may believe that Karate self-defense techniques will deter assault (outcome belief), but may doubt her capability to be effectively aggressive against a powerful assailant (confidence belief).

Bandura (1986) asserts that, in a responsive environment that rewards performance achievements, the outcomes people expect depend heavily on their self-confidence that they can perform the skill. However, in an environment in which outcomes are fixed at a minimum level of performance or in which a social condition restricts people's ability to perform successfully or control their circumstances, outcome and confidence expectations would not be causally linked. For example, a concentration camp inmate could have confidence that he or she is efficacious enough to maximize his or her survival probability without violating personal ethics while simultaneously believing that this survival probability is not very high at all. Such individuals may give up trying, not because they doubt their own capabilities, but because they expect their efforts to be futile. This type of outcome-based futility is hypothesized to lead to pessimism or learned helplessness (Bandura, 1986).

"Self-concept" represents a composite view of oneself that is developed through evaluative experiences and social interactions. As Bandura (1986) has noted, however, a person's self-conceptions become more varied across activities with increasing experience. Thus, global measures of self-concept will not predict the intra-individual variability in a performance situation as well as self-confidence perceptions that vary across activities and

circumstances. Rather, global measures of self-concept are helpful to understanding one's total outlook toward life. However, it should be noted that people's self-concepts have also been shown to be malleable in certain situations (Markus and Kunda, 1986). (For a thorough discussion of self-concept, see Hattie, 1992.)

"Self-esteem" is another global construct related to self-confidence and self-concept and pertains to one's personal perception of worthiness. Although self-confidence and self-esteem may be related, individuals can have one without necessarily having the other. Certain individuals may not have high self-confidence for a given activity, but still "like themselves"; by contrast, there are others who may regard themselves as highly competent at a given activity but do not have corresponding feelings of self-esteem. (For a thorough discussion of the concept of self-esteem with respect to work behavior, see Brockner, 1988.)

Other related concepts include locus of control, optimism or pessimism (learned helplessness), healthy illusions, and level of aspiration. Rotter's (1966) notion of locus of control is concerned with a person's generalized expectancies about his or her ability to control reinforcements in life: individuals who tend to perceive events as internally controlled behave more self-determinedly; those who tend to perceive events as beyond their control behave more fatalistically. Although an internal locus of control orientation may create a high sense of confidence, the two constructs must be distinguished. Bandura (1986) points out that locus of control is based on outcome expectancies rather than confidence expectancies. For instance, people who believe that their physical health is personally determined but find it is failing despite their efforts to improve it would experience low self-confidence. Studies have shown that task-specific self-confidence expectancies are better predictors of successful behavior in specific situations than are general measures of perceived control (Kaplan et al., 1984; Manning and Wright, 1983).

Optimism and pessimism have been defined by some authors in terms of generalized expectancies for internal or external locus of control (Scheier and Carver, 1992). Scheier and Carver (1992:203) define "dispositional optimism" as the "tendency to believe that one will generally experience good vs. bad outcomes in life." Optimism and pessimism have also been conceptualized within an attributional or explanatory style framework (Abramson et al., 1978; Peterson and Bossio, 1991). In an attributional view, individuals base their expectations for controlling future events on their causal explanations for past events. Optimism is the tendency to attribute negative events to causes that are unstable, specific, and external; pessimism or learned helplessness is the tendency to attribute negative events to causes that are stable, global, and internal. Optimism and pessimism or learned helplessness are considered to be much more global concepts than task-specific

self-confidence and, thus, are more resistant to short-term interventions to change them. In addition, optimism and pessimism emphasize perceptions of controllability of the environment rather than the sense of personal agency to control the environment.

A concept similar to optimism has been described as healthy illusions (Taylor and Brown, 1988) or positive denial (Lazarus, 1979), which involves a slight distortion of reality in the positive direction. Such illusions can help sustain one's hopes of success, keep morale high, and lower anxiety (Hackett and Cassem, 1974). As Peterson and Bossio (1991) explain in relation to severe illnesses, the immediate denial of the severity of an illness allows individuals to face crises slowly, which helps their motivation to recover. However, if denial or illusion is too far removed from reality, it can get in the way of recovery and taking action to improve one's situation or performance.

Level of aspiration, first conceptualized in the 1930s within the scientific analysis of goal-striving behavior, is concerned with people's estimation of their subsequent performance prior to trying a task. An early investigator (Frank, 1935:119) defined it specifically as "the level of future performance in a familiar task which an individual, knowing his level of past performance in that task, explicitly undertakes to reach." Once a level of aspiration has been set, the individual performs, examines the discrepancy between the level of aspiration and the performance, and reacts with feelings of success or failure (depending on discrepancy). These reactions could lead to trying harder, leaving the activity altogether, or continuing with a readjusted level of aspiration (Lewin et al., 1944). Early investigations on levels of aspiration were the precursors to modern research on various cognitive aspects of goal-setting, self-appraisal, and feeling of satisfaction regarding relative success and failure. Much of the basis for current views on self-regulation in terms of self-monitoring, self-evaluation, and self-reaction can be found within the level-of-aspiration paradigm (see Bandura, 1982; Carver and Scheier, 1990).

The earlier research, most of which occurred in the 1930s and 1940s (see, e.g., Festinger, 1942; Frank, 1935, 1941; Lewin et al., 1944), tried to determine the factors that influence the fluctuations in a person's level of aspiration (e.g., success and failure of comparison groups) or studied how well personality traits correlated with the phenomenon. One general finding in relation to success and failure was that subjects raised their level of aspiration after success and lowered it after failure. However, Bandura has shown that this finding does not automatically occur in real-life tasks: "Having surpassed a demanding standard through laborious effort does not automatically lead people to raise their aspiration" (Bandura, 1986:348). Whether one raises one's level of aspiration or not depends more on one's level of task-specific self-confidence. This is the additional self-evaluation mechanism

that Bandura (1977) has added to the old paradigm and the self-regulation model. In contrast, Carver and Scheier (1990) emphasize the rate of discrepancy reduction or rate of progress made toward a goal over time in determining one's level of aspiration.

Although many of the concepts related to self-confidence are investigated from different perspectives, the phenomenon of interest for most of them is the cognitive process by which a person regulates thoughts and action to attain desired outcomes or to control events in his or her life.

THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES

Self-efficacy theory was developed within the framework of a social cognitive theory (Bandura, 1986). Bandura poses self-confidence as a common cognitive mechanism for mediating people's motivation, thought patterns, emotional reactions, and behavior. The theory was originally proposed to account for the different results achieved by the diverse methods used in clinical psychology for treating anxiety. It has since been expanded and applied to other domains of psychosocial functioning, including motivation, cognitive skill acquisition, career choice and development, health and exercise behavior, and motor performance. (For reviews on specific domains, see Feltz, 1988b; Lent and Hackett, 1987; McAuley, 1992; O'Leary, 1985; Schunk, 1984a). The theory has also been found to be equally predictive cross-culturally (Earley, 1993; Matsui, 1987; Matsui and Onglatco, 1991).

Self-Confidence Information

Self-confidence beliefs, defined as people's judgments of their capability to perform specific tasks, are a product of a complex process of self-persuasion that relies on cognitive processing of diverse sources of confidence information (Bandura, 1990). These sources of information include performance accomplishments, vicarious experiences, verbal persuasion, and physiological states.

Performance accomplishments are supposed to provide the most dependable confidence information because they are based on one's own mastery experiences. One's mastery experiences affect self-confidence beliefs through cognitive processing of such information. If one has repeatedly viewed these experiences as successes, self-confidence will increase; if these experiences were viewed as failures, self-confidence will decrease. Furthermore, the self-monitoring or focus on successes or failures should have differential effects on behavior and self-confidence, depending on which is monitored (Bandura, 1986): focusing on one's successes should provide more encouragement and greater confidence than focusing on one's failures.

The influence that performance experiences have on perceived self-confidence also depends on the perceived difficulty of the task, the effort expended, the amount of guidance received, the temporal patterns of success and failure, and one's conception of a particular "ability" as a skill that can be acquired versus an inherent aptitude (Bandura, 1986). Bandura has argued that performance accomplishments on difficult tasks, tasks attempted independently, and tasks accomplished early in learning with only occasional failures carry greater confidence value than easy tasks, tasks accomplished with external aids, or tasks in which repeated failures are experienced early in the learning process without any sign of progress.

Confidence information can also be derived through a social comparison process with others (Festinger, 1954). Vicarious sources of confidence information are thought to be generally weaker than performance accomplishments; however, their influence on self-confidence can be enhanced by a number of factors. For instance, the less experience people have had with performance situations, the more they will rely on others in judging their own capabilities. The effectiveness of modeling procedures on one's self-confidence has also been shown to be enhanced by perceived similarities to a model in terms of performance or personal characteristics (George et al., 1992; Gould and Weiss, 1981).

Persuasive techniques are widely used by instructors, managers, coaches, parents, and peers in attempting to influence a learner's confidence, motivation, and behavior. In acquiring expert performance, Ericsson and his colleagues put a great deal of emphasis on parents' and teachers' expectations and verbal persuasions that a child is "talented" as a major influence on the child's self-confidence, motivation, and perceived protection "against doubts about eventual success during the ups and downs of extended preparation" (Ericsson et al., 1993:399). Persuasive information includes verbal persuasion, evaluative feedback, expectations by others, self-talk, imagery, and other cognitive strategies. Self-confidence beliefs based on this type of information, however, are likely to be weaker than those based on one's accomplishments, according to the theory. In addition, persuasive techniques are thought to be most effective when the heightened appraisal is slightly beyond what the person can presently do but still within realistic bounds because people are generally aware that better performances are achievable through extra effort (Bandura, 1986). The extent of persuasive influence on self-confidence has also been hypothesized to depend on the prestige, credibility, expertise, and trustworthiness of the persuader.

The causal attributions that one makes regarding previous achievement behavior also can be thought of as a source of self-persuasive information in formulating future confidence expectations. Causal attributions for previous behavior have been shown to predict confidence expectations (McAuley, 1990; Schunk and Cox, 1986). (This relationship is discussed in more detail below.)

Confidence information can also be obtained from a person's physiological state or condition. Such information is provided through cognitive appraisal (Bandura, 1986), such as associating physiological arousal with fear and self-doubt or with being psyched up and ready for performance. Eden (1990) also suggests that the stress one experiences in work can influence confidence judgments about one's coping capacity for the job. Bandura (1986) also notes that physiological sources of self-confidence judgment are not limited to autonomic arousal. 2 People use their levels of fitness, fatigue, and pain in strength and endurance activities as indicators of their physical inefficacy (Feltz and Riessinger, 1990; Taylor et al., 1985).

These four categories of confidence information—performance accomplishments, vicarious experience, persuasion, and physiological states—are probably not mutually exclusive in terms of the information they provide, though some are more influential than others. How various sources of information are weighted and processed to make judgments given different tasks, situations, and individual skills is as yet unknown. The consequences of these judgments, however, are hypothesized to determine people's levels of motivation, as reflected in the challenges they undertake, the effort they expend in the activity, and their perseverance in the face of difficulties. People's self-confidence judgments can also influence certain thought patterns and emotional reactions (e.g., pride, shame, happiness, sadness) that also influence motivation (Bandura, 1986). For instance, self-confidence beliefs may influence people's success or failure images, worries, goal intentions, and causal attributions.

Self-Confidence, Behavior and Thought Patterns, and Motivation

Bandura (1977) states that self-efficacy (self-confidence) is a major determinant of behavior only when people have sufficient incentives to act on their self-perception of confidence and when they possess the requisite skills. He predicts that self-confidence beliefs will exceed actual performance when there is little incentive to perform the activity or when physical or social constraints are imposed on performance. An individual may have the necessary skill and high self-confidence beliefs, but no incentive to perform. Discrepancies will also occur, according to Bandura, when tasks or circumstances are ambiguous or when one has little information on which to base confidence judgments.

How individuals cognitively process confidence information also influences the relationship between self-confidence and behavior (Bandura, 1977). For example, successes and failures may be distorted in importance. People who overweigh their failures are believed to have lower expectations than those with the same performance levels who do not overweigh their failures.

The relationship between self-confidence expectations and performance accomplishments is also believed to be temporally recursive (Bandura, 1977:194): "Mastery expectations influence performance and are, in turn, altered by the cumulative effect of one's efforts." Bandura (1990) has emphasized the recursive nature of the relationship between self-confidence and thought patterns as well. The relationship between the major sources of confidence information, confidence expectations, and behavior and thought patterns, as predicted by Bandura's theory, is presented in Figure 8-1.

As just discussed, people's self-confidence beliefs are hypothesized to influence certain thought patterns and emotional reactions as well as behavior. Two thought patterns of particular interest to the study of performance motivation are goal intentions and causal attributions; a third thought pattern that can influence self-confidence beliefs is how one thinks about ability.

Self-confidence beliefs have been shown to influence future personal goal-setting and to mediate the relationship between goal intentions and motivation (Earley and Lituchy, 1991). Research has also shown that the stronger people's self-confidence beliefs (assessed independently from their goals), the higher the goals they set for themselves and the firmer their commitments are to them (Locke et al., 1984). In addition, as noted above (Kanfer, 1990a), motivation based on goal intentions is mediated by self-regulatory influences that include two types of self-reactive influences: affective self-evaluation (satisfaction/dissatisfaction), and perceived self-efficacy for goal attainment. Bandura (1990) includes a third type of self-reactive influence: adjustment of personal standards. Figure 8-2 summarizes, schematically, Kanfer's and Bandura's ideas of motivation that are based on goal intentions.

FIGURE 8-1 Relationship between sources of confidence information, confidence expectations, and behavior/thought patterns.

FIGURE 8-2 Conceptions of motivation based on goal intentions.

When performances fall short of people's personal goals (or level of aspiration), they become dissatisfied. Whether this dissatisfaction serves as an incentive or disincentive for enhanced effort is partly influenced by a person's self-confidence for goal attainment and the degree of the discrepancy (Bandura, 1986; Carver and Scheier, 1990). Bandura (1986) predicts that, in general, in the face of negative discrepancies between personal goals and attainments, those who have high self-confidence beliefs will heighten their level of effort and persistence and those who have self-doubts will quickly give up. However, if the degree of the negative discrepancy is perceived as quite large, people's self-confidence for goal attainment will be undermined. In this situation, research has shown that highly self-confident individuals will readjust their goals so as not to further undermine their self-confidence; those with little sense of self-confidence to begin with will become discouraged and abandon their goal altogether (Bandura and Cervone, 1983).

Bandura (1986, 1990) also suggests that confidence beliefs and causal attributions are reciprocal determinants of each other. According to Bandura, self-confidence beliefs help shape causal ascriptions for future behavior. People with self-beliefs of confidence have been shown to attribute failure to lack of effort; people with low self-beliefs of confidence ascribe their failures to lack of ability (Collins, 1982). Causal attributions also play a role in the formation of future confidence expectations (McAuley, 1990; Schunk and Cox, 1986). Successes are more likely to enhance self-confidence if performances are perceived as resulting from ability rather than from luck. Conversely, individuals can talk themselves out of succeeding

by attributing prior failure to inherent ability rather than to bad luck or reduced effort. Studies using causal analyses also indicate that the effects of causal attributions on performance are mediated through self-confidence beliefs (Schunk and Gunn, 1986; Schunk and Rice, 1986).

As noted above, the way that people construe ability may also influence self-confidence beliefs and other self-regulatory factors. Two conceptions of ability have been identified that lead to the development of two goal orientations (Dweck and Leggett, 1988; Elliott and Dweck, 1988; Nicholls, 1984). The first is the conception of ability as an acquirable skill: people who conceive of ability in this way adopt a learning or mastery goal (Ames, 1984; Dweck and Leggett, 1988; Nicholls, 1984). This type of goal-orientation is well suited for skill development because people seek to improve their competence, judge their capabilities in terms of personal improvement, and regard errors as a natural part of the skill-acquisition process. Furthermore, when performance falls short of their goals, they attribute the discrepancy to inadequate effort, and their self-confidence beliefs remain minimally affected.

The second conception of ability is as a more or less inherent aptitude or entity conception: people who have an entity conception of ability adapt a performance or ability-focused goal (Ames, 1984; Dweck, 1986; Nicholls, 1984). People with this conception of ability seek to prove their competence or demonstrate their ability; they avoid demonstrating low ability and use social comparison processes to judge their ability relative to others. This type of goal-orientation is not well suited for skill development because people view errors as a threat to being able to demonstrate their ability and, thus, they avoid adopting challenging goals. When a negative discrepancy occurs between their goals and current performances, they attribute it to low ability. Research has shown that this type of ability conception increases a person's vulnerability to the adverse effects of failure (Elliott and Dweck, 1988; Jourden et al., 1991; Wood and Bandura, 1989). The feeling of failure and the attribution to low ability may also lead to dissatisfaction and a decrease in confidence beliefs and subsequently to goal abandonment. It also diverts attention away from the task and to worry (Kanfer, 1990a). The negative effects of an inherent aptitude conception are most distinct among people with low self-confidence in their ability (Kanfer, 1990a).

The structure and demands of a learning environment establish a motivational climate that can evoke different goal orientations (see Ames, 1992). For instance, schools often establish learning environments that include evaluating student achievement on the basis of normative standards and with extrinsic rewards. This structure encourages learners to use social comparison processes to judge their ability and adopt a performance-goal orientation instead of a mastery-goal orientation. Students, especially those

who lack skills and self-confidence, do far better in school settings that foster a mastery orientation by designing activities for individual challenge, using flexible and heterogeneous grouping arrangements, helping students develop self-management and self-monitoring skills, recognizing individual progress, and involving them in self-evaluation (Ames, 1992).

Team Confidence

Much of the research on self-efficacy (self-confidence) beliefs has focused on the individual level of behavior. However, in many organizational settings, such as business, military, or sport, individuals perform as members of teams rather than just as individuals. Thus, many of the challenges and difficulties people face in organizations reflect team problems requiring team efforts to produce successful performance.

Bandura (1977, 1986) distinguishes between self-efficacy (self-confidence) and perceived collective efficacy (team confidence) in his theory of self-efficacy. Self-efficacy refers to people's judgments of individual capabilities and effort; collective efficacy or team confidence refers to people's judgments of group capabilities and influences "what people choose to do as a group, how much effort they put into it, and their staying power when group efforts fail to produce results" (Bandura, 1986:449). In this view, teams with high collective confidence beliefs should outperform and should persist longer than teams with low perceived collective confidence. Prior to the development of Bandura's theory, Bird and Brame (1978) found team confidence to be the most powerful discriminator of winning and losing teams.

Similarly to self-confidence, the confidence of a team or organization is most likely influenced by diverse sources of confidence information. As with self-confidence beliefs, performance accomplishments of the team are predicted to be the most powerful source of information for team confidence beliefs. Organizations that have an outstanding record of performance undoubtedly cultivate a strong sense of confidence among their members. Likewise, as Eden (1990) noted in his description of organizationwide self-fulfilling prophecies, a serious performance failure—such as the Challenger space shuttle disaster of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration—can decrease the collective confidence of the organization's members, which, in turn, can influence subsequent failures. The perceived collective confidence of a team or group might also be influenced through a collective social comparison process with other teams. It is also possible that reciprocal social influences within a team can raise or lower collective confidence for team performance. For example, the modeling of confidence or ineffectiveness by one member of the group may influence the rest of the group's sense of confidence (Bandura, 1990). In addition, just as persuasive information can influence an individual's sense of self-confidence, collective

efficacy theory suggests that it could also influence an entire group. Charismatic leaders seem to have such persuasive influence on their organization's members (Eden, 1990).

Bandura (1986) further suggests that team confidence is rooted in self-confidence. According to Bandura, a team that has a strong sense of collective confidence can enhance the perceived task-specific confidence of its members, although a team with a weak sense of collective confidence may not totally undermine the perceived self-confidence of its more resilient members (also see Parker, 1992). Members of a team who have weak beliefs in their own individual capabilities are unlikely to be easily transformed into a strong collective force.

In terms of the assessment of perceived team confidence, Bandura (1986) suggests that team confidence may be insufficiently represented as a predictor of team performance through just the sum of the perceived personal confidences of its members, especially on highly interactive tasks or in situations in which members must work together to achieve success. A study of predicting team performance on the basis of individual performances provides some evidence for the possible moderating influence of task type on the confidence-performance relationship in teams (Jones, 1974). Using baseball (which does not require a lot of interaction among team members for team outcome), Jones (1974) predicted team outcome 90 percent of the time. However, for basketball (which does require a lot of interaction), he predicted team outcome only 35 percent of the time. This outcome suggests that the average of team members' perceptions of their team's performance capability should be added to their personal confidence to execute their individual functions in a collective task to measure team confidence.

This construct of team confidence may be related to other constructs of group motivation. For example, a team's collective confidence beliefs may also be influenced by the nature of its collective goals. As interpreted from Bandura (1986), effective team performance would require the merging of diverse individual goals in support of common group goals. If a team consists of a group of members who are all pursuing their own individual goals, they are not as apt to work together to achieve the necessary team goals to be successful, especially on highly interactive tasks. In addition, when the overall success of a team calls for sustained efforts over a long time, short-term intermediate goals may be needed to provide incentives, provide evidence of progress along the way, and sustain team confidence beliefs.

The attributions a team ascribes for its successes and failures may also influence team confidence. For example, an athletic team that defeats a difficult opponent with minimal effort may perceive itself to be highly confident. Conversely, if that same team worked very hard but lost to an easier opponent, perceived team confidence may weaken. Perceived team confidence may, in turn, influence the types of causal attributions that

teams make about their performance (Bandura, 1986, 1990). Teams with little confidence may infer that poor performance was due to a lack of ability; highly confident teams may ascribe poor performance to a lack of effort.

Team confidence and cohesion may also be related. Both constructs have been shown to be positively associated with successful performance and persistence in the face of adversity (Spink, 1990). Thus, team confidence and team cohesion appear to share some common elements.

A team's collective confidence beliefs may similarly be related to a team's desire for success. For example, Zander (1971) found that groups with a strong desire for success outperformed groups with a weaker desire for success. Over time, when a group succeeded more often than it failed, members of that group were more interested in the activity and had a stronger desire for their group to perform well (Zander, 1971). Thus, successful outcome had a cyclical relationship with desire for success. Team confidence could also be part of this relationship. Successful performance can be expected to positively influence team confidence, which in turn should lead to behaviors and actions (e.g., setting higher goals, working harder) that enhance the ability of the group to succeed in the future, resulting in an even stronger desire for group success. This relationship may not hold for tasks that are not intrinsically motivating.

Social loafing may also be conceptualized in terms of team confidence. However, social loafing (conceptualized as the motivational losses in group performance) may represent the dark side of team confidence. In typical team performance situations, the evaluation potential for any one individual is not as strong as it would be for an individual performance, and this situation can give rise to social loafing. If individual team members believe that their team is highly capable of performing a task, they may loaf. Thus, high team confidence may actually undermine contributions to team performance unless there is individual identifiability. There has not yet been research to test this ''undermining" assumption, but a considerable body of research has shown that increasing the identifiability and recognition of individual performances in groups reduces social loafing (e.g., Latané et al., 1979).

Some work suggests that self-confidence mediates the relationship between identifiability of performance and loafing (Sanna, 1992). Highly confident individuals whose performances were identifiable as part of a group's performance were less likely to loaf than were individuals with little confidence in the same situation. The results of this study suggest that when individual contributions toward team performance are identifiable, highly confident members may exert more effort toward performance than members whose confidence is not high. Increased individual effort towards performance usually facilitates successful team performance, which in turn may enhance perceived team confidence.

RESEARCH ON SELF-CONFIDENCE

Evidence for the effectiveness of self-confidence as an influential mechanism in human agency comes from a number of diverse lines of research in various domains of psychosocial functioning, including achievement motivation (Bandura and Cervone, 1983; Schunk, 1984a), career choice and development (Betz and Hackett, 1981), health and exercise behavior (DiClemente, 1981; McAuley and Jacobson, 1991), anxiety disorders (Bandura et al., 1982) and sport and motor performance (Feltz, 1982). Results of these diverse lines of research provide converging evidence that people's perceptions of their performance capability significantly affect their motivational behavior (Bandura, 1986).

This section is not an exhaustive review of all the research on self-confidence and psychosocial functioning; rather, we focus on work that is relevant to enhancing perceived self-confidence and the effects of self-confidence beliefs on performance.  The first part of this section looks at research on the effect of various techniques for enhancing self-confidence beliefs; the second part considers the effects of self-confidence on performance; the third part looks at research on team confidence; and the fourth part considers how to apply those research findings.

Enhancing Self-Confidence

Performance-based confidence information.

As noted above, Bandura (1977) proposed that performance accomplishments provide the most dependable source of information on which to base self-confidence judgments because they are based on one's mastery experiences. Techniques based on such performance accomplishments as participant modeling, guided exposure, physical guidance, external aids, and task modification have been effective in enhancing both self-confidence beliefs and performance in a wide variety of areas, including: reducing phobic dysfunction (Bandura et al., 1982; Biram and Wilson, 1981); mastering high-risk skills (Brody et al., 1988; Feltz et al., 1979; Weinberg et al., 1982); enhancing personal empowerment over physical threats (Ozer and Bandura, 1990); and increasing interest in mathematical tasks (Campbell and Hackett, 1986). Research has also supported the superiority of performance-based information over other sources of confidence information (e.g., Bandura and Adams, 1977; Bandura et al., 1977; Feltz et al., 1979; Lewis, 1974; McAuley, 1985).

For example, Feltz et al. (1979) investigated the effectiveness of participant, live, and videotaped modeling on learning the back dive, a high-avoidance task. Participant modeling involved an expert's demonstration

plus guided participation with the learner. On the first four performance trials (training period), the participant-modeling subjects were guided through the dives to ensure successful performance. On the second four trials (test period), the physical guidance was removed. As predicted, the participant-modeling treatment produced more successful dives and stronger confidence beliefs than either the live modeling or videotaped modeling treatments.

According to Bandura (1986), information acquired from mastery experiences does not influence self-confidence directly; rather, it depends on how the information is cognitively appraised, such as how difficult the task is perceived to be in comparison to the effort expended, how much external aid is received, the temporal pattern of one's successes and failures, and one's conception of ability.  For instance, research in motor learning has shown that in initial learning the experience of a temporal pattern of early success followed by a series of failures resulted in less persistence at the task in the face of subsequent failure than the experience of early failure followed by a series of successes (Feltz et al., 1992). The early failure and subsequent success pattern was more representative of the typical learning pattern of a motor skill and, therefore, probably influenced perceptions of the skill as an acquirable one.

In another study researchers first induced different conceptions of ability—inherent aptitude or acquirable skill—for performance on a rotary pursuit task (a spinning disc with a quarter-sized target that a person tries to track and that records time on target) (Jourden et al., 1991). 3 Subjects who performed the task under the conception of ability as an acquirable skill showed increases in self-confidence, showed positive self-reactions to their performance, displayed widespread interest in the activity, and showed greater improvements in performance in comparison with those who performed the task under the inherent-aptitude conception of ability. These results suggest that instructors should use a positive approach, which emphasizes the learnability of the skill to be taught, to improve the speed and quality of skill acquisition, especially in the early phases.

Vicarious Confidence Information Information gained through vicarious experiences has been shown to influence perceived confidence in such areas as muscular endurance performance (Feltz and Riessinger, 1990; George et al., 1992; Weinberg et al., 1979); physical activity (Corbin et al., 1984); competitive persistence (Brown and Inouye, 1978); problemsolving (Schunk, 1981; Zimmerman and Ringle, 1981); phobic behavior (Bandura et al., 1977); and management training (Gist, 1989a, 1989b; Gist et al., 1989). These techniques have included modeling and social comparison. Weinberg et al. (1979) manipulated subjects' confidence beliefs about competing on a muscular endurance task by having them observe their competitor (a confederate) on a related task. The confederate either

performed poorly and was said to have a knee injury (belief of high self-confidence) or performed well and was said to be a varsity track athlete (belief of low self-confidence). Results indicated that the higher the induced self-confidence, the greater the muscular endurance. Subjects who competed against an "injured" (perceived as relatively weaker) competitor endured longer and had higher confidence expectations about winning against their opponent than those who thought they were competing against a varsity athlete—even though the subjects lost in both trials.

Modeling provides confidence information, according to Bandura (1986), through a comparative process between the model and the observer. George et al. (1992) demonstrated that a model who was similar to nonathletic observers in ability enhanced observers' confidence beliefs and endurance performance over a dissimilar model. In essence, the similar model seems to instill the attitude of "If he/she can do it, so can I." Also, the use of multiple models has been shown to enhance the modeling effect (Lewis, 1974). Bandura (1977) reasoned that observers would have a stronger basis on which to increase their own self-confidence if they could see a number of people of widely differing characteristics succeeding at a task.

Persuasory Confidence Information For many kinds of performance, people are influenced by the opinions of others—teachers, coaches, peers, and managers—in judging their ability to perform a task. People may also try to persuade themselves that they have the ability to perform a given task through imagery and causal attributions for previous performances. Verbal persuasion by itself is of limited influence, and for treating phobias in clinical psychology it is often used in combination with other techniques, such as hypnosis, relaxation, or performance deception. However, in athletic, educational, and work situations, for which the fear component is unlikely to be as paralyzing as in chronic phobias, persuasive techniques by themselves may improve performance more successfully than in phobic behavior; but there has been little research on this possibility.

The few studies that have been conducted in motor performance report mixed results (Feltz and Riessinger, 1990; Fitzsimmons et al., 1991; Weinberg, 1985; Wilkes and Summers, 1984; Yan Lan and Gill, 1984). Weinberg (1985) found no effects on endurance performance with the use of dissociation and positive self-talk strategies, and Yan Lan and Gill (1984) found that providing subjects with bogus feedback and the suggestion that elevated arousal levels were indicative of good performance did not induce higher self-confidence. In contrast, Wilkes and Summers (1984) found persuasive techniques that tried to enhance confidence and emotional arousal influenced strength performance, but confidence-related cognitions did not seem to mediate the effect. Fitzsimmons et al. (1991) found that false positive feedback increased self-confidence judgments and future weightlifting

performance. In addition, Feltz and Riessinger (1990) found significant effects on endurance performance using mastery imagery, with corresponding effects on self-confidence.

One explanation for the equivocal findings in these studies may be the differences in the degree of persuasive influence of their techniques and the extent of their subjects' personal experience on the task. In the Weinberg (1985) study, subjects were not told that the cognitive strategy they were to use would enhance their performance. There was no attempt at persuasion. In comparison, Wilkes and Summers (1984) instructed their subjects to persuade themselves that they were confident or to persuade themselves that they were "charged up."

The degree of persuasive influence also depends on the believability of the persuasive information. Yan Lan and Gill (1984) tried to lead subjects to believe that they had the same heightened pattern of physiological arousal as good competitors. However, there was no manipulation check that the subjects believed the persuasion. Fitzsimmons et al. (1991), in contrast, used pilot data to ensure that the deceptive feedback provided was believable.

The lack of persuasive effects in some of the research may also have been due to confounding with actual performance. All of the studies used multiple performance trials; thus, subjects may have formed perceptions on the basis of their performance experience that overshadowed much of the influence that the treatment variable had on self-confidence. This explanation is supported by research showing that the significant effects for endurance performance and self-confidence were short-lived after subjects experienced performance failure (Feltz and Riessinger, 1990).

A slightly different line of research in organizational behavior has shown consistent effects for instructors' expectancies on trainees' self-confidence and performance (Eden, 1990; Eden and Ravid, 1982; Eden and Shani, 1982). These studies induced military instructors to expect higher performance from some trainees than others. Not all of these studies measured self-confidence (or self-expectancy, as used in the studies), but those that did showed that high expectancy trainees had higher levels of self-confidence and performance than low expectancy trainees.

Performance Feedback Evaluation feedback about ongoing performances has also been used as a persuasive technique (Bandura, 1986). Instructors, managers, and coaches often try to boost perceived trainees' self-confidence by providing encouraging feedback. Positive feedback about ongoing performance has been shown to instill higher perceptions of confidence than no feedback at all (Vallerand, 1983). Also, feedback on causal attribution that credits progress to underlying ability or effort has been shown to raise perceived confidence more than no feedback or feedback that implies lesser ability (Schunk, 1983a). However, inappropriately high amounts of positive

feedback can be detrimental to self-perceptions and motivation when used on individuals differentially because it implies low ability (Horn, 1985; Meyer, 1982). For instance, Horn (1985) found that the frequent use of positive reinforcement by coaches for less-skilled players resulted in lower perceived competence in those athletes, while the use of higher amounts of mistake-contingent criticism for highly-skilled players led to higher levels of perceived competence. Horn reasoned that the liberal use of praise given to low-skilled players was not performance-contingent and thus communicated to them that their coach held lower expectations for them.

In addition to its use as a persuasive technique, evaluative feedback can also add to enactive confidence information regarding ongoing performance as it conveys signs of progress. In order to be informative and motivative, feedback must be provided in reaction to defined performance standards or goals (Bandura, 1986). Otherwise, there is no basis on which to form internal comparisons to be able to evaluate ongoing performance. A wealth of research has shown that both feedback and goal setting are needed to enhance performance (Bandura and Cervone, 1983; Erez, 1977; Feltz and Riessinger, 1990; Locke and Latham, 1990; Strang et al., 1978). Even in the face of substandard performance, Bandura (1986) suggests that subjects' motivation and self-confidence may not be undermined if the discrepancy is only moderate and they are given knowledge of that discrepancy.

Causal Attributions Studies that have examined the influence of causal attributions on self-confidence beliefs have either assessed the attributions that individuals have made for previous performances in relation to the confidence expectations for future performances (McAuley, 1990, 1991) or have manipulated attributional feedback concerning previous performance to examine the effect on subsequent confidence expectations (Schunk, 1983a, 1984a; Schunk and Cox, 1986; Schunk and Gunn, 1986). Much of this research, conducted on educational learning has generally shown that attributions made or induced for previous performance that are internal and subject to personal control (e.g., effort and ability) will raise self-confidence beliefs for subsequent performance. Therefore, helping individuals attribute good performance to ability, skill improvement, or hard work and their bad performances to lack of effort, lack of sufficient practice time, or use of an inappropriate strategy can be expected to improve their self-confidence beliefs and motivation for continued performance.

Physiological Confidence Information The few studies that have investigated the influence of physiological or emotional states on self-confidence are equivocal (Feltz, 1982, 1988a; Feltz and Mugno, 1983; Juneau et al., 1986; Kavanagh and Hausfeld, 1986). For diving tasks, Feltz (1988a) found that perceived autonomic arousal, rather than actual physiological arousal, significantly predicted confidence judgments. Juneau et al. (1986) found that individuals

who focused on their physical stamina as they mastered increasing workloads on a treadmill judged their cardiac confidence as more robust than those who focused on the negative signs. For strength tasks, however, Kavanagh and Hausfeld (1986) found that induced moods (happiness or sadness), as measured by self-reports, did not alter confidence expectations in any consistent manner. Bandura (1988) has argued that it is people's perceived coping confidence that is more indicative of capability than their perception of their physiological arousal condition. If people believe that they cannot cope with a potential threat, they experience disruptive arousal, which may further lower their confidence judgments that they can perform successfully. Evidence for this argument comes from research that has shown that it is not the frightful cognitions themselves that account for anxiety symptoms, but the perceived self-confidence to control them (Kent, 1987; Kent and Gibbons, 1987).

Contextual Influences

A number of instructional practices are important contextual influences on self-confidence that do not necessarily fit into any of the four principal sources of confidence information (Schunk, 1984b). In addition to evaluative and attributional feedback, these practices include goal setting and reward contingencies.  Schunk (1985) has suggested that these contextual influences convey confidence information to learners by making salient certain cues that learners use to appraise their self-confidence.

The research on goal setting and self-confidence has generally shown that setting goals for oneself and attaining them, especially specific, difficult, and proximal goals, enhance perceptions of self-confidence (Bandura and Schunk, 1981; Locke et al., 1984; Manderlink and Harackiewicz, 1984; Schunk, 1983b; Stock and Cervone, 1990). Specific goals raise confidence expectations to a greater extent than more abstract goals because they provide more explicit information with which to gauge one's progress. Difficult goals raise confidence expectations more than do easy goals because they, too, offer more information about one's capability to achieve.

Although the research supports the setting of difficult goals, experts recommend that they be realistic (Locke and Latham, 1990). Garland (1983), however, has questioned the basis of the goal attainability assumption in setting difficult goals. Laboratory experiments on goal-setting have found positive relationships between goal difficulty and performance even when the goals assigned to individuals were difficult and beyond their reach (Weinberg, 1992). One factor that may resolve the differences between experts' recommendations and laboratory evidence is task type. The type of task used in goal-setting studies has been observed to mediate this positive relationship between goal difficulty and performance (Tubbs, 1986; Wood et al., 1987). Kanfer and Ackerman (1989) have provided a theoretical explanation for

this mediating effect in terms of resource capacity and attentional demands of the task: that is, setting and striving for goals impose additional attentional demands on the individual. In learning complex tasks, such as air-traffic control operations, the benefits of goal-setting are difficult to realize because of the already high attentional demands of the task (Kanfer and Ackerman, 1989). In simple tasks, such as performing sit-ups, attentional demands are minimal, which leaves plenty of room available for engaging in the self-regulatory activity of goal-setting.

One problem in being assigned specific and difficult goals (versus selecting one's own goals) is that it may create a performance goal orientation that focuses one's attention on proving one's ability (Kanfer, 1990a:229): "The assigned performance goal sets the objective standard for proving one's ability." In a learning situation, the adoption of a difficult goal when trying to prove one's ability emphasizes the negative discrepancy and, thus, the feeling of failure, attribution to low ability, and a decrease in self-confidence about the task. Research is needed to determine whether assigning specific and difficult goals creates a performance goal orientation and whether assigning less specific goals might offset some of the negative motivational effects of assigning difficult goals, including a decreased sense of self-confidence.

In addition to specific and difficult goals, immediate goals are also easier to gauge in terms of progress than are distant goals. They make a task appear more manageable, provide an indication of progress, and affect self-evaluative reactions to performance (Stock and Cervone, 1990). A few studies have found no difference between immediate and distant goals (e.g., Bandura and Simon, 1977; Dubbert and Wilson, 1984), but many of the subjects assigned long-term goals in these studies were found to have spontaneously set short-term subgoals for themselves, which contaminated the findings. However, research on long-term goal-setting programs to improve the study skills and grades of college students suggests that relatively long-term plans and goals are most beneficial because they allow flexible choice among daily activities (Kirschenbaum, 1985; Kirschenbaum et al., 1981, 1982). One way to reconcile these divergent findings is to view them in terms of stages of skill acquisition. For instance, it may be argued that short-term goals facilitate performance and perceived competence in the early stages of skill acquisition, but as competence develops over time, moderately long-term goals allow greater flexibility and choice and may be viewed as less controlling than short-term goals (Manderlink and Harackiewicz, 1984).

In addition to examining goal-setting influences on self-confidence and performance in relation to stages of skill acquisition, examining them in relation to one's rate of progress may also explain divergent findings. Carver and Scheier (1981) propose that when one encounters difficulty in executing a higher order (more distant) goal, attention is shifted back to a lower order (more immediate) subgoal. As discrepancy toward the subgoal is

reduced, attention shifts back to the higher order goal. As long as one is making good progress toward a long-term goal, one's attention does not need to shift to subgoals to feel confident and be successful. Future research is needed to determine under what conditions and with what tasks different goal-setting techniques enhance self-confidence and performance.

Another common instructional practice to enhance motivation is the use of rewards. Providing rewards (incentives) for desirable outcomes imparts information as well as motivation (Bandura, 1986). Informing learners that they can earn rewards on the basis of what they accomplish is hypothesized to influence their self-confidence for learning. As individuals work toward a task and note their progress, their sense of confidence can be validated through rewards. Rewards have been shown to heighten self-confidence beliefs more when they are contingent on performance than when offered simply for participation (Schunk, 1983c). As with feedback, rewards may actually reduce self-confidence beliefs if they are given in a noncontingent manner for some learners and not others or if they are distributed within a competitive reward structure (Ames, 1981); competitive reward structures emphasize social comparisons that can result in differential ability attributions (Schunk, 1985).

Effects of Self-Confidence on Performance

Numerous studies have examined the relationship between self-confidence and motivated behavior or performance across a number of tasks and situations (Bandura, 1986). Although these correlational results do not necessarily demonstrate a causal relationship between self-confidence and performance, they do provide convergent evidence of a consistent association between self-confidence and performance of at least a moderate magnitude. For instance, in sport and exercise, Feltz (1988b) found that the correlations between self-confidence and subsequent performance in 28 studies ranged from .19 to .73, with a median of .54. Other studies have experimentally manipulated perceived self-confidence levels and then measured subjects' motivation in coping behavior (Bandura et al., 1982), endurance performance (Feltz and Riessinger, 1990; Weinberg et al., 1979); problem solving (Cervone and Peake, 1986), and pain tolerance (Litt, 1988). In general, these diverse causal tests provide corroborating evidence that perceived self-confidence contributes significantly to motivated behavior and performance.

Attempting to demonstrate the causal influence of self-confidence on behavior and performance through experimental manipulation of self-confidence, however, has been criticized as leading to an arbitrary interpretation of the relationship of self-confidence to performance (Biglan, 1987). Biglan points out that when environmental variables are manipulated in order to manipulate self-confidence ratings, performance behavior or other factors are also af-

fected. Environmental manipulations may influence some other variable (e.g., anxiety) that influences self-confidence and performance without any causal role for self-confidence. "Third variable" causes must be considered, but this is difficult to do in traditional experimental studies, especially when considering a network of causal relationships. In such situations, path analysis or structural-equation modeling is an appropriate method to investigate a network of causal relationships (Anderson and Evans, 1974; Cook and Campbell, 1979; Duncan, 1975). Path analysis and structural-equation modeling allow one to test whether the model presented fits a set of data adequately by comparing the observed relationships among the variables with the predicted relationships. These methods also permit an estimation of the relative indirect and direct contributions of effects. Causal modeling methods are not techniques for discovering causal directions, but, rather, for testing directions of causation that have already been specified by a model.

Causal modeling techniques have been used in a number of self-confidence studies to control for the contribution of other possible factors and to test the network of causal relationships posed by a theory (Dzewaltowski, 1989; Dzewaltowski et al., 1990; Earley and Lituchy, 1991; Feltz, 1982, 1988a; Feltz and Mugno, 1983; Garland et al., 1988; Hackett, 1985; Locke et al., 1984; McAuley, 1985, 1990; Ozer and Bandura, 1990; Schunk, 1981; Wood and Bandura, 1989; Zimmerman et al., 1992). In general, these studies have found self-confidence to be a major determinant of motivated behavior or performance and to be influenced by performance in a recursive fashion. For motor behavior and performance, existing self-confidence has been shown to predict initial performance, but as one gains experience on the task, performance also becomes a strong predictor of both future performance and self-confidence (Feltz, 1982, 1988a; Feltz and Mugno, 1983; McAuley, 1985). These results indicate that performance-based treatments may be affecting behavior through other mechanisms, as well as perceived self-confidence. One of the mechanisms not investigated in these studies on motor performance is goal effects. Path-analytic studies that have included goal effects have generally found that assigned goals influence both self-confidence and personal goals and that both variables, in turn, have direct effects on performance (Earley and Lituchy, 1991; Locke et al., 1984; Wood and Bandura, 1989; Zimmerman et al., 1992).

Although team confidence is recognized as being important to group or team functioning, there has been little research on it (Bandura, 1986). Studies have examined group confidence in social dilemmas (Kerr, 1989), school systems (Parker, 1992), and sports (Feltz et al., 1989; Spink, 1990). Two of these studies (Feltz et al., 1989; Parker, 1992) found some support for

Bandura's (1986) proposition that an aggregate of group members' perceived confidence of the group as a whole would be more predictive of the group's performance than an aggregate of the members' judgments of their own confidence when there is at least a moderate level of interdependent effort required of the group.

Because school systems require at least a moderate level of interdependence among their teachers, Parker (1992) examined teachers' beliefs in their own instructional self-confidence and their beliefs about their schools' collective capability to predict schools' levels of academic achievements. Teachers were asked to rate their self-confidence in three teaching domains (reading, mathematics, and language), as well as their beliefs in the collective confidence of the school as a whole in the same three areas. Each teacher's self-confidence and school confidence ratings were then compared with the performances of the students in each teacher's school on a standardized test of reading, mathematics, and language proficiencies. The teachers' perceived confidence in their school's capability (perceived school confidence) predicted the academic achievements of the students in their school and that these collective confidence beliefs of the school were more predictive of the academic achievement of the students than were the teachers' beliefs of their own instructional self-confidence, thus, supporting Bandura's (1986) hypothesis.

Feltz et al. (1989) compared self-confidence and team confidence in the prediction of team performance of seven collegiate hockey teams across a 32-game season. A team confidence measure was constructed after conducting a conceptual analysis of the competence areas required in hockey (with the consultation of two collegiate hockey coaches). The resulting measure of team confidence had seven dimensions: (1) winning against opponents, (2) outskating opponents, (3) outchecking opponents, (4) forcing more turnovers than opponents, (5) bouncing back from poor performances more than opponents, (6) performing better in power play situations than opponents, and (7) performing better in short-handed situations than opponents. Initial analyses have indicated that team confidence was only slightly more predictive of team performance than was individual confidence. However, when wins and losses were analyzed by game, team confidence was more affected by losses than was individual confidence.

The construct of team or collective confidence is still in a rudimentary stage in terms of understanding and explaining motivation. Clearly, a greater understanding of its utility will come from rigorous and systematic research. Toward this end, Bandura (1990) suggests that advances in research on team confidence will be greatly influenced by the development of appropriate measures; specifically, measures of perceived team confidence need to be tied closely to explicit indices of group performance. This may be best accomplished by conducting conceptual analyses of the competence areas within a group's performance.

Although Bandura's theory of self-efficacy as a self-confidence concept is not without its criticisms (see Biglan, 1987; Eastman and Marzillier, 1984; Feltz, 1988b; Lee, 1989), research on self-confidence from divergent psychosocial domains of functioning and from different cultural environments (Earley, 1993; Matsui, 1987; Matsui and Onglatco, 1991) has consistently shown self-perceptions of ability to be an important and necessary cognitive mechanism in explaining motivated behavior and performance. However, self-confidence, as a common mechanism that mediates behavior, cannot be expected to account for all behavior change in human performance (Bandura, 1984). Even so, given the demonstrated importance of self-confidence in enhancing performance, numerous inferences can be drawn to help individuals develop and maintain self-confidence to improve motivation for performance.

Techniques for Enhancing Self-Confidence

In this section research and theory from self-efficacy, goal-setting, and attributions are used to speculate on practical ways to enhance self-confidence for motivation and performance. Applications for enhancing self-confidence are organized around techniques that are based on the four sources of confidence information within Bandura's theory of self-efficacy (Bandura, 1977): performance-based strategies, modeling, persuasion and communication, and anxiety-reduction strategies.

Performance-Based Approaches

Given that the relationship between self-confidence and motivated behavior or performance has been well documented, the important goal is to find ways to enhance self-confidence beliefs. Research has supported that the strongest and most durable determinant of self-confidence is the experience of mastery or performance accomplishments.

One way of facilitating performance mastery is through instructional strategies 4 (Schunk, 1985). The instructor can provide for maximum skill development through an instructional sequence of developmental or modified activities, breaking the skill into parts, providing performance aids, physical guidance, or a combination of these methods. For example, the instructor can physically guide learners through the movements, have them practice on a simulation training device, or design a series of progressive activities to challenge their improving skills. These successes should be based on relevant and realistic progressions: progress must be in small enough increments to ensure intermediary successes, which can lead to mastery of the final goal. Performance aids and physical guidance should be gradually removed as soon as possible, however, so that learners can engage in self-directed mastery experiences. As noted, self-directed experiences indi-

cate higher levels of self-confidence to individuals than do externally guided experiences because the performance is attributed to a person's own effort and ability rather than external aids (Bandura, 1986).

A second effective means of ensuring performance accomplishments is through goal-setting—defining realistic performance standards toward which individuals strive. For complex tasks, the goals should be specific and challenging but attainable. For easy or routine tasks, the harder the goal, the better the performance. Assuming an individual has the requisite skills and commitments, working toward difficult goals can build a strong sense of confidence because the goals offer more information about the performer's capability to acquire knowledge and skills than do easier goals. Some individuals, however, may need some persuasive help to be convinced that the goals are not too difficult (Schunk, 1983b). In addition, for complex and difficult tasks, short-term goals should be used along with long-term goals. Similarly, when using short-term goals, the performer's perceptions of self-confidence for attainment of future goals should be monitored, as well as perceptions of self-confidence that result from goal attainment. As Stock and Cervone (1990) point out, goal-setting strategies will not help individuals who lack a sense of efficacy for attaining the subgoals or those who do not experience enhanced feelings of confidence when they attain the subgoals.

Feedback also appears necessary for goals to have maximum effectiveness in enhancing self-confidence and improving performance. Furthermore, when one is first learning complex tasks, self-confidence beliefs and success can be enhanced by emphasizing process-related (or learning) goals over outcome-related (or performance) goals. Rather than defining success through outcome measures, such as winning and losing or number of tasks completed, success should be redefined to include process variables, such as effort, form, and strategy. These process-related goals are important because they help individuals focus on the learnability of a skill rather than viewing the skill as requiring inherent aptitude (Jourden et al., 1991).

Modeling Others

When individuals have had no prior experience with a task, observing others (modeling) is one means of providing information by which to judge one's own capabilities. For instance, observing others engaging in threatening activities without adverse consequences can reduce inhibitions in observers (Lewis, 1974). The models can be similar in terms of personal characteristics (e.g., age, sex, race) and skill levels, but similarity in skills appears to be more salient to observers than personal characteristics (George et al., 1992). The content of the model's statements is also an influential factor in raising perceptions of efficacy (Gould and Weiss, 1981; Schunk,

1981). Models can provide information and strategies about how to perform the task as well as confidence statements.

The use of multiple demonstrators and coping models has also been shown to influence the effectiveness of demonstrations (Bandura et al., 1982; Lewis, 1974). Bandura (1986) has reasoned that the more different types of people observers see succeeding at a skill, the stronger the convictions will be that they, too, can succeed. Coping models, who initially exhibit difficulty on the task in the same way as learners do but gradually overcome those difficulties, provide the learners with information that this task can be accomplished through perseverance.

The U.S. Olympic Training Center has used observational techniques in a slightly different manner in an attempt to increase an athlete's confidence expectations and performance. In this self-modeling technique, videotapes of an athlete's performance is altered to eliminate the mistakes and then replayed a number of times for the athlete in hopes of altering the athlete's performance beliefs. Research has not yet been provided to determine the effectiveness of this technique with athletes; however, it has been shown to be effective with persons exhibiting deficient speaking skills by editing out the mistakes, hesitancies, and external aids from the videotapes and playing them back to the speakers (Dowrick, 1983).

Persuasion and Positive Communication

Although persuasion and communication techniques alone may be of limited value in enhancing self-confidence beliefs, they may be effective when used in conjunction with performance-based techniques and are provided in a manner contingent to performance. Because it is difficult to evaluate one's own progress in many activities, credible and expert observers can help stretch one's confidence beliefs through effective persuasion techniques. Persuasive information is probably most important during early stages of skill acquisition, when learners lack task experience and knowledge of their capabilities.

As discussed above, to be effective the persuasive information must be believable and, therefore, should be only slightly beyond what the learners can do at that time. For instance, if one is using imagery to try to help convince individuals that they can endure more muscular fatigue, manage potential threats safely, achieve greater athletic feats, or return to performance from injury, the imagery should be structured so that the individuals imagine themselves performing just slightly better than what they think they can do. As with setting goals, the imagery should be challenging but attainable. Mastery experiences should then be arranged to facilitate effective performance.

For individuals who are experienced at a task but are in a performance

slump or plateau, false performance feedback (performance deception) has been used successfully to improve performance (Fitzsimmons et al., 1991). As with the other persuasion techniques, it is important that the deception is believable. For instance, if a coach is trying to improve an athlete's maximum press in weight lifting by persuading him to think he is lifting less weight than he is actually pressing, the difference between the two should be small. Instructors should also be aware that continually deceiving one's students may undermine the trust they need to have in order to attempt new skills.

A second category of persuasion techniques involves effective communication from instructor to learner. These strategies include performance feedback, rewards, causal attribution feedback, and positive communication. Performance feedback can provide clear information that learners are making progress toward their goals. As noted above, however, feedback must be given contingently in relation to defined performance standards or goals, and it must be given consistently to all learners so as not to create expectancy effects. If a wide discrepancy continues between performance and goals, short-term subgoals should be constructed to reduce the discrepancy.

Different types of performance feedback should be used, depending on a learner's phase of skill acquisition: progress feedback provides information on an individual's progress without regard to others; normative feedback compares an individual's progress in relation to others. Progress feedback should be used during the early phase of skill acquisition or with persons who are likely to perform more poorly in comparison with others because normative feedback can debilitate learning if used before an individual has developed a resilient sense of self-confidence for the task (Kanfer, 1990b). Normative feedback can be used during later phases of skill acquisition.

As with performance feedback, if rewards are used they must be clearly tied to performance progress in order to influence self-confidence (Schunk, 1983c, 1984a). The combination of performance-contingent rewards with short-term goals appears to enhance self-confidence beliefs better than either technique alone (Schunk, 1984a).

Attributional feedback and positive communication are especially important techniques when mistakes and setbacks occur. Because mistakes and failures are inevitable, the way in which an instructor communicates and interacts with a learner will have an important influence on the learner's self-confidence. Telling learners that their past failures were due to insufficient effort, rather than lack of ability, can help them meet their setbacks with renewed vigor and persistence because lack of effort can be rectified. But encouraging learners to emphasize external factors (e.g., bad luck or task difficulty) as the reason for a setback (as some athletic coaches do) could be a serious mistake if the mistake and attribution occur repeatedly, because the learners may start to perceive that the outcome is out of their control and not take responsibility for their performance.

of the task and a learner's actual efforts have to be taken into account. If an instructor tells a learner that her failure on a difficult task, for which she expended a lot of effort, was due to lack of effort, she is apt to interpret the feedback as lack of ability or start to distrust the instructor's feedback. In situations in which learners are expending great effort at difficult tasks and still not succeeding, the instructor needs to help them acknowledge the difficulty of the task and set up modified challenges that can be accomplished.

Positive communication by an instructor has been shown to be very helpful in reducing the negative affect that occurs in failure situations (Smith et al., 1979). Positive communication is performance contingent, but it focuses on positive aspects of performance while acknowledging mistakes, provides instructional feedback, and emphasizes the learning nature of task acquisition (Eden, 1990; Jourden et al., 1991). Most individuals feel discouraged and ashamed when they do not perform well and need the assurance and encouragement of the instructor in regard to their abilities. In response to a learner's mistakes, the instructor should not focus on the error itself, but instead find something positive and constructive to say about improving the performance. Four steps characterize this positive approach to mistakes. First, the learner's distress about the mistake is acknowledged. Second, the learner is complimented by the instructor's finding something about the performance that was correct. The compliment must be about an important and relevant aspect of the task; otherwise, it is likely to be discounted by the learners. Third, the instructor provides instructions on how the learner can improve the mistake. Fourth, the instructor ends with a positive note by encouraging the learner to keep trying. These four steps ''sandwich" skill instructions between words of encouragement and praise. A positive communication style allays feelings of embarrassment and promotes a sense of self-confidence.

Anxiety Reduction

Some individuals may interpret increases in their physiological arousal as a fear that they cannot perform a skill successfully. Thus, it is believed that if the arousal of these individuals can be reduced through such techniques as relaxation and biofeedback, fears will decrease and self-confidence will increase. However, as Bandura (1988) argued, it is one's perceived coping confidence that plays a central role in controlling fear arousal: people with low perceived coping confidence tend to focus on the danger and fear cues; those with high levels of coping confidence concentrate on the task at hand (Keinan, 1988).

Helping individuals believe that they can exercise control over potential threats and frightful cognitions is the way to decrease fears and increase

self-confidence. One way to help improve coping confidence is to teach individuals coping strategies to use to manage threatening situations, such as positive self-talk. Research has shown that positive self-talk can help individuals manage stressful situations if they believe that the technique will help them cope (Girodo and Wood, 1979). According to Bandura (1986), the persuasion that the technique will help the individual cope more effectively is what instills a sense of personal control, which enhances coping confidence.

Another technique that instructors can use to help improve coping confidence is to try to manipulate the environment to reduce the uncertainties of the situation. For example, sources of uncertainty might include how dangerous the situation is, how well one expects to perform, whether one will be asked to perform, or what one's coworkers, colleagues, or teammates will think. Uncertainty can be reduced by providing information of task requirements, providing assurance to the learner (or performer), and emphasizing realistic, short-term goals that take the attention away from long-range outcomes. Simulation training can also help to reduce uncertainties about stressors. However, simulation training that involves exposure to serious physical threats reduces anxiety only when it is perceived as successful (Keinan, 1988). Individuals who have low coping self-confidence might require some preparatory coping interventions before they are exposed to simulation training that is physically dangerous or threatening.

Self-confidence is a potent predictor of an individual's performance, given the appropriate skills and adequate incentives. The role of an instructor, manager, or coach, therefore, is to develop and sustain a learner's high level of self-confidence by ensuring performance success, using modeling and persuasion techniques, communicating effectively, and reducing anxiety-producing factors. These techniques can be used in combination with each other in various ways, depending on the task and the learner, to enhance self-confidence.

Many of these techniques can also be applied to enhance team confidence. For instance, if a team is having some difficulty achieving a task or solving a problem, the instructor or leader can design a series of progressive activities for the team and help them set short-term team goals that emphasize process variables (e.g., strategy) rather than outcome variables. Teams can also observe other, similar teams that persevere in the face of adversity or that demonstrate successful strategies about how to perform the group task. Self-modeling techniques, in which mistakes are edited out of a performance, can also be used to enhance confidence, although no research to date has explored the effectiveness of this technique with teams.

The communication techniques described can be used with teams as well as individuals. Team confidence can be expected to be enhanced when contingent performance feedback and rewards are provided to the team and

when the feedback is positively focused and the causal attribution is appropriate to the difficulty of the task and the team's effort expenditure.

Lastly, as with individual coping confidence in threatening situations, team coping confidence can be enhanced and anxiety reduced by reducing the uncertainties that a team faces. Techniques for reducing uncertainties for teams also include simulation training, observing other teams performing the task, and providing as much information regarding the task as possible.

Four major categories of techniques have been described to enhance self- and team confidence. Evidence for the use of these techniques has come from an extensive and diverse research literature, but there are still a number of areas of research that are needed to better understand self-confidence and to enhance performance.

FUTURE RESEARCH DIRECTIONS

Most of the research and applications on self-confidence have been concerned with the influence of unidimensional confidence information on individual performance. Other areas that deserve attention are how people process multidimensional confidence information; the study of self-confidence over time and in different situations; the relationships among self-confidence, goals and goal orientations; individual differences in self-confidence; and team confidence.

Scant research has been conducted on how people process multidimensional confidence information and the heuristics they use in weighting and integrating these sources of information in forming their confidence judgments (Bandura, 1986). The importance of different types of information may vary across different types of activities and situations. For instance, in some sport and exercise situations, physiological information may be a more pertinent source of confidence information than previous performance. In addition, people may weight sources of information differently in different phases of skill acquisition. In processing multidimensional information, people may also misjudge or ignore relevant information in trying to integrate different information (Bandura, 1986). Results from research on these questions will help to understand how self-confidence expectations gain their predictive power; it will also have implications for the type and amount of confidence information provided to individuals for particular types of activities and situations.

Other motivational variables, such as goal orientations and conceptions of ability as they relate to goal setting and self-confidence, have received little attention in research except for Kanfer (1990a), who has noted that different goal orientations may be called for at different phases of skill acquisition. Research is needed to examine induced differential goal orientations in relation to goal-setting and self-confidence at different phases of skill acquisition and for different kinds of tasks (e.g., complex, physically

threatening, mundane). Studying confidence judgments across extended periods of performance and across situations or tasks may be the most informative paradigm for testing the relative contribution of self- or team confidence and other cognitions to performance over time, as well as for testing changes in sources of confidence information.

Besides goal orientation and conceptions of ability, other individual difference variables—such as gender, gender role orientations, and self-focus (see Carver and Scheier, 1981) or action control (Kuhl, 1984)—may play a role in determining self-confidence. For instance, research has generally shown that males view themselves as more confident than females in achievement activities that have been stereotypically linked with males (Campbell and Hackett, 1986; Fennema and Sherman, 1978; Lirgg, 1991). Further research is needed to explore the extent to which individual differences mediate the relationship between confidence judgments and performance.

The resiliency of confidence beliefs may also be an important factor in the relationships between self- or team confidence and performance. Bandura (1986, 1990) has suggested that self-confidence must be resilient in order for one to persist and sustain effort in the face of failure. Ericsson et al. (1993) also allude to this in their discussion of the role of deliberate practice in the acquisition of expert performance. According to Bandura, experience with failures and setbacks is needed to develop this robust sense of self-confidence. Future research might examine how different patterns of success and failure influence the development of a robust sense of confidence. In addition, Bandura (1990) notes that when self-doubt sets in after failure, some individuals recover from their perceived low confidence more quickly than others. Similarly, some teams may be able to regain their sense of confidence after a setback more quickly than other teams. Knowing how and why some individuals and teams are able to regain their sense of confidence more quickly than others would be a valuable source of information for designing interventions that would help confidence recovery. Furthermore, although according to Bandura (1986, 1989), an optimistic sense of self-confidence is advantageous to continued effort and persistence, substantial overestimates of one's competence provide a dangerous basis for action (Baumeister, 1989). Research is needed to determine the optimal distortion necessary to foster the persistence needed for mastering various tasks.

In the area of team confidence, a number of other issues are in need of further investigation, such as sources of team confidence information, the relationship of team confidence to group attributions and other group motivation concepts, and the influence of team leaders on team confidence. Although Bandura (1986) postulated that teams are influenced by the same sources of confidence information as individuals, there may be other sources that are unique to a team. Perhaps social, community, or political support provides important team confidence information. For sports teams, the

media may provide a source of team confidence information (although this may also be the case for individual athletes).

Research has also yet to examine the relationship between team confidence and other conceptual and theoretical perspectives of group motivation. For example, relationships between team confidence and team attributions, desire for team success, and social loafing have yet to be studied. Only one study has examined team confidence and team cohesion (Spink, 1990).

Lastly, the influence of team leaders may also provide some insight on team confidence and performance. Bandura (1990) has suggested that a performance slump, especially by a key member of the team or the team leader, could influence the confidence that other members have in the team's ability to be successful.

Similarly, managers' and team leaders' leadership confidence may affect team confidence and performance. Wood and Bandura (1989) found evidence that perceived managerial self-confidence both directly and indirectly influenced organizational performance by the effect it had on people's goal setting and use of analytic strategies. Other research has shown that a high sense of personal confidence enhances strategic thinking and facilitates organizational performance under varying levels of organizational complexity and goal assignments (Wood et al., 1990). It could be argued, therefore, that the confidence a team has in a key member or in its leader may also have an important effect on team effectiveness. In addition to the confidence a team has in its leader, the confidence that a leader has in his or her team may also affect team performance. Some support has been found for this argument (Chase et al., 1993), but further research is required to link antecedents and consequences of such confidence beliefs.

In addition to leadership confidence, different kinds of leaders' behaviors may also influence individual and team confidence for certain tasks and certain team members. Research on leadership behavior has suggested a path-goal theory of leadership: this theory argues that the central function of a leader is to create positive performance expectancies (or self-confidence beliefs) among team members (subordinates) (Evans, 1974; Fulk and Wendler, 1982; House and Mitchell, 1974). Certain leader behaviors (supportive, directive, participative, and achievement oriented) are hypothesized to differentially influence the self-confidence and effort-performance expectancies among team members, depending on the task and its characteristics. For instance, supportive leadership behavior (e.g., concern for welfare of team members) should lead to increased self-confidence among team members for tasks that are stressful, boring, tedious, or dangerous, but not for tasks that are interesting and enjoyable and for which team members are confident in their ability to complete the task. Leadership behaviors that are directive (e.g., giving specific guidance, close supervision), participative (e.g., consulting with team members), and achievement oriented (e.g.,

setting challenging goals) should increase self-confidence when the task is unstructured and complex, but not when the task is simple, repetitive, or highly structured. Although Yukl (1989) suggests that the theory has yet to be adequately tested, it can provide a framework in which to investigate possible moderating variables of leadership influences on both self-confidence and team confidence.

1 The large number of citations in this chapter to Bandura's work reflects the fact that most of the research on self-efficacy has been done in his laboratory. One advantage of relying on the research of one team of investigators is that the work displays an analytical progression as later studies build on the results obtained from earlier work. Another advantage of Bandura's work is that the approach identifies sources of confidence information that provide a basis for practical ways of enhancing performance, as discussed below. A disadvantage is that this work is based largely on a particular theoretical perspective, which may not be the only framework for studying the relationship between self-confidence and performance.

2 Autonomic arousal is the physiological arousal that is under the control of the autonomic nervous system (e.g., changes in heart rate, respiration rate, adrenaline in the blood).

3 Although the subjects in the "inherent aptitude" condition were deceived, they were fully debriefed, told of the difficult nature of the task and assured that it did not indicate "aptitudes."

4 In clinical psychology, these strategies are referred to as participant modeling or performance desensitization.

Can such techniques as sleep learning and hypnosis improve performance? Do we sometimes confuse familiarity with mastery? Can we learn without making mistakes? These questions apply in the classroom, in the military, and on the assembly line.

Learning, Remembering, Believing addresses these and other key issues in learning and performance. The volume presents leading-edge theories and findings from a wide range of research settings: from pilots learning to fly to children learning about physics by throwing beanbags. Common folklore is explored, and promising research directions are identified. The authors also continue themes from their first two volumes: Enhancing Human Performance (1988) and In the Mind's Eye (1991).

The result is a thorough and readable review of:

• Learning and remembering. The volume evaluates the effects of subjective experience on learning—why we often overestimate what we know, why we may not need a close match between training settings and real-world tasks, and why we experience such phenomena as illusory remembering and unconscious plagiarism.
• Learning and performing in teams. The authors discuss cooperative learning in different age groups and contexts. Current views on team performance are presented, including how team-learning processes can be improved and whether team-building interventions are effective.
• Mental and emotional states. This is a critical review of the evidence that learning is affected by state of mind. Topics include hypnosis, meditation, sleep learning, restricted environmental stimulation, and self-confidence and the self-efficacy theory of learning.
• New directions. The volume looks at two new ideas for improving performance: emotions induced by another person—socially induced affect—and strategies for controlling one's thoughts. The committee also considers factors inherent in organizations—workplaces, educational facilities, and the military—that affect whether and how they implement training programs.

Learning, Remembering, Believing offers an understanding of human learning that will be useful to training specialists, psychologists, educators, managers, and individuals interested in all dimensions of human performance.

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Short Essay on Self Confidence in English

Self-confidence can be defined as the belief in yourself and your abilities. It is basically freedom from doubt. It is not something that can be taught. It is something that we develop internally by ourselves. It is very important to live a healthy and happy life.

The person who lacks self-confidence is totally opposite. He/she is isolated, inferior, depressed, confused and sensitive to criticism and failure. It does not mean that a confident person always gets success in life but he/she takes life challenges positively. They learn from their mistakes and keep trying to achieve better in life.

Another way to improve your self-confidence is to never preassume. Many people have this habit of preassuming the negative. For example, you are going to a drawing competition and you are nervous. Do not overthink it. You are chosen for this competition because you are good at drawing. Don�t let your negative preassumption shake your confidence.

Keep on learning to achieve self-confidence. Learn from your past experiences. Self- confidence does not build in one day. Believe in yourself and keep trying.

Question on Self Confidence

What is the importance of self-confidence.

Self-confidence is very useful and important to achieve goals and fulfil your wishes. Success comes to those who have a belief in their abilities. One cannot achieve his/her goal in life without self-confidence because a self-confident person is independent, eager, optimistic, loving and positive by nature.

How is confidence built?

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Home — Essay Samples — Life — Confidence — Self-confidence: How to Become Self-confident

Self-confidence: How to Become Self-confident

• Categories: Confidence Personal Growth and Development Personal Qualities

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Words: 603 |

Published: Apr 11, 2019

Words: 603 | Page: 1 | 4 min read

Table of contents

Present yourself as self-confident, express your confidence in gesture, talk to your eyes with eyes, do not talk negative about yourself, meet with people and increase networks, write down your receipt and non-receptions, increase skills in place of interest, help others, leave the company of harmful people.

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Essay on self confidence 11 Models

• Topics in English
• October 9, 2022

Essay on self confidence, This topic deals with several important issues, as it shows how to gain self-confidence. And we talk through it about the importance of self-confidence for a person. And what happens when a person has a great deal of confidence.

Through what we will present to you, you will know how to gain self-confidence and what are the reasons that help a person to have self-confidence.

And we will know what is the difference between self-confidence and vanity, because they are two qualities that some believe are similar, and therefore we must know the difference between them in detail.

• Essay on self confidence

When a person gets old, he knows that the real reason for success in life, whether personal or working life, is self-confidence.

The reason is that it is an attribute that makes a person strong among others, so no one can overthrow him or take his place.

Also, self-confidence makes a person strong in his decisions and quick in his reactions, which makes him a successful person who moves forward quickly and does not go back.

As for the person who is not confident in himself, he prefers to live in darkness for most of his life, so he does not go out to the light and does not participate in the battle of life because of fear of society and fear of people’s view of him.

You will find him withdrawing from any gathering or participation even if someone has good skills, but he wastes his skills and does not care to develop or use them.

And because the person who is not confident in himself escapes, he gives a great opportunity to people who are less than him in experiences but who have great self-confidence.

But how do people gain self-confidence? Why do some others lose this confidence?. The reason is the way a child is raised from an early age.

The child must be raised in a way of encouragement all the time, so that the child feels accomplished, even if it is simple achievements.

It is necessary to refrain from criticizing the child continuously, because the criticism makes the child feel weak and unable to do something right.

One of the annoying things that makes a child lose confidence in himself and cannot gain it again is that he is constantly compared to others. This conveys a message to the child that he is not important and that others are better than him in everything.

The correct way to raise a confident child is to encourage him for what he has done and motivate him to do better things next time. If the parents want to compare the child with others, they can compare the child with himself in the past, in order to motivate him to return to what he was before.

Self esteem essay

Self-esteem is one of the most important qualities that a person must have. The meaning of self-esteem is that a person loves himself and appreciates it appropriately, without underestimating or exaggerating.

If a person underestimates himself, he will develop a lack of self-confidence.If a person overestimates himself, he reaches the stage of arrogance and condescension to others.

As for the right person, he is the one who knows his own destiny and knows his weaknesses and strengths. And when he recognizes his weaknesses, he does not get frustrated and his self-confidence is not shaken, but he works intensively to strengthen his weaknesses so that he can get up and walk forward.

A person’s self-respect or appreciation helps a person to live in a successful and calm manner in various aspects of his life. The person who appreciates himself is successful in work, and you find him moving forward in a distinctive way.

And you find him successful in his personal life, whether it is a marriage relationship or his relationship with his family and relatives.

She finds him socially successful with friends and co-workers. As for the relationship with those who manage his work or the leader who gives him orders, he acts with him appropriately without clashing.

Self confidence essay in English

A person gains self-confidence from those around him, whether family or society. If the parents are very prudent, they deal with the child in a healthy way, so they do not bully or criticize him continuously. Also, parents should encourage their children in what suits their skills and abilities.

One of the things that loses the child’s self-confidence is that the parents are determined to compare him with others.

But if they can discover the talents of their children, they will direct them to a path suitable for them, which will make them successful.

After the child grows up, he begins to go out to society, which may be cruel to children, such as when his friends at school meet him with bullying terms. He may be subjected to violence and be underestimated by teachers within the school.

And when he is subjected to study and tests, he will discover that he is not smart enough and that some of his colleagues are superior to him, which causes comparisons between him and them and great frustration for him. All of these things make the child begin to feel inferior.

Low self esteem essay

Lack of self-respect or lack of self-esteem have one meaning, which is a person’s hatred of himself and looking down on him.

This happens because of the frequent criticism of this person in childhood, whether from the father, mother, or those around him.

One of the reasons is also the lack of interest in the child so that his talents are not discovered or his abilities are recognized, and he grows up without any advantage and feels frustrated and unimportant. Irresponsibility makes the person feels weak and unable to do anything on his own.

The child must be given some responsibilities, the difficulty of which varies according to his age, in order to try to perform them well, so that he can feel the strength of his personality.

Neither looking at others nor comparing yourself with them makes you stronger and more successful, but if you look at them and compare yourself to them, you will feel frustration and failure and over time you will hate yourself and look at it in an inferior way.

You must learn to look at the aspects of your life in a positive way, and to avoid negative thinking that destroys human life.

Lack of self confidence essay

Lack of self-confidence is one of the problems that destroy people’s lives, whether their personal lives or at work.

We can clearly see the characteristics of an insecure person, who keeps a low profile and prefers solitude.

If he is in a place with a number of people, he prefers to remain silent and not participate. And shows on his face traces of tension and sweating. If someone looks at him, he turns his face and avoids looking into the eyes of others.

One of the reasons why a person loses confidence is to believe that he is inferior to those around him. This belief may be implanted inside him because of an old problem he was suffering from, or because of a defect in his external appearance that he is unable to fix.

If he suffers from a problem with his weight or the shape of his face, or if he suffers an accident that leads to a certain deformity, he will not be able to maintain his confidence in himself without the help of a specialist doctor.

Narrative essay about self confidence

When I was four years old, I had an accident that broke my teeth and made it difficult to speak. When I went to nursery school, my classmates started bullying me because of the difficulty of speaking.

This bullying affected my personality, which made me afraid to speak, so I was silent and did not talk to anyone.

And the years passed and I didn’t talk, until I got new teeth.

Even though I had new teeth and was able to speak well, I was terrified and thought everyone was looking at me and waiting for me to speak until they made fun of me.

My mother told me that I should go to a doctor to help me overcome this fear. When I went to the doctor he started talking to me in successive sessions until I was able to recover and speak freely, without fear of other people’s judgment.

I have learned to trust myself and love myself as I am so that others will love me. And I learned that a person who feels inferior and insecure, sees others the same way he sees himself. If you want people to see you in a special way, you must first see yourself with this distinction.

Self esteem essay in english

Respect or love of a person for himself is how a person views himself and whether he trusts her and her capabilities or does not have confidence in her.

But there are several ways you can train yourself to trust your abilities, one of which is to learn how to reject something that is not right for you without fear.

Do not do something that you are not convinced of due to pressure from those around you. Do not do anything because you are afraid of society or criticism of others.

You must maintain your personal boundaries, which are like a wall of protection for you from violating your personal boundaries.

You must learn to make your own decisions without referring to others and the hesitation that is clear evidence of a lack of self-confidence.

It is not right to criticize and reduce yourself whenever you make a mistake or make an incorrect decision, but you can know what your mistakes are and try to learn from them for the next time.

Try to look at the words of thanks and compliments that some people say to you and not avoid them or take them as a compliment, because it can often be true and you deserve it.

Essay about self worth

If you want to value yourself, you must know the reasons that lead to the loss of self-esteem in order to avoid them.

One of the most important of these reasons is that you have an accident in your childhood that causes you to change your appearance, which leads to others bullying you.

Or you are born with something different from others, and you are classified as an abnormal person, which leads to a feeling of inferiority.

But these accidents and the things you were born with cannot be changed, and they could happen to anyone else.

Therefore, you must strengthen your character and not be affected by this bullying.

A person may be beautiful and not have any visible issues that require bullying, but he suffers from a loss of self-confidence due to the large number of criticism and belittling him.

Destructive criticism occurs when parents believe that the more they criticize the child, the more he maintains hygiene and excels in school.

But what happens is the opposite, as the child loses confidence in himself and falls backward, causing him to fail for the rest of his life.

My self esteem essay

I have learned that if I want to have self-respect, I must have certain qualities, one of which is to be a balanced, calm person, with a great deal of self-compassion and peace. I have to be confident in not being shaken when a sick person bullies something about me.

Bullying is different from constructive criticism. Bullying is based on the form and things that a person has no power to change.

As for constructive criticism, it is about the things that a person does, but he can change them with something better.

I also learned that I must take my decisions seriously, learn from all past mistakes, and never repeat my mistakes again.

Organizing and arranging is one of the most important things that make a person successful and self-confident, and therefore he will appreciate and love himself, because organization facilitates the tasks you perform and saves you time. A person who values ​​himself never thinks negatively, but only sees the glass as half full.

Unlike people who do not value themselves, they only look at the negatives and cannot see the positive aspects in life in general or in other matters related to work and personal life.

I want to improve my self confidence essay

If you want to improve your self-confidence, you must know what self-confidence means and why it is one of the necessities of life.

Self-confidence means loving yourself and recognizing your strengths, knowing what your weaknesses are and working to strengthen them. If you trust yourself, you will walk and sit among others without fear or hesitation.

One of the most important things that you must do in order to strengthen your confidence in yourself is to look at things in an appropriate way, and do not look at them in a huge and illogical way, such as someone who believes that those around him look at his actions and criticize his actions, and his thinking is the result of a lack of self-confidence.

Also, in order to strengthen your self-confidence, you must not be afraid of others and their criticism, but behave yourself.

You should feel from the inside that you are a strong person who can sit and talk among others, and can make good decisions without fear of error. All of these things strengthen your self-confidence and improve your personality.

Short paragraph about self confidence

When a person moves freely and be himself in front of those around him, he is confident in himself. But if a person is afraid of being in the midst of people and backs away from talking and participating, then he is a person who lacks confidence and does not have a good self-esteem.

This state of distrust appears to others noticeably, as it appears on his face and body movements that reveal the tension and fear he feels.

If a person wants to treat his lack of self-confidence, he must know what is the cause of this problem. One of the main causes of mistrust is being bullied at a young age, or being criticized excessively.

Also, if a person is very sensitive, they look at things exaggeratedly, such as believing that everyone is watching their behavior, or that they look at them critically, although sometimes people may look at you with admiration.

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• Essays in Hindi /

Essay On Self Confidence : छात्र ऐसे लिख सकते हैं आत्मविश्वास पर निबंध

• Updated on  
• अगस्त 28, 2024

आत्मविश्वास एक मानसिकता है जहाँ व्यक्ति अपनी सीमाओं को चुनौती देता है और खुद पर विश्वास करता है। आत्मविश्वास स्वयं के प्रति विश्वास आत्म-प्रेम से आता है। आत्मविश्वास पाने के लिए और आत्म-संदेह को दूर करने के लिए व्यक्ति को खुद पर विश्वास रखने और सभी कार्यों को सफलता से पूर्ण करने की आवश्यकता होती है। छात्रों को कई बार कक्षाओं और परीक्षाओं में आत्मविश्वास पर निबंध (Essay On Self Confidence in Hindi) लिखने के लिए दिया जाता है। आपकी मदद के लिए Essay On Self Confidence in Hindi के कुछ सैंपल इस ब्लॉग में दिए गए हैं। 

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आत्मविश्वास पर 100 शब्दों में निबंध, आत्मविश्वास पर 200 शब्दों में निबंध, प्रस्तावना , आत्मविश्वास का विकास, आत्मविश्वास के लाभ, आत्मविश्वास की कमी के दुष्प्रभाव, आत्मविश्वास बढ़ाने के उपाय, आत्मविश्वास पर 10 लाइन – 10 lines on essay on self confidence in hindi.

एक बार जब आप आत्मविश्वासी मानसिकता चुन लेते हैं, तो कोई भी आपको रोक नहीं सकता। खुद को उस आत्मविश्वासी व्यक्ति के रूप में कल्पना करें जो आप बनना चाहते हैं जल्द ही आप वह व्यक्ति बन जाएँगे। आत्मविश्वास इसी तरह काम करता है। किसी भी व्यक्ति को अपने लिए यह चुनाव खुद करना होता है क्योंकि आत्मविश्वास उसके भीतर से आता है। जब व्यक्ति को सफलता प्राप्त होने में कमी महसूस न हो तब भी उसे आत्मविश्वास से काम लेना चाहिए। 

खुद से सकारात्मक बातें करें और नकारात्मक विचारों और लोगों से दूर रखना चाहिए। आत्मविश्वास को बढ़ाने के लिए व्यक्ति को सकारात्मक और आत्मविश्वासी लोगों के साथ रहना चाहिए। धीरे-धीरे यह एक आदत बन जाती है और व्यक्ति का आत्मविश्वास बढ़ाने में मदद करती है। आत्मविश्वास सफलता के अवसर पैदा करता है।

सफलता के साथ व्यक्ति का आत्मविश्वास और भी बढ़ता है, जिससे एक सकारात्मक सोच उत्पन्न होती है। आत्मविश्वासी लोग खुद को अपने लक्ष्यों को प्राप्त करने में सक्षम मानते हैं, और यह विश्वास उनके जीवन में सच हो जाता है।

आत्मविश्वास किसी भी व्यक्ति के अपनी सफलता में विश्वास और परिणामों का सामना करने की ताकत का मिश्रण होता है। जो लोग अधिक आत्मविश्वासी होते हैं वे स्वस्थ दिखते हैं और अक्सर किसी भी नौकरी के लिए बेहतर अनुकूल होते हैं, खासकर नेतृत्व की भूमिकाओं में अच्छा प्रदर्शन करते हैं। आत्मविश्वास की कमी होना किसी प्रकार कमज़ोरी का संकेत नहीं है। लेकिन वास्तविक आत्मविश्वास विकसित होने में समय लगता है और इसे बनाए रखने के लिए व्यक्ति में विनम्रता की आवश्यकता होती है। सामाजिक संपर्कों के आधार पर व्यक्ति में आत्मविश्वास बदल सकता है। 

लोगों के बीच एक दोस्ताना और आरामदायक माहौल व्यक्ति के आत्मविश्वास को बढ़ा सकता है। कई अध्ययनों से पता चलता है कि उच्च आत्मविश्वास वाले लोग दूसरों के सामने अपनी राय आसानी रख पाते हैं। आत्मविश्वासी होने से दूसरों को मनाने और दृढ़ता से बोलने में भी मदद मिलती है। बच्चों में अक्सर अधिक आत्मविश्वास होता है क्योंकि वे अपने कार्यों के परिणामों के बारे में कम चिंता करते हैं, जबकि किशोरों को सामाजिक दबावों के कारण आत्मविश्वास में गिरावट का अनुभव हो सकता है। आत्मविश्वास जीवन के हर क्षेत्र में महत्वपूर्ण होता है, क्योंकि खुद पर विश्वास करना और सहकर्मियों पर भरोसा करना बेहतर उत्पादकता और स्वस्थ संबंधों की कुंजी है। लोग आम तौर पर अपनी ताकत पर अधिक और अपनी कमज़ोरियों पर कम आश्वस्त होते हैं। कौशल और प्रेरणा के साथ भी, आत्मविश्वास की कमी किसी को अपने लक्ष्यों को प्राप्त करने से रोक सकती है। एक सामान्य समस्या है आत्मविश्वास की कमी होना बुरा है लेकिन अत्यधिक आत्मविश्वास भी लक्ष्य प्राप्ति में बाधा बन सकता है।

आत्मविश्वास पर 500 शब्दों में निबंध

आत्मविश्वास पर 500 शब्दों में निबंध (Essay On Self Confidence in Hindi in 500 Words) नीचे दिया गया है –

आत्मविश्वास किसी व्यक्ति के अपनी क्षमताओं, गुणों और निर्णय पर विश्वास को कहते हैं। इसका मतलब है कि वह व्यक्ति परिस्थितियों को संभालने, निर्णय लेने और बिना किसी अनावश्यक भय या संदेह के चुनौतियों का सामना करने के लिए खुद पर भरोसा रखता है। आत्मविश्वास आत्म-आश्वासन और आत्म-सम्मान से उपजता है, जो किसी व्यक्ति को निर्णायक और मुखर तरीके से कार्य करने की अनुमति देता है। इसमें सुरक्षा की भावना और किसी के कौशल और कार्यों के प्रति सकारात्मक दृष्टिकोण शामिल होता है। आत्मविश्वास को समय के साथ अनुभव, सीखने और सकारात्मक सुदृढीकरण के माध्यम से विकसित किया जा सकता है। व्यक्ति के जीवन में आत्मविश्वास महत्वपूर्ण है। आत्मविश्वास हमें अपनी असफलताओं का सामना करने और उन्हें सकारात्मक रूप से स्वीकार करने में मदद करता है। यह हमें बार-बार उठने की अनुमति देता है, एक ऐसा गुण विकसित करता है जो सुनिश्चित करता है कि हम तब तक हार न मानें जब तक हम सफल न हो जाएं। आत्मविश्वास हमें अधिक आशावादी बनाता है। लोग दूसरों पर निर्भर रहने के बजाय सफलता प्राप्त करने के लिए अपनी खुद की क्षमताओं पर भरोसा करते हैं। आत्मविश्वास होना ज़रूरी है, यह भी उतना ही महत्वपूर्ण है कि आप अति आत्मविश्वासी न बनें। किसी भी चीज़ की अति हानिकारक हो सकती है और अति आत्मविश्वास भी इससे अलग नहीं है।

एक व्यक्ति के आत्मविश्वास का विकास बचपन में ही शुरू हो जाता है। उसके बचपन में सकारात्मक अनुभवों और समर्थन के माध्यम से एक मजबूत नींव तैयार की जाती है। माता-पिता, शिक्षकों और साथियों से प्रोत्साहन बच्चों को अपनी क्षमताओं पर विश्वास करने में मदद करता है। इससे उसमें सकारात्मक और छोटी उपलब्धियों के लिए खुशी रहने से आत्म-सम्मान बढ़ता और आत्मविश्वास बढ़ता है। आत्मविश्वास के निर्माण में सकारात्मक सोच भी एक महत्वपूर्ण भूमिका निभाती है। जब हम अपनी ताकत पर ध्यान केंद्रित करते हैं और सकारात्मक दृष्टिकोण बनाए रखते हैं, तो हम चुनौतियों का सामना करने और सफल होने की अपनी क्षमता पर विश्वास करने की अधिक संभावना रखते हैं।

व्यक्ति में आत्म-स्वीकृति भी महत्वपूर्ण होती है। अपनी खामियों और गलतियों सहित खुद को स्वीकार करने से हम अधिक आत्मविश्वासी बनते हैं। यह समझकर कि हर किसी में ताकत और कमजोरियाँ होती हैं, हम खुद की कमियों को स्वीकार करना सीखते हैं और आत्मविश्वास के साथ आगे बढ़ते हैं।

व्यक्ति के आत्मविश्वासी होने से उसके जीवन में कई लाभ होते हैं। निर्णय लेने की क्षमता में सुधार तब होते हैं जब आप आत्मविश्वासी होते हैं। आप अपने निर्णय पर अधिक भरोसा करते हैं और अधिक तेज़ी से और प्रभावी ढंग से निर्णय लेते हैं। यह आपको निर्णायक कार्रवाई करने में मदद करता है और गलतियाँ करने के डर को कम करता है। सामाजिक और व्यावसायिक जीवन में सफलता होती है क्योंकि आत्मविश्वास आपके संचार कौशल को बढ़ाता है और आपको खुद को स्पष्ट रूप से व्यक्त करने की अनुमति देता है। यह आपको सामाजिक बातचीत, पेशेवर, अधिक प्रेरक और प्रभावी बनाता है, जिससे बेहतर नेटवर्किंग के अवसर और करियर में वृद्धि होती है।

आत्म-सम्मान और मानसिक स्वास्थ्य पर सकारात्मक प्रभाव डालता है। आत्मविश्वास आत्म-सम्मान को बढ़ाता है, क्योंकि यह मूल्य और क्षमता की भावना को बढ़ावा देता है। यह सकारात्मक आत्म-दृष्टिकोण चिंता और तनाव को कम करता है, मानसिक स्वास्थ्य को बढ़ावा देता है, और चुनौतियों पर अधिक प्रभावी ढंग से काबू पाने में मदद करता है।

आत्मविश्वास की कमी से आपको इसके कई दुष्प्रभाव भी देखने को मिलते हैं। आत्मविश्वास के बिना, जोखिम उठाना या लक्ष्य का पीछा करना चुनौतीपूर्ण हो सकता है, जिससे बार-बार असफलता और हताशा होती है। यह एक ऐसा चक्र बना सकता है जहाँ प्रत्येक असफलता आत्मविश्वास को और कम करती है, जिससे सफल होना और भी कठिन हो जाता है। आत्मविश्वास की कमी के कारण अक्सर आत्म-संदेह और असफलता का डर पैदा होता है। इससे चिंता, तनाव और अत्यधिक सोच-विचार हो सकता है, जो व्यक्तियों को कार्रवाई करने या निर्णय लेने से रोक सकता है, जिससे उनका आत्म-विश्वास और कमज़ोर हो सकता है। आत्मविश्वास की कमी के कारण लोग नए अनुभवों, चुनौतियों या नेतृत्व की भूमिकाओं से कतराते हैं। इस हिचकिचाहट के परिणामस्वरूप व्यक्तिगत विकास, करियर में उन्नति और अच्छे संबंध बनाने के अवसर चूक सकते हैं, जो उनकी क्षमता को सीमित कर देता है।

जीवन के लक्ष्य निर्धारण और आत्म-मूल्यांकन प्राप्त करने योग्य लक्ष्य निर्धारित करने से उन्हें पूरा करने के दौरान आत्मविश्वास बढ़ाने में मदद मिलती है। नियमित रूप से अपनी ताकत और सुधार के क्षेत्रों का आकलन करने से आप व्यक्तिगत विकास पर ध्यान केंद्रित कर सकते हैं और छोटी-छोटी सफलताओं का जश्न मना सकते हैं, जिससे आत्मविश्वास बढ़ता है।

नियमित रूप से अपने कौशल का अभ्यास करने से क्षमता में सुधार होता है और असफलता का डर कम होता है। खुद को पिछली उपलब्धियों की याद दिलाकर और सकारात्मक मानसिकता बनाए रखकर प्रेरित रहना आपको चुनौतीपूर्ण परिस्थितियों में आत्मविश्वास बनाए रखने में मदद करता है। अपने आप को सहायक, सकारात्मक लोगों के साथ घेरना आत्म-विश्वास को प्रोत्साहित करता है और प्रेरणा प्रदान करता है। सही कंपनी रचनात्मक प्रतिक्रिया दे सकती है, आपकी सफलताओं के लिए आपको प्रेरित कर सकती है और आपको आत्म-संदेह को दूर करने में मदद कर सकती है, जिससे आपका आत्मविश्वास बढ़ता है।

जीवन की चुनौतियों का सामना करने और व्यक्तिगत और व्यावसायिक सफलता प्राप्त करने के लिए आत्मविश्वास आवश्यक है। यह हमें निर्णय लेने, बाधाओं को दूर करने और अवसरों को प्राप्त करने की शक्ति देता है। आत्मविश्वास बनाने और बनाए रखने के लिए लक्ष्य निर्धारित करना, आत्म-मूल्यांकन करना, नियमित अभ्यास करना और खुद को सकारात्मक प्रभावों में व्यस्त रखना आवश्यक है। आत्मविश्वास भीतर से आता है। अपनी क्षमताओं पर विश्वास रखें, प्रेरित रहें और आगे बढ़ते रहें। आत्मविश्वासी मानसिकता के साथ, आप किसी भी चुनौती का सामना कर सकते हैं और एक संपूर्ण और सफल जीवन बना सकते हैं।

आत्मविश्वास पर 10 लाइन (10 Lines on Essay On Self Confidence in Hindi) नीचे दी गई है –

• सफलता प्राप्त करने के लिए आत्मविश्वास बहुत ज़रूरी है।
• आप किसी व्यक्ति के आत्मविश्वास को उसके काम से देख सकते हैं।
• आत्मविश्वासी व्यक्ति बड़ी से बड़ी समस्या या चुनौतियों का सामना भी अकेले ही कर सकता है।
• आत्मविश्वासी व्यक्ति कभी हार नहीं मानते और सफल होने तक कोशिश करते रहते हैं।
• आत्मविश्वास बढ़ाने के लिए हमें अपने डर और कमज़ोरियों का सामना करना चाहिए और उन पर काबू पाना चाहिए।
• बेहतर बनने के लिए नकारात्मक प्रभावों से बचना और खुद को सकारात्मकता से घेरना ज़रूरी है।
• आत्मविश्वासी लोगों को सावधान रहना चाहिए कि वे अति आत्मविश्वासी न हो जाएँ।
• आत्मविश्वास विकसित करने के लिए खुद से प्यार करना और खुद को स्वीकार करना सीखना ज़रूरी है।
• हर किसी में आत्मविश्वास होना चाहिए क्योंकि यह किसी भी काम को पूरा करने के लिए ज़रूरी है।
• खुद पर विश्वास करने से सफलता मिलेगी।

आत्मविश्वास आपके कौशल और क्षमताओं के बारे में एक दृष्टिकोण है। इसका मतलब है कि आप खुद को स्वीकार करते हैं और उस पर भरोसा करते हैं और अपने जीवन पर नियंत्रण की भावना रखते हैं। आप अपनी ताकत और कमज़ोरी को अच्छी तरह जानते हैं, और खुद के बारे में सकारात्मक दृष्टिकोण रखते हैं।

आत्मविश्वास वस्तुतः एक मानसिक एवं आध्यात्मिक शक्ति है। आत्मविश्वास से ही विचारों की स्वाधीनता प्राप्त होती है और इसके कारण ही महान कार्यों के सम्पादन में सरलता और सफलता मिलती है। इसी के द्वारा आत्मरक्षा होती है।

आत्मविश्वास तब बढ़ता है जब आप खुद पर और अपनी क्षमताओं पर भरोसा करना सीखते हैं, और जब आप खुद के साथ उसी करुणा और सम्मान के साथ पेश आते हैं जो आप दूसरों के साथ करते हैं।

अधिक आत्मविश्वास आपको आत्म-संदेह और अपने बारे में नकारात्मक विचारों से मुक्ति का अनुभव करने की अनुमति देता है । अधिक निडरता और कम चिंता का अनुभव करना। अधिक आत्मविश्वास आपको स्मार्ट जोखिम लेने के लिए अधिक इच्छुक बनाता है और आपके आराम क्षेत्र से बाहर निकलने में अधिक सक्षम बनाता है। सामाजिक चिंता से अधिक स्वतंत्रता प्राप्त करना।

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