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Enjoying Your Work Richard Brislin |
Sense of worth allows
people to bounce back
from adversitySelf-esteem refers to people's thoughts and feelings about themselves. People with high self-esteem feel they are worthwhile individuals, have resources they can offer to others and can make important contributions in their workplaces. People with low self-esteem feel they are unimportant individuals, they have little to offer and do not have the ability to deal with the most difficult tasks in an organization.
People with high self-esteem project self-confidence and accept challenging work assignments that, if completed successfully, will put them on the fast track for raises and promotions. People with low self-esteem avoid challenging tasks and stick to the routine aspects of their jobs. They communicate to others that they are not very ambitious and that others should not rely on them.
For most people, self-esteem acts like a thermostat. Growing up in New England, a thermostat was a familiar household feature. Cold temperature could signal that the thermostat should increase the heat. But if the sun came out and the house became too hot, the thermostat would turn off the heat and might even turn on the air conditioner. Self-esteem serves a similar function as people relate to others.
So many benefits in life are dependent on our relations with other people that self-esteem includes estimates of how others are reacting to us. If people act in a boastful or pompous manner, others will react negatively. Since everyone wants to be accepted by others, people with adequate self-esteem will pick up these negative cues and can make changes in their behavior. If the same people are mildly depressed and act in a dour manner, others will see this and will send signals that the people should "cheer up."
Some people can have self-esteem that is too high. These people are so self-confident and so conceited that they don't notice the negative feedback coming from colleagues. In effect they are saying, "I am already so good that I don't need to pay attention to the much less able people that I have to put up with in my workplace." The result, however, is that over time these people irritate others in the workplace to the point that they are excluded from informal communication channels. Because few others talk to them, they become ignorant of workplace developments that can have impacts on their job performance.
It is interesting to ponder the question, Where can we find people with extremely high self-esteem? One answer is prisons. Some individuals feel that they are so smart that they can commit crimes because stupid policemen will never catch them. Or, they feel that they are so outstanding that laws against white-collar crimes such as insider trading or misusing public funds should not apply to them.
If self-esteem is measured on a 10-point scale, ranging from "extremely high" to "extremely low," a score of about eight could be ideal. This score is high enough to allow people to bounce back from adversity and to face life's challenges in a confident manner. But a score of eight allows just enough self-questioning so that people are sensitive to others and have the self-insight to realize that these others have much to offer.
See the Columnists section for some past articles.
The purpose of this column is to increase understanding of human behavior as it has an impact on the workplace. Given the amount of time people spend at work, job satisfaction should ideally be high and it should contribute to general life happiness. Enjoyment can increase as people learn more about workplace psychology, communication, and group influences.
Richard Brislin is a professor in the College of Business Administration, University of Hawaii. He can be reached through the College Relations Office: cro@cba.hawaii.edu
