Self Esteem vs. Body Image

Self Esteem vs. Body Image

Introduction

It is not a secret, we all know with growing age our bodies change. The changes in middle age and mid life age tend to be deleterious in our health. As we experience changes in our body, image about ourselves also changes. There are several people who face problems in adjusting their physical appearance which eventually affects their self esteem (Mendelson & White, 1982). This has become a huge problem in today's world thus it is very important to discuss this issue and identify interventions or strategy to cope of with these problems. In this paper we are going to discuss the concept of body image and self esteem, their relationship with each other, effects of self esteem and body image on people, what influence it and in the end strategies to cope up with this shall be discussed. The purpose of writing this paper is to let readers know about the important relationship between self esteem and body image and its impacts because today for several people especially teenagers, self image of are greatly linked with body image. Body image is unique to each person and allows him/her to express her/his self and communicate with others.

Self Esteem

Self esteem is all about how much pride people have in themselves, how much they values themselves, and how worth while they feel. Having positive self esteem is important because it affects how a person acts. A person with high self esteem is able to make friends easily, controls his behavior, and enjoys life to the fullest (Alfermann, 2000). As self-esteem is formed by the feedback we have received during childhood on growth of our body and our appearance.

Our level of self-esteem can be low or high. In the first case, it affects the inner sense of security and psychological well-being, and our performance in various areas. A high self-esteem have a positive impact on the sense of security and our psychological well-being, which enable us to take risks and take the necessary decisions for a more productive and harmonious life with others and with ourselves. A positive self esteem is built on the basis of an adequate self-knowledge, the ability to accept ourselves as we are and sustained effort to develop human potential we possess.

Body Image

Body image is the about how individuals feel about their body or physical appearance. For people in teenage, women and people with disability, body image is highly linked with self esteem. This is why, parents and society advices to take care of them the most. The image we have of ourselves has as one of its main components the body which represents the perceptions and ideas regarding our own body (Furnham & Sneade, 2002). This perception and idea plays an important role in the constitution of self esteem. Sometimes the image we have of our body or some of its parts such as the nose, ears, face in general, height, bust proportions, ...