Self-Esteem and Confidence: Is There a Difference?

An eager young kindergarten student raises his hand. The answer is five! he exclaims. The teacher applauds the student for his attempt, although the correct answer is four. The teacher rewards him with a sticker, assuring him of his wonderful job. The childs self-confidence is boosted by all the applause; it does not matter to him that his answer was incorrect. He will happen to believe that he is a competent student, while in reality he might be quite the opposite. This reference of situation gamelights the differences between the words self-esteem and confidence: self-esteem is manufactured and disregards the outcomes, while confidence is earned and is primarily refer with previous results.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines the word self-esteem as favourable sagaciousness or opinion of oneself (Volume 9). As the rendering states, self-esteem is simply how one thinks of oneself. Thus, high self-esteem is having high regard for oneself and low self-esteem is having a low appreciation of oneself. The word itself originated in 1657, and was popularized when those associated with phrenology, the study of the shape and size of the brainpan as an indication of character, assigned it a bump on ones cranium (Harper).

The Oxford English Dictionary defines the word confidence as feeling sure or certain

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of a fact or issue; assurance, certitude, assured expectation (Volume 2).



The word confidenceoriginated in the fourteenth century from the Latin word confidentia, opineing to intrust (Harper). Confidence can be understood from the definition to mean being certain of ones abilities. Having confidence in onself, therefore, means to be sure that one can perform, act, or react hence in a situation.

As the definitions illustrate, confidence and self-esteem, while closely associate with one another, have two very different definitions. succession the meanings of the two words are both...

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