Item 4: Problems in Relationships:
Persons with low self-esteem inevitably have troubled relationships either with their parents, siblings or partners. The test questions will be so constructed as to ascertain whether there are problems with any of these close relationships. A key concept that is of relevance here is ‘co-dependency’, wherein there is an unhealthy pattern of dependency between the related individuals. Co-dependency is a strong indicator of underlying psychological issues and is strongly correlated with low self-esteem. When a person is said to be co-dependent on another, it means that the former is emotionally entrapped in the latter’s psychological problems. When an individual is co-dependant upon another, it is not out of genuine love that they are committed to the relationship. To the contrary, the dysfunctional relationship offers them an opportunity to adopt a maternal or supportive role which is also emotionally satisfying at a certain level. Several studies have indicated that there is strong correlation between co-dependents and low self-esteem. Hence, designing a list of questions that would help illuminate the nature of interpersonal relationships will ultimately help gauging self-esteem levels.
Item 5: Unreasonable Expectations of Themselves:
It is quite healthy to be critical of oneself at times, wherein the inducement of guilt serves as a deterrent for possible mistakes in the future. But people with unhealthy self-esteem set themselves up for failure by aspiring for the impossible. It then becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Firstly, they start out with a poor conception of their self. They then follow it up with high expectations and goals, which inevitably lead to under achievement. Every episode of perceived under achievement further reinforces their negative self-conception. This vicious cycle of self-defeating cognition and behavior often manifests as some sort of neurosis. Hence, low self-esteem is not just a personality characteristic/trait, but implies a deeper disturbance in the psyche of the individual. Unreasonable expectations are not just confined to the realm of cognition and mental functions, but are also expressed in the form of psychosomatic disorders.
Conclusion: The aforementioned items are some of the key factors that help assess self-esteem. This is by no means an exhaustive list but only represents essential elements of healthy psychology at the level of the individual.