Self-Esteem & Self-Worth

[Turtledove]

Some of you psych. majors would know the difference, and I know there is one. Could you explain what the difference between self-esteem and self-worth is?

 

[VagrantFarce]

Is there one? Would it be a meaningful one if there was?

 

[Inverness]

I recall running into a case study about this, but alas I cannot find the exact one I came across...but here is one that touches the topic nicely in the introduction: https://webspace.utexas.edu/neffk/pubs/NeffVonk.pdf

But I think that this site: http://brendastanton.com/self-worth-vs-self-esteem summarizes my opinions and take on it nicely.

To quote:

Your self-esteem is how you feel about yourself based on your actions. It’s what you have control over. It’s how you feel about yourself from the inside/out. Overall, are you proud of yourself for who you are, what you stand for and what actions you take and don’t take based on the values that you choose to orient your life around?

Your self-worth, has a much more spiritual bend to it (again, my opinion) because it’s directly related to your identity, your sense of self, your overall feeling of importance and value in this world. Overall, do you feel that you deserve to be here on the earth plane and have the right to take up space – and to be happy within that space you call your life?

The major difference is: Self-esteem is geared towards doing vs. Self-worth is more about being. Both have a tremendous amount of value – and serve very different purposes in your life. They both also work beautifully together when married in their natural energies.

But I'm not a psych. major...

 

[INTP]

Not really sure if these english words have same meaning than finnish equilevants, so i might be wrong about this, but its about trust on your self(skills, looks, what ever) vs feeling that you are worthy enough.

 

[TenebrousReflection]

How i see it regarding myself.

Self-Confidence - Am I capable? Did I try hard enough? - Judgement of abilities and competency.
Self-Worth - Am I a good person? Did I do what was right? - Judgement of self based on intentions.
Self-Esteem - The merged self image of Self-Confidence and Self-Worth. Am I acting in accordance with my beleifs and am I achieving the desired results of doing so?

 

[Ginkgo]

Self esteem includes self-worth and other rough information about oneself. In other words, they're different, but they overlap. You could probably use both words interchangeably and people would get your meaning quite clearly, though.

 

[Stanton Moore]

They're largely the same.

 

[Rail Tracer]

Probably a slight variance from one another but they are very close that it can be used almost interchangeably. Not a psy major.

Both are about impressions of one self.

The way I look at self-esteem is that even with high self-esteem, you know your limits.

High self-worth, on the other hand, can end up looking like other things (particularly narcissism)

High self-esteem would end up meaning that you have great outlooks about yourself in the thickest of times. High self-worth, in some cases, could mean you have too high of a outlook towards yourself in the detriment of others.