Compare the Difference Between Similar Terms

Difference Between

Home / People / Behaviour / Difference Between Self-esteem and Self-efficacy

Difference Between Self-esteem and Self-efficacy

April 25, 2011 Posted by Olivia

Self-esteem vs Self-efficacy

We all know the meanings of the words esteem and efficacy isn’t it? But when applied to self, the concepts of self esteem and self efficacy become very confusing, so much so that people tend to use the words interchangeably which is wrong. This article will explain the differences between the two concepts so as to enable one to use one or the other term correctly.

Self esteem

Though mostly confined to psychology, self esteem has become a very popular word today and commonly refer to people having a high self esteem or low self esteem. Self esteem is a concept that refers to a person’s overall evaluation of himself. It is an appraisal of one’s own worth. There is no scale to measure self esteem but you can tell whether a person has a high self esteem or low self esteem by his behavior and reaction to his environments. Self esteem is the opinion one has about himself. People having high self esteem have a good self image and such people believe that they are good, reliable, hardworking, honest and friendly to others. Self esteem is just like a mirror in which you can see your qualities just as you see your image in a mirror.

However, those having a low self esteem are the people who are timid, shy, introvert, and non competitive. Such people believe that others are better than they are and despite wearing the best of clothes will feel awkward and feel that others are better dressed than they are. People with low self esteem never realize their potential and are condemned to live a sub standard life, at least inwardly. Self esteem is a crucial and vital to have a positive attitude towards life and others. Low self esteem translates into poor self confidence which causes people to have negative feelings and such people are likely to give up challenges rather easily.

Self efficacy

Self efficacy is a concept related to self esteem. It was introduced by Albert Bandura. If you have heard about locus of control, you will easily understand this term. It is an assessment of an individual about his ability to perform a task or face a situation. This is one feeling that builds up as you go on learning and mastering different abilities in life. In fact, self efficacy is a strong belief in your own ability to do succeed against all odds. If you have a strong belief in your ability to learn new things, you tend to develop a feeling of self efficacy.

Self-esteem vs Self-efficacy

A person may not know ball dancing and may have a low self efficacy for ball dance, but that doesn’t result in a low self esteem if he does not think of ball dance being important in his life. Thus you can see that self esteem is different from self efficacy. Self esteem is a permanent internal feeling while self efficacy is a feeling that depends upon the performance at hand. Had they been the same, you would have been on a high one day and felt terribly the very next day when confronted with a task that you did not have the ability to perform. Similarly, you know that success or failure at one task does not affect your self esteem. You know that you are worth more than a performance or more.

Related posts:

Difference Between Law and EthicsDifference Between Law and Ethics Difference between habit and taggingDifference Between Habit and Addiction Difference Between Soul and SpiritDifference Between Soul and Spirit Difference Between Alpha Male and Beta MaleDifference Between Alpha Male and Beta Male Difference Between Abstartc and Concrete Thinking- Abstract ThinkingDifference Between Abstract and Concrete Thinking

Filed Under: Behaviour Tagged With: appraisal of one’s own worth, belief in your own ability, efficacy, esteem, evaluation of himself, high self esteem, introvert, low self esteem, opinion about himself, positive attitude, self confidence, self efficacy, self esteem, self image, timid

About the Author: Olivia

Olivia is a Graduate in Electronic Engineering with HR, Training & Development background and has over 15 years of field experience.

Comments

  1. zoomslide says

    January 22, 2013 at 4:21 pm

    This is a pretty inaccurate post, but props for the attempt.

    Reply
  2. Michael Ireland says

    June 1, 2018 at 8:39 am

    I was VERY surprised you chose to describe having “Low Self-Esteem” as being an Introvert.. You do realize that people who are Introverts could make up close to half of he population on Earth ? I also am of the opinion that the using “value” or “self-worth” as descriptors infers there either is, or should be some way to “measure” this. I’ve no doubt it’s a concept born that cam from the Western Mentality of materialism.
    Perhaps the very simple concept of “confidence” is a better means of determining a persons “self-esteem”. Ironically, the amount of confidence a person actually shows is what most people will focus upon when they are deciding about a persons self-esteem being high or low.
    I’m an Introvert, but have confidence in my abilities to handle life’s difficulties as they come.
    I am actually surprised as well that this unintentional insult to Introverts everywhere has been left up to add to the “low-self esteem ” some Introverts may already have.

    Reply
  3. anna says

    May 10, 2019 at 10:00 am

    Interesting article and very nicely written however you mention there are no scales to measure self esteem? what about the very famous and well-used Rosenberg’s scale?? That is literally used in 1000s of studies to measure self-esteem?

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Request Article

Featured Posts

Difference Between Coronavirus and Cold Symptoms

Difference Between Coronavirus and Cold Symptoms

Difference Between Coronavirus and SARS

Difference Between Coronavirus and SARS

Difference Between Coronavirus and Influenza

Difference Between Coronavirus and Influenza

Difference Between Coronavirus and Covid 19

Difference Between Coronavirus and Covid 19

You May Like

Difference Between Lead and Opportunity

Difference Between Viscose and Cotton

Difference Between Viscose and Cotton

Difference Between Indemnity and Guarantee

Difference Between Opera and Musical

Difference Between First and Second Industrial Revolution

Difference Between First and Second Industrial Revolution

Latest Posts

  • Difference Between Nitronium Nitrosonium and Nitrosyl
  • Difference Between Trichloroacetic Acid and Trifluoroacetic Acid
  • Difference Between Group I and Group II Introns
  • Difference Between Ion Channel and Ion Pump
  • Difference Between Dielectric Constant and Dielectric Strength
  • Difference Between Endocytosis and Endoreduplication
  • Home
  • Vacancies
  • About
  • Request Article
  • Contact Us

Copyright © 2010-2018 Difference Between. All rights reserved. Terms of Use and Privacy Policy: Legal.