What's the difference between self-esteem and self-image?

If you could only choose one, would you choose to have: high self-esteem, or a positive self-image?

Could you pick one?

Maybe it'd be easier to choose if you could remember a time when you've felt bad about your image, or a time when you lacked self-esteem.

Self-esteem and self-image can affect each other, but they're two different things. Luckily, it's possible to have a positive self-image and high self-esteem!

Self-esteem can be described as how much value a person places on their self. In other words, it's the opinion that you have on your worth.

Self-esteem comes from your internal feelings and is described as high or low.

High Self-Esteem

• Involves a high sense of self-worth

• Involves having confidence in yourself and your abilities

• Includes a positive perception of yourself

Low Self-Esteem

• Involves a low sense of self-worth

• Involves having a low level of confidence in yourself and your abilities

• Includes a negative perception of yourself

Self-esteem isn't static! It can change over time.

Through your lifetime, it's normal to go through periods of high and low self-esteem. You can change your mind about how you feel about yourself as a person at any time.

Self-image can be described as how you see yourself and how you think others see you. This includes how you're viewed physically, mentally, or emotionally.

Self-image is influenced by external influences and is described as positive or negative.

Positive Self-image

• Includes making positive comparisons with others

• Involves happiness with how you think you're viewed by others

• Involves happiness with how you view yourself

Negative Self-image

• Includes making negative comparisons with others

• Involves unhappiness with how you think you're viewed by others

• Involves unhappiness with how you view yourself

Self-image develops over time. Through our lifetime, experiences play a large role in how we view ourselves.

Self-esteem and self-image impact each other directly. How you feel about yourself affects how you view yourself.

Alternately, how you view yourself can affect how you feel about yourself. Positive self-image and high self-esteem lead to better mental health.

Self-esteem is often seen as more internally influenced as it relates to your inner opinion. Self-image is more externally influenced as it relates to how you're perceived on the outside.

Some ways to improve your self-esteem involve:

• Saying positive things to yourself

• Avoiding comparisons to others

• Challenging unkind thoughts you may have of yourself

• Considering therapy sessions to understand the cause of any issues

Watch this video to learn some more ways to improve your self-esteem. 👈

Some ways to improve your self-image involve:

• Focusing on the good things about yourself

• Understanding the things that you currently like about yourself

• Learning how to appreciate and love who you are as you presently are

This article highlights a few tools you can use to improve your self-image. 👈

Read through the scenario below to test your knowledge of self-esteem and self-image.

Carlos has recently moved to a new city to start a new job. While he feels nervous about moving to a new place without any family or friends, he feels confident that he's making a great choice for his career.

He knows he'll be a great addition to his new job. Carlos is also excited about meeting his new coworkers and making new friends in the city.

He is expecting to be well-received by his new team, and also plans to stay connected with many of his old coworkers.

Deepen your understanding of self-esteem and self-image with these next steps!