Accuracy of Self-Assessment in Low Self Esteem
Self-assessment is a critical part of everyone’s cognitive process because it quantifies self-worth and rewards success. However, self-performance cannot be measured accurately due to our low self-image sabotaging our success. The source “Self-Assessment: Why Evaluating One’s Own Competence Is an Intrinsically Difficult Task” claims that we internally believe external feedback is frequently imprecise, deceptive, and absent. As a result, we often do not correct the false beliefs we have about ourselves. Using inaccurate data to quantify ourselves, our actions, and our true levels of ability often differ from what we internalize. When we think less of ourselves, we often feel undeserving and fall short of our objectives.
If we are strong enough, we can stop doubts and negativity from affecting our own sense of self-worth due to other people’s opinions and biased labels. In “The Social Self: the Role of Social Situation,” it is stated that self-stigmatizing—the process of consciously incorporating labels from others into one’s own self-concept—can result from internalizing the labels others apply to us. Other people’s opinions of us have a stronger integrating effect on our oneself than our own self-evaluations. Any chance of retaining a high sense of self-worth can be undermined by racial or ethnic stereotypes if they are accepted by the people they target. Internalized prejudice, according to Rajiv and Hammond, is more detrimental than an individual’s self-evaluation. We tend to trust the negative opinions of others more than the opinions of ourselves. Minorities may develop prejudice against themselves after enduring prejudice their entire lives.
This first claim highlights the disparity between performance and assessment. Students tend to perform poorly when they believe they will perform well and well when they believe they will perform poorly. Performance and assessment have a negative correlation. Research by Leon, Vallejo, and others demonstrates that while students who anticipate performing poorly actually over perform, those who anticipate performing well actually underperform. Everybody has a biased opinion of themselves; some people overestimate, and some undervalue their cognitive capacities. Over estimators are just people who have illusions about their own abilities. However, those who underestimate their own abilities have internalized what they perceive to be others’ low opinions of them. They consequently undervalue their own worth and their own abilities. However, as a result of internalizing the inflated criticisms of others, they end up performing better than they anticipated.
By contrasting ourselves with others, we develop our self-concepts. We evaluate ourselves in relation to others, our opinions, and our skills on a social scale. According to Rajiv and Hammond, we rank ourselves against people we think are important rather than against everyone else. Peer comparisons are the most significant kind of comparisons. Though they can undermine our self-worth, upward comparisons may motivate us on to pursue professional growth.
Another example to describe Low Self-Esteem and High Self-Esteem individuals is introverts and extroverts. Due to their sense of accomplishment, extroverts are self-assured and cheerful. Since introverts don’t think highly of themselves, they are doubtful and negative. Self-monitors who adhere to “The Social Self” have faith in their own moral and social sense. High self-monitors, on the other hand, are transactional; they will change their actions to obtain an advantage or favor. When low self-monitors act on their conscience, their self-esteem rises. When low self-monitors don’t act on their conscience, they feel guilty. If we could be more honest with ourselves instead of wishfully thinking, if we could more effectively assess the frequently inaccurate information we receive about ourselves in relation to others, and if we could cognitively ignore prejudice instead of internalizing it, we would be able to make more accurate assessments of ourselves.
References
Jhangiani, D. R., & Tarry, D. H. (2022). 3.3 The Social Self: The Role of the Social Situation. Principles of Social Psychology – 1st International H5P Edition (). BCcampus.
Samuel Parra León, Antonio Pantoja Vallejo, & James Byron Nelson.Variability In The Accuracy Of Self-Assessments Among Low, Moderate, And High Performing Students In University Education. https://scholarworks.umass.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1430&context=pare
Travis J. Carter, D. D.Faulty Self Assessment: Why Evaluating One’s Own Competence Is an Intrinsically Difficult Task. https://compass-onlinelibrary-wiley-com.ezproxy.rowan.edu/doi/full/10.1111/j.1751-9004.2007.00031.x
Counterintuitive Fall 2024 
can i have feedback on the overall context to make sure im on the right track?
I’m so impressed that you’ve posted early, BabyYoda. Thank you. It will give me a chance to provide Feedback for anyone eager to see how I’ll react to the draft you’ve posted. I imagine there are some for whom the idea of a Rebuttal argument will not be obvious. At the moment I have just about 30 minutes to devote before I go get some fresh vaccines. Maybe that will be enough time. If not, I’ll return later today.
First of all, let me congratulate you, BabyYoda, for the overall excellence of your presentation. You’ve gathered impressive sources; you’ve identified claims of importance in all their material; you’ve collected good ideas that all contribute to the theme of SELF-AWARENESS in all its flavors. Nothing is extraneous. You don’t engage in bullshit or word padding. Your work has a high “credibility quotient,” a term I just invented to apply to your essay here.
Please evaluate every other nit-picky complaint of mine (and I have dozens as always) against that generalized very positive overall evaluation. I presume you won’t be satisfied with “good enough.” Your work is certainly that. My remarks may make you wonder how I can have such a positive impression and still want you to tear the thing down to its bones and put it back together in a radically different way, but that is the case.
It’s up to you to decide how much to change. I’ve posted a provisional grade to help you put the need for improvement into context.
I needed 25 minutes of my 30-minute budget to get this far. I’ll be back.
What’s missing in your Rebuttal argument, BabyYoda, unless it’s there and I’M THE ONE who’s missing it, is your OPPONENT.
You appear to be using your Rebuttal argument to promote the same thesis you’ve used your first 2000 words to promote instead of using your last 1000 words to REFUTE the contrary opinion of a credible source WITH WHOM YOU DISAGREE.
So, before I begin, let’s be sure we agree that the 3rd short argument is designed to offer you the chance to UNDERMINE, REFUTE, DISPARAGE, DISCREDIT, even RIDICULE the seemingly powerful arguments of experts whose point of view differ from your own.
Did you encounter such experts, such sources, in your research? If so, this would be the place to present their ideas and REFUTE them.
If not, let’s not panic. Your work is credible enough as it stands, and your overall class performance is strong enough, that you can probably weather a bit of mild underperformance and not suffer.
I promise in the NEXT Reply I’ll actually get down to appraising your content and context.
INTRODUCTION:
—SELF-ASSESSMENT is important.
—It quantifies SELF-WORTH.
—But we don’t do it very accurately.
—We are judging inaccurate, or incomplete data about our competence.
—The source says we KNOW feedback about ourselves is inaccurate.
—Therefore, we’re dubious of external feedback.
—Thus, we persist in our false SELF-ASSESSMENTS.
—FINALLY: When ASSESS ourselves or our abilities to be inferior, ourselves to be unworthy, we FAIL to achieve our goals.
—Said another way: our low self-image sabotages our success.
Does that sum up the claims accurately, sentence by sentence?
The question is, “Do you believe it?” Is this a point of view you wish to VERIFY or REFUTE? From the sound of it, you ENDORSE the evidence and conclusions.
PARAGRAPH 2:
Your first sentence confuses me; I can’t follow the claim. Mostly the “should.” I’m going to paraphrase as I think you may have meant to make the claim, and then proceed to the rest of the sentences.
—First sentence: If we’re strong enough, we can PREVENT the opinions (and prejudicial labels) of others from infecting our own SELF-ESTEEM with doubts and negativity.
—“The Social Self” states that SELF-STIGMATIZING can result from internalizing the labels others apply to us.
—Third sentence (no longer needed. Sentence 2 covered it.) Internalizing other people’s prejudices about us should be called “PREJUDICE APPROPRIATION.”
—Fourth and Fifth sentences combined: Racial or ethnic stereotypes, if they’re ACCEPTED by those they target, can overwhelm any chance of maintaining high SELF-ESTEEM.
—Rajiv and Hammond claim that INTERNALIZED PREJUDICE is more harmful than a person’s own SELF-ASSESSMENT. In other words, we’re more likely to believe OTHER PEOPLE’S low assessment of us than our own minds.
—After a lifetime of experiencing prejudice, minorities can become PREJUDICED AGAINST THEMSELVES.
PARAGRAPH 3:
I think there’s an error in your first sentence. SSA is more likely Student Self-Assessment than Student Self-Performance. Right?
This first claims point out a disparity between Assessment and Performance. In particular, students who think they’ll perform well perform poorly, and students who think they’ll perform poorly perform well. Assessment and Performance are NEGATIVELY CORRELATED.
—Leon, Vallejo and others show that students who expect to perform well in fact underperform, while students who expect to perform poorly overperform.
—The Dunning-Kruger Effect doesn’t EXPLAIN why this happens, but it describes the phenomenon.
—We are all biased about ourselves; some overestimate our cognitive abilities, some underestimate them.
—Over-estimators are merely deluded about their own capabilities.
—But under-estimators have internalized what they believe are the LOW ASSESSMENTS others have about their abilities.
—As a result, they undervalue their own abilities, and therefore their own worth.
—But, the final outcome of their internalizing of the exaggerated negative assessments of others is that they perform better than they expected.
PARAGRAPH 4:
—First Sentence: We form our self-concepts by comparing ourselves to others.
—We rank ourselves socially against others, our opinions too, and our abilities.
—Rajiv and Hammond say we rank ourselves (not against everybody!) but against those we deem significant.
—The MOST IMPORTANT comparisons are PEER COMPARISONS.
—NEW IDEA: Upward comparisons can be damage our self-esteem, but they can also motivate us to ACHIEVE upward mobility.
PARAGRAPH 5:
—ANOTHER WAY TO DESCRIBE Low Self-Esteem and High Self-Esteem individuals is INTROVERTS and EXTROVERTS.
—Extroverts are confident and upbeat because they feel accomplished.
—Introverts are dubious and pessimistic because they don’t value their own abilities.
—“The Social Self” low self-monitors trust their own social and moral compass.
—Meanwhile, high self-monitors are transactional; they’ll bend their behavior to gain favor or advantage.
—Low self-monitors get a self-esteem boost when they follow their conscience.
—Low self-monitors feel shame when they fail to follow their conscience.
—Last sentence: We would make more accurate self-assessments if we could IGNORE prejudice (instead of internalizing it), if we could BE HONEST WITH OURSELVES (instead of wishfully thinking), and if WE COULD BETTER EVALUATE the (often flawed) information we get about ourselves in relation to others.
Whew! That was exhausting.
Do those paraphrases make the claims clearer, BabyYoda? I know I understand them better seeing them simplified and un-jargoned this way. Feel free to borrow, appropriate, incorporate anything in those summaries that you find useful.
Next. Do you believe all these claims?
Or is there one, a pair, a set, that you dispute?
If they all seem reasonable, clean up the language and call yourself finished.
If there are claims you’d like to squash, let me know and I’ll see if I can help.
Your Rebuttal Argument will be more powerful if you have something to refute.
From today, I’d leave this one alone, BabyYoda.
It’s been a joy to work this over with you.
Regraded.