self-confidence

If self-confidence is one of the essential traits necessary for the functioning of autonomous and social human beings, few studies have looked precisely at its correlations with personality, behavior, mood and ultimately quality of life. This small review of the literature confirms that self-confidence is a necessary condition for autonomy, but also a facilitator of the relationship with the other, with the partner, with others and with the social community. Self-confidence and confidence in others are thus inseparable and necessary for the well-being of society. By making it possible to transcend personal and interpersonal conflicts, self-confidence even appears to be a prerequisite for wisdom. But beware, self-confidence is necessary but not sufficient for the feeling of happiness.

Cultivating self-confidence is one of the keys to happiness, but not the only one! To restore it, there are personal development interventions that consider the subject as a whole, and which have proven their worth.

Trust has been defined in different ways, in the literature, by behavioral scientists but has not been researched very thoroughly. The American Psychological Association (APA) defines self-confidence as a subject's assurance of his abilities, expertise and judgment. On a more practical level, it is "the belief that one is able to successfully meet the demands of a task". The APA adds that generally considered a positive attitude, its development is a major goal in psychotherapy. Several studies have documented how self-confidence is correlated with many positive traits, with few caveats, however, when it sometimes eludes self-control.Self-confidence contributes but is not enough to happiness

Among the positive correlations, we note that:

Self-confidence is necessary for autonomy: Self-confidence is documented (1) as a necessary condition for personal autonomy and self-respect. It implies a positive vision of one's motivations and skills, a willingness to depend on oneself but also an acceptance of one's vulnerability. It is therefore essential for the autonomous functioning of human beings.

Self-confidence is a foundation of reason, knowledge and wisdom: the philosopher Keith Lehrer, professor emeritus at the University of Arizona and Miami, places self-confidence at the base of the main aspects of the condition human being and its "fundamental ascent" towards reason, knowledge, wisdom, but also autonomy, love, consensus and conscience. Its doctrine is based on three prerequisites, the ability of Man to consider and evaluate his beliefs and desires by resolving his personal conflicts, to know how to accept or prefer, and to pursue this approach with complete reliability. Self-confidence appears at the basis of reliability, on which reason, knowledge and wisdom are founded (2).

Without self-confidence there is no social well-being: self-confidence and self-esteem are also described as predictors of sociability and “citizenship” (3). The results show that self-esteem and trust in others are indeed strongly correlated with social and civic behavior.

Self-confidence promotes both optimism and resilience: another study (4) confirms the correlations between self-confidence, social confidence and resilience, optimism and satisfaction in the relationship to work. The study confirms that self-esteem, resilience and social trust are mediators of the relationship between optimism and job satisfaction. Self-confidence and social confidence are thus essential to success (5): it appears to be linked to optimism, reinforces courage and paves the way for success.Poorly controlled self-confidence entails risks, in particular that of communicating one's emotional distress too widely: people who have self-confidence are generally more expressive, they reveal themselves because they believe that others love them and do not will not reject. One study (6) describes a particularly intimate and “dangerous” form of self-expression, the disclosure of emotional distress. A trait that can be harmful and risky when the other is a loved one, even the intimate partner. For while the expression of our deepest thoughts and feelings is essential to the development of intimacy, it carries the risk of negative evaluation and rejection.

We then naturally come to self-confidence and in “love”: self-confidence, confidence in love and benevolence of the partner, constitute a virtuous circle (7). The feeling of self-confidence is predictive of trust in the other and confidence confers the feeling of security necessary to "join" one's intimate partner. People who suffer from a lack of self-confidence are reluctant to address problems in a relationship because they fear rejection or separation. However, “in the event of a serious disagreement in a relationship, failure to resolve this problem can be destructive” (7).

So is self-confidence necessary for happiness or happiness for self-confidence? According to various researches, confident people report higher levels of well-being. However, the factors that contribute to happiness and those that contribute to self-confidence are not necessarily linked to each other, with the exception of the feeling of optimism (8). There are happy individuals with high or low self-confidence and unhappy individuals with different levels of self-confidence as well. In practice, it can happen that people with high levels of self-confidence experience the discomfort of not having accomplished their life goals.

Poorly controlled self-confidence entails risks, in particular that of communicating one's emotional distress too widely: people who have self-confidence are generally more expressive, they reveal themselves because they believe that others love them and do not will not reject. One study (6) describes a particularly intimate and “dangerous” form of self-expression, the disclosure of emotional distress. A trait that can be harmful and risky when the other is a loved one, even the intimate partner. For while the expression of our deepest thoughts and feelings is essential to the development of intimacy, it carries the risk of negative evaluation and rejection.

We then naturally come to self-confidence and in “love”: self-confidence, confidence in love and benevolence of the partner, constitute a virtuous circle (7). The feeling of self-confidence is predictive of trust in the other and confidence confers the feeling of security necessary to "join" one's intimate partner. People who suffer from a lack of self-confidence are reluctant to address problems in a relationship because they fear rejection or separation. However, “in the event of a serious disagreement in a relationship, failure to resolve this problem can be destructive” (7).

So is self-confidence necessary for happiness or happiness for self-confidence? According to various researches, confident people report higher levels of well-being. However, the factors that contribute to happiness and those that contribute to self-confidence are not necessarily linked to each other, with the exception of the feeling of optimism (8). There are happy individuals with high or low self-confidence and unhappy individuals with different levels of self-confidence as well. In practice, it can happen that people with high levels of self-confidence experience the discomfort of not having accomplished their life goals.

Thus, feeling optimistic and being surrounded remain the main predictors of happiness, especially among older people. Happiness is therefore not a trait that implies self-confidence and for happiness self-confidence is not enough.