Confidence vs. Self-Esteem:
Are They Different?

Confidence, or self-confidence, is used to refer to how well you see yourself as a capable person. What confidence looks like in a confident person can differ, but in general, if you are a person with high confidence, you will believe in your abilities to do the things that you need or want to do. You may also be more capable of accepting personal or professional challenges in your life. High confidence has been proven to be associated with better performance in sports and cognitive tasks as well as increased self-reported happiness.

If you are a person with low confidence, you will not believe that you have the capabilities you need to accomplish any tasks or challenges that come your way. Low confidence has been proven to be associated with loneliness and anxiety. However, confidence is not a fixed state, which means that you can improve it.

The most important component in determining confidence is your perception of your own competence. We commonly call this self-efficacy. It is possible to feel confident about doing certain things yet lack confidence when doing other tasks. This is because competence directly affects your confidence, and since we're only human, we can feel like a superstar in one field while at the same time, feel like a failure in another field.

We often hear that 'confidence is attractive', but does research really support that?

Yes, but only in certain contexts. In terms of romantic partner preference, people tend to choose individuals with similar or higher confidence levels than themselves. Research done in 2002 supports this theory; it was found that male participants of the study preferred women with confidence levels that were a little higher than themselves, while female participants preferred men who were more confident than them.

Despite all that, attractiveness is determined more by perceived confidence than actual confidence levels. What this means is whether people see you as a confident individual or not will determine how attractive you are in their eyes. Research has proven this to be true, especially for females of both heterosexual and non-heterosexual inclination.

Self-esteem is best described as how you value yourself as an individual. Do you consider yourself as a person possessing dignity, regardless of your previous actions and accomplishments? Or do you think that you are a worthless person, in spite of all the good things you've managed to do?

A person with high self-esteem would be able to view themselves more objectively, realizing that they have positive and negative aspects encompassing their being. High self-esteem is associated with better well-being and work performance.

People with low self-esteem will only focus on the negative aspects of themselves and fail to recognize the positive qualities they hold as a person. Low self-esteem is associated with higher levels of depression and anxiety.

Since both confidence and self-esteem are ways for you to evaluate yourself as an individual, these two concepts cannot be separated from one another. In fact, self-confidence is often thought of as a part of self-esteem in some research. Nevertheless, this doesn't mean that it is impossible to have low confidence and high self-esteem at the same time. Here's what it means if you have either combination of opposite confidence and self-esteem.

If you have low confidence but high self-esteem, this might be a situation-specific condition. It is possible that you are experiencing a loss of confidence because you are facing a situation where you are performing an action that you are not yet good at. Because you are aware of your shortcomings, your confidence falters. However, your high self-esteem should prove to be a buffer against this temporary loss of confidence. Research has shown that in the face of failure, people with high self-esteem can maintain their self-efficacy better than people with low self-esteem.

You can know that you're good at something yet still think badly of yourself. This is because self-esteem does not only include confidence but also how you perceive your life's history, your actions towards others, and even how people react to you. If you already have high confidence, use this to strengthen your low evaluation of yourself. We'll talk more about how to improve self-esteem and confidence in the next section.

Even though the two terms are different, they can be handled in similar ways. So, if you have either low confidence or low self-esteem, here are some tips we think can help you see yourself in a better light.

Most of us have days when we feel like nothing we do is right. It isn't uncommon to start thinking that maybe we're just not good enough. Although self-reflection every now and then can be helpful, prolonged, and repeated acts of negative self-reflection will also negatively affect your self-esteem.

It is absolutely crucial for you to not let your thought pattern spiral into a cycle of self-blame and self-hatred. How do you escape from your negative thoughts? Get busy. Even better, quiet the haters in your mind by getting good at what you're doing.

What are you good at? If you can't answer this question, then it's time to spend some time in self-reflection. The best way to assess this is to look back on your past experiences, which is one of the best ways to build your confidence. Here are some questions you can use to guide you:

• What are some skills you have that people have complimented you for in the past?
  
• Are there any awards you have won in school or at work? What were they?
  
• What is something that you've always enjoyed doing?
  
• What are things that you are willing to do for free?
  
• If people come to you for help not involving money, what skills can you offer them?
  
• If you work within a team, what role do you often take?
  

Turn your negative thoughts off when they come knocking. But for positive thoughts, you should invite them in if they've decided to make an appearance. While this can be done easily in things that you are competent in, the same cannot be said when you're failing and flailing. This is what you should keep in mind: you are learning. You are growing. You are in the process of becoming better. These kinds of self-affirmations help boost your confidence and self-esteem - and science has proven this to be true.

We believe that saying 'no' helps your confidence. How? By saying 'no' to things that you don't want to do, you are practicing assertiveness. Assertiveness is one of the hallmarks of a person with high self-esteem. Thus, practicing assertiveness would help by giving you more experience in standing up for yourself, which in turn will provide you with the support you need to build your confidence and self-esteem.

If you have trouble seeing yourself as an important and valuable person, the best way to reconcile these thoughts is to challenge yourself. By accomplishing the things that you have set your mind to, you will gain greater confidence and self-esteem. Don't forget to keep track of your wins - you can use this to get out of the rut on bad days when you need self-validation regarding your confidence and self-esteem.

Confidence and self-esteem are different. Confidence focuses on your view of your abilities, while self-esteem focuses on your overall view of yourself. Thus, we can say that confidence is a part of self-esteem.

You can have low self-confidence and high self-esteem, as well as vice versa, but having high levels of one can help counteract low levels of the other. You can also utilize several techniques to increase your confidence and self-esteem, such as thanking yourself, being assertive, and focusing on positive thoughts and not negative ones.