Introduction
Adequate levels of self-awareness and self-esteem are the key factors that allow people to succeed. Identifying one’s strong and weak sides is beneficial for recognizing where one should grow and what one has to improve. A better understanding of oneself helps one become more confident and aim for larger goals, whether in a career or any other field. While the concepts of self-awareness and self-esteem refer to the psychological evaluation of a person’s inner and outer realization, perception can influence them, which is demonstrated by my example.
Discussion
First, it is essential to understand the definitions of the terms related to the topic under discussion. As such, self-awareness is a process of examining various parts of oneself in the context of how others view them (DeVito, 2019). Self-esteem indicates how significant a person believes they are, including cognitive, emotional, and behavioral components (DeVito, 2019). Perception is the process through which one becomes aware of items, events, and people using their sense of vision, scent, flavor, feel, and sound (DeVito, 2019). In turn, self-concept is a combination of one’s self-evaluation, the influence of the culture, the opinions of others, and comparison with peers. Self-concept is how any person defines oneself regarding traits, capabilities, and appearance (DeVito, 2019). The Four Selves’ supportive concept covers different inseparable versions of a person, including open, blind, unknown, and hidden selves (DeVito, 2019). They represent various proportions of what one knows about oneself and what is known to others. These definitions are crucial in interhuman connection, as they are inhered in everyone and are closely related.
From my personal experience, there were many cases when I was trying to impress other people following my perception of different situations. For instance, I struggled with relatively low self-esteem several years ago. At that time, I had gained a little weight due to academic problems and was highly self-conscious. Along with that, I had a rough breakup recently and was using dating applications; thus, I would not feel lonely. Consequently, I had matched with a man who seemed handsome and intelligent, according to his social media. We had a chat and decided to meet in real life. I wanted to see him, but I was panicking since I thought I was out of his league. That is why I decided to do everything possible to look better in his eyes. I bought shapewear and did heavy makeup to appear prettier. In addition, I decided to read several summaries of the books he mentioned to seem like I had read them. In my perception, all these steps were essential to making a good impression on a man.
As a result, when we finally met for the date at the park, I felt highly dull and out of place. In reality, the man from a dating website turned out to be ordinary. Indeed, he looked good and was a pleasant companion, but he was still just a man. That is why I immediately decided to drop my persona and act naturally. Moreover, I confessed all my efforts to prepare for our meeting. He just laughed in response, demonstrating the difference between my perception and other people’s. In this case, my perception was influenced mainly by my low self-esteem, which is often caused by the wrong evaluation of a situation (DeVito, 2019). However, I am glad I understood it right away and disguised my authentic self in front of the man who was my boyfriend for several months.
Conclusion
Therefore, whereas self-awareness and self-esteem refer to psychological assessments of a person’s inner and exterior realizations, perception may impact them, as my personal story illustrated. Namely, my attempt at being perceived as I thought appropriate failed. My low self-awareness level and the wrong perception of the situation influenced my behavior and communication with another person. At the same time, the situation demonstrated that others might have entirely different perceptions.
Reference
DeVito, J. A. (2019). Essentials of Human Communication (10th ed.). Pearson Education.