Alegria Stand Alone Senior High School

S.Y. 2019-2020

LOW SELF-ESTEEM: ROOT CAUSES, MANIFESTATION, AND INTERVENTION

AMONG SELECTED STUDENTS

MARY JANE M. AGCOL

DIANA MARIE O. AGUILO

JAMES C. BENIGA

REYRIL B. EFREN

AIZA HADJI ALI

JESSICA BETONGGA

PRINCESS DANICA PACO

ALEGRIA STAND ALONE SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

ALEGRIA, SURIGAO DEL NORTE

A Case Study Presented during the

2nd Semester Practical Research 1

January 24’2020
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CHAPTER 1

THE PROBLEM AND LITERATURE REVIEW

1.1 Background of the Study

One of the most important human traits to achieve objectives is self-esteem. The term

self-esteem means “reverence for self”. The “self” pertains to the values, beliefs, and attitudes

that we hold about ourselves. Having a strong will and self-confidence, decision-making

power and originality, creativity, sanity and mental health is directly related to self-esteem

and sense of self-worth, it extent to which a person values, approves of, appreciates, prizes,

and likes.

In simple words, self-esteem is self-assessment; this perception and evaluation can be

positive or negative and pleasant or unpleasant. People with high self-esteem, usually feel

good about themselves and better able to resolve conflicts and are resistant to deal with

problems. That’s why it is important to improve one’s self-esteem for it is the key to reach

success.

Depending upon the success or failure and one’s reaction to every significant situation

in life, self-esteem grows stronger or gets considerably weakened. Increases and decreases in

self-esteem generally bring strong emotional reactions.

There is a lot of students having low self-esteem. They even don’t trust themselves,

and sometimes they are just belittling and looking down themselves, and something like they

can’t do anything even they can, they are just afraid to show and to express about what they

know to many people because they are afraid of judgement. When considering self-esteem it

is important to note that both high and low levels can be emotionally and socially harmful for

S.Y. 2019-2020
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the individual. Indeed it is thought an optimum level of self-esteem lies in the middle of the

continuum. Individuals operating within this range are thought to be more socially dominant

within relationships.

Furthermore, the main goal of this study is to have a depth understanding and to know

about the root causes, manifestation, and intervention of having low self-esteem among the

selected students of Alegria Stand Alone Senior High School. Hence, this study also

investigate the relationship between self-esteem and overall academic life. So that the

researchers were able to recommend something to those people who can benefit of this study,

and were able to improve their self-esteem by the help of this study.

1.2 Literature Review

The main purpose of this study is to identify the root causes, manifestation, and

intervention of low self-esteem. This chapter reviews the literature pertinent to low self-

esteem and the variables introduced and defined the introduction.

Low self-esteem is characterized by lack of self confidence and feeling badly about

oneself. People with low self-esteem often feel unlovable, awkward, or incompetent.

According to researchers Morris Rosenberg and Timothy J. Owens, who wrote Low Self-

Esteem People: A Collective Portrait, people with low self-esteem tend to be hypersensitive.

They have a fragile sense of self that can easily be wounded by others. Furthermore, people

with low self-esteem are “hyper vigilant and hyper alert to signs of rejection, inadequacy, and
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rebuff”, write Rosenberg and Owens. Often, individuals lacking self-esteem see rejection and

disapproval even when there isn’t any. “The danger always lurks [they] will make a mistake,

use poor judgment, do something embarrassing, expose [themselves] to ridicule,

behave immorally or contemptibly. Life, in all its variety, poses on ongoing threat to the self-

esteem.”

While everyone’s self-esteem is vulnerable to other people, who may openly criticize

them, ridicule them, or point out their flaws. I would argue that an even greater threat to each

person’s self-esteem lurks within.

“As observers of our own behavior, thoughts, and feelings, we not only register these

phenomena in consciousness but also pass judgment on them. Thus, we may be our most

severe critic, berating ourselves mercilessly when we find ourselves making an error in

judgment, forgetting what we should remember, expressing ourselves awkwardly, breaking

our most sacred promises to ourselves, losing our self-control, acting childishly in short,

behaving in ways that we regret and may deplore.”

In this study, low self-esteem was defined as a kind of phenomenon that refers to a

global judgment of the worth or value of the self.

Having a low self-esteem can easily carry on into adulthood, interfering with a

person’s ability to lead a fulfilling and a healthy life.

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1.3 Research Problems

This study aims to identify the low self-esteem with root causes, manifestation, and

intervention.

Research Question:

1. What are the root causes of low self-esteem?

2. How can lack of self-esteem affect the students overall academic life?

3. What are the ways to improve low self-esteem?

1.4 Theoretical or Conceptual Framework

This study approved by the theory of “Self-Determination Theory” (SDT) states that

man is born with genuine motivation to explore, absorb and master his surroundings and that

true high self-esteem (Deci & Ryan, 1995 as cited in Ryan & Deci, 2004) is inform when the

basic psychological benefits, or needs, of life (relatedness, competency and autonomy) are in

balance (Ryan & Deci, 2004; Reis, Sheldon, Gable, Roscoe, & Ryan, 2000 as cited in Ryan

& Deci, 2004).

Stanley Coopersmith’s Self-Esteem Theory Concomitant belief is that self-esteem is

routed in early childhood with a foundation of trust, unconditional love and security,

impacted on as life thrive by a emulsion of positive and negative estimations. Stanley

Coopersmith’s (1967 as cited in Seligman, 1996, p.32) self evaluation scale deliberated self-

esteem in children and then imposed the parent’s child rearing practices for those children

with high self-esteem and concluded that the fountainhead of higher self-esteem lay in clear

rules and limits enforced by the parents.

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Hence, Self-esteem bonds to one's evaluation of oneself. It is the way one feels about

oneself, and the bound to which an individual values oneself. Emotions and emotional styles

are the building blocks of a person's unique, moderately stable, and coherent pattern of

personality, which depose him or her to feel, think, and behave in a exquisite way.

1.5 Scope and Limitations

The study focused only to those students who encountered low self-esteem among

themselves. It is limited only to the selected students of Alegria Stand Alone Senior High

School. The selected respondents came from grade 11-12 of Alegria Stand Alone Senior High

School.
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1.6 Definition of Terms

Self-esteem- it is an overall sense of self worth, personal value and how you respect yourself.

Having self-esteem can boost the confidence of the students were they can participate all the

activities in school and can socialize to the other people

Low Self-esteem- lack of self confidence in the way you look yourself, it seems like you

don’t have trust to yourself by doing something. Having low self-esteem can affect the

students participation in class, they don’t have the confidence to express their thoughts and

feelings to others. It also affects on how they socialize to others.

Self Determination – is the will of yourself to achieve something and can lead you to do

your best reach those things you wanted to achieve.

Reverence- it is the deepest respect and value that you show for something or someone .

Optimum level- it is the most conducive level to a favorable outcome

Decision Making – is the most important thing that you should plan first before you are

going to do or to conduct something. It can also help you to do things easier and results an

outcome that is acceptable and valuable.

Self-assessment- this is how you judge and evaluate yourself , this is about your own

perception about yourself wither negative and positive, pleasant and unpleasant things about

your own self.

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CHAPTER 2

PROCEDURE

2.1 Qualitative Research Design and Methodology

The study applied a case study in which it uses a qualitative research because it is

needed to have a narrative and provides descriptive data.  Were open-ended survey questions

to collect written narrative data from participants.  Additionally, the research questions,

methods, and instruments were developed and based during the process to develop data used

in combination to further the understanding of the topic.  The sample size was small and the

research procedures focused on organizing data for narrative analysis.

2.2 Research Site

The study was conducted at OuanoAlegria , Surigao Del Norte; Alegria Stand Alone

Senior High School because the respondents who has the right to this study are the selected

students from Alegria Stand Alone Senior High School who experienced low self-esteem.

This is the exact location of all respondents were interviewed and where they’ve collected the

data.

2.3 Selection Criteria and Participants

The participants of this study were the selected students of Alegria Stand Alone

Senior High School who encountered low self-esteem and were identified through conducting

self-assessment to the respondents who encountered most experienced low self-esteem. As a

total, the researchers have 10 respondents.

2.4 Data Collection

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The researchers asked first an approval from the school principal, research advisor,

and to the respondents by writing a permission letter to conduct the said study. The

researchers prepared and organized first the questions that is needed for an interview to those

selected students of Alegria Stand Alone Senior High School to gather information and data

to a particular study. The collected data were recorded using cellphones specifically for the

necessary data; then it will be compiled and organized for the analysis and interpretation of

data.

2.5 Methods of Validation

The gathered information by the researchers were transfer into a written text and

analyze through thematic were the researcher closely examines the data to identify common

ideas and patterns of meaning that come up repeatedly.

Through this analysis, the themes were examined and determined that an answer to

the research questions being addressed in the study.

2.6 Ethical Considerations

The ethics to be considered about the said topic are respect for People's Rights,

Dignity, and Diversity. It is important also to have integrity, confidentiality, and honesty.

These ethics of research are the exact thing to be considered were it is the vital to fortify the

study and also for the understanding and comprehension.

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CHAPTER 3
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

3.1 Findings and Discussion

Based on the semi-structured interview conducted, the themes and patterns were

identified through thematic analysis. The following patterns were being represented through

the use of word cloud.

Figure 1: Patterns and themes on the root causes of low self-esteem among selected

students of Alegria Stand Alone Senior High School.

Based on the word cloud above, it is very evident that the major cause of low self-

esteem among selected students is they are afraid to answer because of the judgements by the

other people, they are afraid to have a wrong answer, they don’t have self confidence, and

they are shy. Out of these, the major causes of low self-esteem are the overall aggregated

opinion of oneself at any one time and because of their mindset it leads them to have low

self-esteem because they are afraid that they are wrong and they will be judge by the other

people. This was supported as shown in the participant’s transcribed responses below:
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R1: “The reason why sometimes I can’t participate well in class is because of having that

low self-esteem and it leads me to doubt about my own answer that what if my classmate will

judge me if my answer is wrong”.

R2:” Whenever we have an oral participation in class and I am afraid to have a wrong

answer because of the judgemental people.

R3:” I’m afraid of the reaction of my classmates because I don’t want to be judge by

them”.

R4: “I have that confidence issues because i was afraid of judgement”.

R5: “. It’s natural for me since I was young because I was afraid in facing in many people, I

don’t have a confidence to do things and I am just shy and I don’t have trust to myself”.

This simply implies that the root causes of low self-esteem among the selected

students are the judgments of the other people were it really leads them to doubt their own

ideas or thoughts about something.

According to Terror Management Theory this internalization of cultural values is also

a key factor in Terror Management Theory (TMT) in which self-esteem is seen as a culturally

based construction derived from integrating specific contingencies valued by society into

ones’ own ‘worldview’.

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Figure 2: Patterns and themes on the how low self-esteem affects their academic life

performance.

Based on the word cloud above, it is very evident that how low self-esteem affects the

academic life performance of selected students of Alegria Stand Alone Senior High School,

this themes and patterns emerged to low performance in class, low ratings, can’t do a lot of

things, and they don’t have confidence to face in many people .It was supported as shown in

the participant transcribed responses below:

R1: “. It really affects my study because aside from performance has the highest

ratings compared to writings so it means that it will result low grades because if you don’t

have self-esteem you can’t participate well in class. having that low self-esteem can affect my

social interaction because it seems like I am belittling myself that I can’t do things especially

when it comes to a lot of people. It also lead that you can’t do your habit or the things that

you love to do”.

R2: “It really affects my grades because performance has the highest ratings compare to

written....”
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R3: “ It affects my academic performance because of my shy personality my teacher had a

hard time noticing and giving me a low grades”.

R4: “It really affects my academic performance because i don’t what to perform well because

of having low self-esteem.... because I am shy in socializing other people because I know that

they have more experienced than me in terms of facing a lot of people”.

R5: “I can’t participate well in class because I am afraid to answer in the following

questions , because there is always a lot of what if in my mind, that what if my answer is

wrong then they are going to laugh after me, and I am afraid of judgments.”

This implies how low self-esteem affects the overall academic life of the selected

students of Alegria Stand Alone Senior High School.

According to Goniometer Theory where TMT espouses the virtues of feeling significant in

the face of death anxiety, Goniometer Theory (ST) states that a minimum level of social

inclusion or belonging is essential for humans to reproduce and survive with self-esteem

functioning as a goniometer. The ability to efficiently determine others’ reactions affecting an

individual’s status aids the creation and maintenance of a small number of meaningful

relationships.

To be excluded from a worthwhile relationship affects self-esteem more negatively than the

positive impact of being included in increasing numbers of less meaningful relationships and

inclusion is preferred to being just viewed positively 

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Figure 3: Patterns and themes on how the selected respondents manifest with low self-

esteem.

Based on the word cloud above it is very evident on how the selected respondents

manifest with low self-esteem, these themes and patterns emerged the way to improve low

self-esteem. These are improving yourself, encourage yourself, don’t compare yourself to

others, trust yourself, know your strength better and overcome your weaknesses. This implies

that knowing yourself better and overcome you weaknesses. It was supported as shown in the

participant’s transcribed responses below:

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R1: “. Yes there is a positive impact in overcoming low self-esteem because it can help you

yourself in improving to became a better one, it can lead you to do a lot of things you wanted

to do or to achieve and it results a good impact, Be yourself don’t compare yourself to others

just do your best then improve yourself and constant learning so that you were able to

improve yourself.”

R2: “Know yourself better, trust yourself, improve yourself and also encourage yourself to do

such things”.

R3: “I always ignore any bad comments about myself so that I can prevent depression and I

encourage myself to in engage in higher level to not staying in my safe zone.”

R4: “Don’t push yourself to have low self-esteem, encourage yourself to do things, trust

yourself, and find your strength and improve it”.

R5: “We must encourage ourselves to do things, trust yourself, find your strength and

improve it”.

This simply means that the manifestations in overcoming low self-esteem among the

selected students of Alegria Stand Alone Senior High School is to encourage and trust itself

to do things better from what they think.

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To sum it up, low self-esteem can really affects the overall academic life performance

of oneself. It leads them to look down their self and belittle themselves that they can’t do

what the others can do. Sometimes it can also lead to depression and stress were it is also

proven by the Terror Management Theory and Attachment Theory were Convincing people

that an afterlife awaits them also eliminates the effect of mortality salience on self-esteem

striving , theoretically incoherent in accepting the avoidance of death anxiety as a typical

motivation towards growth, integration and connectedness, as opposed to the natural intrinsic

motivation of humans to engage in life because they are healthy and alive. And because of

that the researchers realized their different ways in overcoming low self-esteem are mostly

alike.
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CHAPTER 4

SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

4.1 Summary of the study

Self-esteem bonds with one's evaluation of oneself. It is the way one feels about

oneself, and the bound to which an individual values oneself. Emotions and emotional styles

are the building blocks of a person's unique, moderately stable, and coherent pattern of

personality, which deposes him or her to feel, think, and behave in an exquisite way.

This study aims to identify the low self-esteem with root causes, manifestation, and

intervention. This study utilized case study because it needs a detailed investigation in

determining the root causes, manifestation, and intervention of having low self-esteem among

selected students. Basically, it was focuses about their own experiences having confidence

issue.

To sum it up, low self-esteem can really affects the overall academic life performance

of oneself. It leads them to look down their self and belittle themselves that they can’t do

what the others can do.

4.2 Summary of the Findings

The researchers found out that the major causes of low self-esteem among selected

students is the judgemental society and judgmental people , they are afraid to have a wrong

answer, they don’t have self-confidence, and they are shy. Out of these, the major causes of

low self-esteem are the overall aggregated opinion of oneself at any one time and because of

their mindset it leads them to have low self-esteem because they are afraid that they are

wrong and they will be judge by the other people.

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The researchers found out that the manifestation of having low self-esteem really

affects the overall academic life performance of students, it emerged to low performance in

class, low ratings, can’t do a lot of things, and they don’t have confidence to face in many

people.

The researchers found out that the intervention or ways to improve low self-esteem

are improve yourself, encourage yourself, don’t compare yourself to others, trust yourself,

know your strength better and overcome your weaknesses. This implies that knowing

yourself better and overcome your weaknesses.

4.3 Conclusion

The researchers concluded that all the respondents were really experience having low

self-esteem. All the respondents have almost the same experience of what did it affects their

overall academic performance specifically when it comes to their social relationships with the

other people. Hence, it can be concluded that they have also the same ways in overcoming

low self-esteem and on how they are going to deal with it.

4.4 Recommendation

Based on the findings and analysis recommendations were drawn from it.

Improving self-esteem takes a great effort and time but it only matters on you, yourself alone.

It is just about how you evaluate your abilities as a person. You are not going to change

everything at once in just a blink of an eye, so don’t be afraid to start small. Set simple and

achievable goals, and then start completing them with everything you can do. Encourage

yourself, trust yourself, don’t compare yourself to others because you are definitely unique

from them, neglect the judgmental people around you and make it as your motivation to

enhance yourself, know your strength and improve it, know your weaknesses and overcome

it. Keep positivity surrounds you and let it change yourself to a better version of you.
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References

http://positivepsychology.org.uk/self-esteem-theory/

https://www.psychalive.org/low-self-esteem/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5034981/

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3121006

https://au.reachout.com/articles/10-tips-for-improving-your-self-esteem

https://positivepsychology.com/self-esteem/