Managing
the self importance feeling
Kendini önemseme duygusunu yönetmek
Large system operators have high self-esteem. They have to do well in their performance in order to deserve the positions they hold. Every success on the way to the currently held position increases the self-confidence and self-esteem.
“Self-esteem
is an evaluation of our worthiness as individuals, a judgment that we are good,
valuable people.[1]”
It is
simply natural for a large system operator who drives a huge machine the size
of a football field, to feel self-esteem.
The nature of the job he does requires that he feels self-confidence and
self-esteem. He goes through many
training sessions and step by step increasing challenges to arrive to that
ultimate position and to be given that responsibility.
I remember
my first impression of personal grandeur when I first entered the testing room
of KARLDAP of Rhein Radar ATCC, the size size of an airplane hangar for my
first Operational Deficiency change. The
incremental accelaration of self-esteem is important. If a person comes to a high responsibility
position quickly there is a risk that his sudden self-esteem may turn into
self-importance.
Social
relationships also motivates the individual for higher success and hence
continuous increase of self-esteem. “Performance is embedded in real human relationships . Every action is
not only a piece of the computation , a bit of the task completed ; it is also
a social message. Building and maintaining good social relationships becomes an
important motive for competent performance[2].” .
Although well-deserved , the pursuit of high self-esteem inevitably leads to the risk of feeling
self-importance,
an exaggerated estimate of one's own
importance.
“Research shows
that most people think they are funnier, more logical, more popular, better
looking, nicer, more trustworthy, wiser and more intelligent than others
(Alicke & Govorun, 2005). The need to feel superior in order to feel okay
about oneself means that the pursuit of high self-esteem may involve puffing
the self up while putting others down.[1]”
“Not surprisingly, perhaps, people who
are prejudiced often have a positive self-concept. The reason they feel so good about themselves
is precisely because they believe their own group is superior to others
(Crocker, Thompson, McGraw, & Ingerman, 1987; Fein & Spencer, 1997).
Those with high self-esteem may sometimes get angry and aggressive towards
others – especially if they aren’t given the respect they think they deserve
(Baumeister, Smart, & Boden, 1996). Moreover, they may dismiss negative
feedback as unreliable or biased, or else blame poor performance on others. As
a result, they may take less personal responsibility for actions and develop an
inaccurate self-concept, hindering potential growth (Sedikides, 1993) .[1]”
There is a risk of leading to narcissim
at least small doses of it.
According
to William James, self-esteem is a product of
“perceived competence in domains of importance[3].” This means that self-esteem is derived from
thinking we’re good at things
that have
significance to us, namely the professional success, but not those we don’t
personally value. For large system
operators there is a risk that global self-esteem rests on evaluations of
self-worth in professional domains. This
means that skills important for life success are at the risk of being neglected
in order to maintain high self-esteem. This
can be observed as lack of small talk or difficulties experienced when the
retirement comes.
High
self-esteem may increase vulnerability and difficulty in recovering from
failures. You can’t believe that you did
this or that...
High-esteem
may lead to over-confidence sometimes.
This may cause you loss your sense of vulnerability. “Awareness of Vulnerability. Very much akin
to the previous factor, a pilot decreases his/her awareness of vulnerability
during moments of false optimism. A pilot may be overconfident and tolerant of
conflicting evidence due to recurrent success. A healthy level of skepticism
increases awareness to vulnerability.[4]”
Without
losing competitiveness, a little bit of self compassion may do good “while
self-compassion offers similar benefits to self-esteem, it appears to have
fewer downsides. Self-compassion
provides: Self-kindness versus self-judgment, feelings of common humanity
versus isolation, and mindfulness versus over-identification.[5]”
REFERENCES:
[1] Kristin D. Neff* University of
Texas at Austin, Self-Compassion, Self-Esteem, and Well-Being,
Social and Personality Psychology Compass 5/1
(2011): 1–12, 10.1111/j.1751-9004.2010.00330.x
[2] Edwin
Hutchins(1996), Performance as language of
social interaction, Cognition in the Wild,
MIT Press
[3] James, W.
(1890). Principles of Psychology. Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica.
[4] Velázquez, Jonathan, "Behavioral Traps in Flight
Crew-Related 14 CFR Part 121 Airline Accidents" (2016). Dissertations and
Theses. 193. https://commons.erau.edu/edt/193
[5] ] Kristin D. Neff, Self-Compassion, Self-Esteem, and Well-Being
Self-compassion is composed of three components:
a- Self-Kindness refers to the tendency to be caring and understanding
with ourselves
rather than harshly critical or judgmental.
b-
The sense of common humanity central
to self-compassion involves recognizing that
all people fail, make mistakes, and feel
inadequate in some way. Self-compassion sees
imperfection as part of the shared human
condition, so that the self’s weaknesses are seen
from a broad, inclusive perspective.
c- Mindfulness, the third component of self-compassion, involves
being aware of present
moment experience in a clear and balanced manner so that one
neither ignores nor ruminates on disliked aspects of oneself or one’s life
(Brown & Ryan, 2003).[1]”
