Editing Self-esteem (section)

=== As narcissism ===

Life satisfaction, happiness, healthy behavioral practices, perceived efficacy, and academic success and adjustment have been associated with having high levels of self-esteem<ref>{{cite book|last=Harter|first=S.|editor=Eisenberg, N.|title=Contemporary topics in developmental psychology|year=1987|publisher=John Wiley|location=New York|pages=219–242|chapter=The determinants and mediational role of global self-worth in children}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Huebner|first=E. S.|year=1991|title=Correlates of life satisfaction in children|journal= School Psychology Quarterly|volume=6|issue=2|pages=102–111|doi=10.1037/h0088805}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Lipschitz-Elhawi|first1=Racheli|last2=Itzhaky|first2=Haya|year=2005|title=Social support, mastery, self-esteem and individual adjustment among at-risk youth|journal=Child & Youth Care Forum|volume=34 |issue=5|pages=329–346|doi=10.1007/s10566-005-5906-5|s2cid=144623603 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Swenson|first1=Rebecca R.|last2=Prelow|first2=Hazel M.|year=2005|title=Ethnic identity, self-esteem, and perceived efficacy as mediators of the relation of supportive parenting to psychosocial outcomes among urban adolescents|journal=Journal of Adolescence|volume=28|issue=4|pages=465–477|doi=10.1016/j.adolescence.2004.09.005|pmid=16022882 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Michaels |first1=M. |last2=Barr |first2=A. |last3=Roosa |first3=M. |last4=Knight |first4=G. |year=2007 |title=Self-Esteem: Assessing Measurement Equivalence in a Multiethnic Sample of Youth |journal=Journal of Early Adolescence |volume=27 |issue=3 |pages=269–95 |doi=10.1177/0272431607302009 |s2cid=146806309 }}</ref>{{rp|270}}{{excessive citations inline|date=February 2024}} However, a common mistake is to think that [[self-love|loving oneself]] is necessarily equivalent to narcissism, as opposed for example to what [[Erik Erikson]] speaks of as "a post-narcissistic love of the ego".<ref>{{cite book |first=Erik H. |last=Erikson |title=Childhood and Society |location=Harmondsworth |publisher=Penguin |year=1973 |page=260 |isbn=978-0140207545 |title-link=Childhood and Society }}</ref> People with healthy self-esteem accept and love themselves unconditionally, acknowledging both virtues and faults in the self, and yet, in spite of everything, are able to continue to love themselves. In narcissists, by contrast, an "uncertainty about their own worth gives rise to...a self-protective, but often totally spurious, aura of [[grandiosity]]"<ref>{{cite book |first=Simon |last=Crompton |title=All about Me |location=London |publisher=Collins |year=2007 |page=16 |isbn=978-0007247950 }}</ref>&nbsp;– producing the class "of narcissists, or people with very high, but insecure, self-esteem... fluctuating with each new episode of social praise or rejection."<ref name="SmithMackie" />{{rp|479}} For narcissists, regulating their self-esteem is their constant concern. They use defenses (such as denial, projection, self-inflation, envy, arrogance, and aggression), impression management through self-promotion, embellishment, lying, charm, and domination, and prefer high-status, competitive, and hierarchical environments to support their unstable, fragile, and impaired self-esteem.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lancer |first1=Darlene|title=Dating, Loving, and Leaving a Narcissist: Essential Tools for Improving or Leaving Narcissistic and Abusive Relationships|date=April 6, 2022 |location=Santa Monica, CA |publisher=Carousel Books |pages=19, 34–38 |isbn=978-0578373188}}</ref>

Narcissism can thus be seen as a symptom of fundamentally low self-esteem, that is, lack of love towards oneself, but often accompanied by "an immense increase in self-esteem" based on "the [[defense mechanism]] of denial by overcompensation."<ref>{{cite book |first=Otto |last=Fenichel | author-link = Otto Fenichel | title=The Psychoanalytic Theory of Neurosis |location=London |year=1946 |pages=407–410 | publisher = Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co Ltd | url = https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.61482/page/n5/mode/2up?view=theater }}</ref>
"Idealized love of self...rejected the part of him" that he denigrates&nbsp;– "this destructive little child"<ref>{{cite book |first=Neville |last=Symington |title=Narcissism: A New Theory |location=London |publisher=Karmac |year=2003 |page=114 |isbn=978-1855750470 }}</ref> within. Instead, the narcissist emphasizes their virtues in the presence of others, just to try to convince themself that they are a valuable person and to try to stop feeling ashamed for their faults;<ref name="Bonet" />  such "people with unrealistically inflated self-views, which may be especially unstable and highly vulnerable to negative information,...tend to have poor social skills."<ref name="SmithMackie" />{{rp|126}}