The Difference Between Self-Esteem and Self-Acceptance
Self-esteem:
According to Oxford dictionary, self-esteem is a feeling of being happy with your own character and abilities.
While Cambridge describes it as belief and confidence in your own ability and value. While both those definitions are not wrong, we find them leaning towards a purely positive definition, which doesn’t do right by the term that stretches to both ends of the spectrum.
That’s why we prefer the simpler and more neutral definition from Collins dictionary, which is; Self-esteem is how you feel about yourself.
The definition leaves room for the word to be used both positively and negatively, based on the context; which in-turn leaves us the space to examine all the aspects surrounding it.
Self-acceptance:
We find this one to be relatively easy to define, despite being difficult to actually carry out. Self-acceptance, as defined by Merriam Webster dictionary, is the act or state of accepting oneself. But the definition does not stop there, it goes on to include the following; understanding and recognizing one's own abilities and limitations.
Beyond Definitions
Keeping dictionaries aside, this is how medical psychologists Nancy Adler and Judith Stewart describe Self-Esteem; “Self-esteem refers to a person’s overall sense of his or her value or worth. It can be considered a sort of measure of how much a person “values, approves of, appreciates, prizes, or likes him or herself”1 .
While By definition, self-acceptance is a person’s acceptance of all his/her attributes, positive or negative (Morgado and colleagues, 2014). True self-acceptance is embracing who you are, without any qualifications, conditions, or exceptions (Seltzer, 2008). To illustrate true self-acceptance, one must really embrace his/her undesirable, or negative qualities or habits. Is it a difficult thing to do? Yes, it is2.
It is easy for someone to accept him/herself when he/she has just achieved something great or had a positive experience with someone. Nevertheless, when the going gets tough, when you have made a mistake, or fallen off a streak of a positive habit, then the feelings of self-deprecation, guilt, and rejection start to hit.
1https://positivepsychology.com/self-esteem/
2https://positivepsychology.com/self-acceptance/
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