Self-Confidence

Self-confidence is a belief in our own abilities, skills, and judgments that allows us to manage life’s demands. In contrast to self-esteem (overall value we place on ourselves), self-confidence trusts ourselves to face challenges and accomplish what we set out to do. We gain a sense of control, accept strengths and weaknesses, and can set realistic goals and handle criticism—all linked to self-assurance and self-competency. Self-confident people can communicate assertively and recover more quickly from setbacks—regarding obstacles as challenges rather than threats. It also leads to a higher quality of life, better mental and physical health, higher educational achievement, and improved economic standing, as well as personal development and resilience. Self-confidence is not pathological narcissism. It’s quieter and more restrained — backed up with an accurate assessment of our ability, a willingness to hear about others’ accomplishments, and humility to put others at ease. Three types:

• Trait (general confidence) is a stable, overarching belief in our general abilities and judgment across most situations. It’s a core part of our personality and remains relatively constant over time.
• State (situational confidence) is temporary and fluctuates depending on the specific situation or context. We might have high confidence in public speaking in a specific situation but low confidence in our athletic skills.
• Self-efficacy (task-specific confidence), coined by psychologist Albert Bandura is the belief in our ability to successfully perform a specific task or skill, such as cooking a complex recipe — it’s highly dependent on past experience and successes in that exact domain.