Self-worth is the opinion individuals have of themselves and the value they place on themselves. It relates to individuals valuing themselves enough to invest time in themselves, their personal transformation, and their general career development initiatives.
This construct measures self-esteem: whether the individual is comfortable with their true self and whether or not they are “real” about who they are and how they show up. Self-esteem is closely linked to self-confidence, and the scores for constructs B and C should ideally be close together. However, the difference lies in that self-esteem should not simply be an external projection of self-confidence, but a deeply rooted belief that one is deserving. A high self-worth involves having the ability to ask for what one needs and to expect it, because there is a recognition of one’s true value. At the same time, individuals need to place enough value on their needs themselves, meaning that they have to recognise them and expect others to recognise them when they are communicated.
As mentioned, this is closely tied to construct B. If self-confidence improves, it also means that an individual’s self-worth will improve. However, it takes longer for self-worth to improve than it does for self-confidence, as self-worth is not linked to capabilities and other external factors, but has much more to do with one’s internal sense of self.
This construct also measures boundary-setting abilities, as well as an individual’s ability to clearly communicate what they need. Individuals’ values and their own self-value need to be very closely aligned, and they need to know when it is important to say “no” to external pressures from family, friends, employers and even strangers. This is necessary for an individual to reach their own goals and craft their own identity, as opposed to the goals and identity that others might wish to impose on them.
A risk of having low boundaries is that an individual could fall into the trap of co-dependency and miss out on the opportunities for improvement that they intrinsically know exist. They could become reliant and not take ownership of their own present and future, or they could take too much responsibility for that of others. This can lead to a lack of motivation, as the individual’s agency has been given away, or they might feel powerless to give others everything they need. However, the more self-confidence improves, as well as the skills measured in constructs D to G, the more likely an individual will be to gain an improved self-worth and boundary-setting abilities.