science

Self-acceptance

Self-acceptance is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Self-acceptance rather than just read about it. In short: Self-acceptance is acceptance of self. Definition Self-acceptance can be defined as: the awareness of one's strengths and weaknesses, the realistic (yet subjective) appraisal of one's talents, capabilities, and general worth, and, feelings of satisfaction with one's self despite deficiencies and regardless of past behaviors and choices.

Key takeaways

Self-acceptance belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Self-acceptance to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Self-acceptance from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Self-acceptance is acceptance of self.

Definition Self-acceptance can be defined as:

the awareness of one's strengths and weaknesses, the realistic (yet subjective) appraisal of one's talents, capabilities, and general worth, and, feelings of satisfaction with one's self despite deficiencies and regardless of past behaviors and choices. According to Shepard, self-acceptance is an individual's satisfaction or happiness with oneself, and is thought to be necessary for good mental health. Self-acceptance involves self-understanding, a realistic, albeit subjective, awareness of one's strengths and weaknesses. It results in an individual's feeling about oneself, that they are of "unique worth". Albert Ellis advocated the importance of accepting oneself just because one is alive, human and unique—and not giving oneself a global rating, or being influenced by what others think. In clinical psychology and positive psychology, self-acceptance is considered the prerequisite for change to occur. It can be achieved by stopping criticizing and solving the defects of one's self, and then accepting them to be existing within one's self. That is, tolerating oneself to be imperfect in some parts. Some distinguish between conditional and unconditional self-acceptance. Self-acceptance is one of the six factors in Carol D. Ryff's structure for eudaimonic well-being.

Qualities A person who scores high on self-acceptance:

has a positive self-attitude, acknowledges and accepts all aspects of themselves (including the good and bad), is not self-critical or confused about their identity. does not wish they were any different from who they already are.

Past and current views in psychology In the past, the practice of self-acceptance was reproved by the Greeks. However, the need to know about and understand "the self" eventually became an important, underlying point in several psychological theories, such as:

Jahoda's work on mental health, Carl Rogers' Theory of Personality, Gordon Allport's Eight Stages of Self (Proprium) Development, Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs under the "self-actualization" category, Albert Ellis' Rational emotive behavioral therapy In addition to that, the life-span theories of Erikson and Neugarten mention the importance of self-acceptance including one's past life, and Carl Jung's process of individuation also emphasizes coming to terms with the dark side of one's self, or "the shadow".

Relation to positive psychology With respect to positive psychology, self-acceptance, as a component of eudaimonic well-being (EWB), is an indicator and a measure of psychological well-being. For instance, Alfred Adler, founder of individual psychology, observed that people who thought of themselves as inferior also observed a depreciation of others.

Psychological benefits Some psychological benefits of self-acceptance include mood regulation, a decrease in depressive symptoms, and an increase in positive emotions. An example of this can be seen in a 2014 study that looked at affective profiles. The results yielded suggest that individuals categorized as self-fulfilling (as compared to the other profiles) tended to score higher on all the factors of Ryff's eudaimonic well-being dimensions (self-acceptance included). In addition to that, self-acceptance (and environmental mastery) specifically and significantly predicted harmony in life across all affective profiles. Other psychological benefits include:

a heightened sense of freedom, a decrease in fear of failure, an increase in self-worth, an increase in independence (autonomy), an increase in self-esteem, less desire to win the approval of others, less self-critique and more self-kindness when mistakes occur, more desire to live life for one's self (and not others), and, the ability to take more risks without worrying about the consequences. Self-acceptance is also thought to be necessary for good mental health.

Physical benefits In addition to psychological benefits, self-acceptance may have physical benefits as well. For example, the results of a 2008 study propose that older women with higher levels of environmental mastery, positive relations with others, and self-acceptance showed lower levels of glycosylated hemoglobin, which is a marker for glucose levels/insulin resistance.

See also Self-compassion Self-esteem Self-love Unconditional positive regard

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Self-acceptance

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Self-acceptance claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Self-acceptance before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Self-acceptance ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Self-acceptance

In research: Self-acceptance appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Self-acceptance in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Self-acceptance is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Mindfulness movement, Positive psychology, Self, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Self-acceptance outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Self-acceptance in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Self-acceptance means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Self-acceptance out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Self-acceptance in simple terms?

Self-acceptance is acceptance of self. Definition Self-acceptance can be defined as: the awareness of one's strengths and weaknesses, the realistic (yet subjective) appraisal of one's talents, capabilities, and general worth, and, feelings of satisfaction with one's self despite deficiencies and re…

Why does Self-acceptance matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Self-acceptance?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Self-acceptance.