OK, here’s one example of something that is not covered: someone can feel that by focusing on their flaws, they get the benefit of putting more effort into presenting their best side, and improving their look. So they wouldn’t want to stop concentrating on the flaws.
I mean, there’s a lot of psychology/social pressures/doublethink/self-image/etc. issues around this. I anticipate that simply telling people”from now on, concentrate more on your positive sides!” does not solve the problem in most cases, and can even sound condescending (as if they didn’t already know that!).
Now, I might imagine, in that scenario, that they still self-perceive as less beautiful because of all the attention they’re giving their flaws.
But a side effect of no longer doing so and no longer self-perceiving negatively might be a decrease in their effectiveness in countering those flaws...
My prior is that most people in the situation described in the post wouldn’t have thought of this method as a way of resolving the tension they experience. What do you think?
My prior is that most people in the situation described in the post wouldn’t have thought of this method as a way of resolving the tension they experience.
OK, so I have different background assumptions: to me it looks like the simplest way to complete the pattern (“how improve my self-esteem?” → “think about your strong points”) conveniently established by countless self-help slogans etc.
It seems like the proposed fix would resolve at least part of the issues. What parts do you think it will not resolve, so we can work on those?
OK, here’s one example of something that is not covered: someone can feel that by focusing on their flaws, they get the benefit of putting more effort into presenting their best side, and improving their look. So they wouldn’t want to stop concentrating on the flaws.
I mean, there’s a lot of psychology/social pressures/doublethink/self-image/etc. issues around this. I anticipate that simply telling people”from now on, concentrate more on your positive sides!” does not solve the problem in most cases, and can even sound condescending (as if they didn’t already know that!).
Mmm, good point!
Now, I might imagine, in that scenario, that they still self-perceive as less beautiful because of all the attention they’re giving their flaws.
But a side effect of no longer doing so and no longer self-perceiving negatively might be a decrease in their effectiveness in countering those flaws...
My prior is that most people in the situation described in the post wouldn’t have thought of this method as a way of resolving the tension they experience. What do you think?
OK, so I have different background assumptions: to me it looks like the simplest way to complete the pattern (“how improve my self-esteem?” → “think about your strong points”) conveniently established by countless self-help slogans etc.
My view is that people don’t think of having low self-esteem as a problem when judging their aesthetic appearance as inadequate.