The concept of self-respect is not part of the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy ( RAE ) and the correct way of writing it to pronounce "respect" correctly includes the double R. However, most articles on the Internet show it with only one.
Auto- is a prefix that means “by itself” or “of itself.” It can join verbs or nouns. Respect , meanwhile, is associated with consideration , delicacy , obedience or veneration .
The idea of self-respect , then, is linked to respect for oneself . Just as respecting one's neighbor involves issues such as not attacking their ideas or not causing harm, self-respect involves applying those same precepts internally so as not to hurt or harm oneself.
Self-respect is based on the defense and promotion of independence and autonomy . Each individual must respect themselves and be faithful to their thoughts and feelings to achieve fulfillment: when someone tries to conform to others or only follows orders, they cannot be happy.
It is important to mention that self-respect is related to self-esteem , although both notions refer to different things. Self-esteem is the result of an evaluation of one's actions and achievements. Therefore, it is a consequence of a value judgment. Self-respect, on the other hand, involves acceptance without valuation.
It can be said that self-respect is the approval or tolerance of oneself, regardless of mistakes and limitations. It does not depend on success or failure, unlike what usually happens with self-esteem.
From all that has been said, we can understand that self-respect means putting our own needs before those of others. This does not mean stopping loving our friends and family, nor loving them less than they deserve; On the contrary, we must start from a solid and firm structure to offer them everything they need, everything we want to give them.
Only once we achieve stability in respect for our own needs can we go out into the outside world to establish new relationships. Otherwise, we allow their freedoms to drown out ours. People who have great difficulty saying no when someone asks them for a favor exhibit a lack of self-respect. Just as prioritizing our needs doesn't mean loving a friend less, knowing how to set boundaries and demand that they respect our time doesn't mean being rude or inconsiderate.
Although these two situations are clear examples of self-respect, at least one positive aspect can be rescued from them: the desire to be good people. However, there is a much darker area, both for those who do not respect themselves and for those around them, which begins when values and principles become corrupted. At first glance it may seem that the harmed are those who receive the actions of the person who has become immoral, but the first victim is she since she stops respecting herself and therefore remains completely unprotected.
Certain key differences between self-esteem and self-respect are mentioned above. Although these are different concepts, it should be noted that it is often difficult to determine which of these problems is acting most strongly on the individual , since they are complementary. For example, low self-esteem leads us to value ourselves very little, to give ourselves less importance than others; This is also disrespectful to us, or it can lead to it.
Generally, people with low self-esteem also lack self-confidence, and this can lead them to neglect their self-respect when making an important decision.