The foundation for how we think… about situations, about our selves in situations, about others comes from our self-appraisal because it is the lens through which we view our experiences and our self. This lens shapes our perceptions of our self and others. It influences how we interact and perform in the world. It is very natural for us to form opinions, judgments, and conclusions. A large part of our mind is designed to do just that. However being clear about just what is influencing how we get to those positions is important.
There is a significant difference between making a judgment or evaluation and being judgmental, criticizing, or being self-deprecating. The frequency and intensity of negative thinking (critical, judgmental, fearful, apprehensive, etc.) directly relates to our overall sense of worth – our self-appraisal. Just like when an appraiser comes to put a value on your house our internal appraiser puts a value on our person.
What value has your internal appraiser put on your worth?
Regardless of how aware we are or not of our self-appraisal it gets played out on a daily basis. A low appraisal causes difficulties in our performance, how we do relationships, our jobs, and coping with daily life activities. If our self-appraisal is low enough, it can cause significant difficulties with our mental health. Some common indicators are low distress tolerance or mood instability. When this goes unaddressed, it can result in a depression or anxiety disorder. Identifying your own self-appraisal and determining how accurate it is or not is important.
We can have variation in our self-appraisal depending on the situation we are in, or it can be low regardless of our situation. When there is one specific situation, learning a new skill or addressing a past difficulty may resolve the problem. When it spans the majority of situations, then one is more at risk for mental health problems, and seeking professional assistance may be helpful or even necessary to bring the appraisal up.