Self-Esteem as an Emotional Immune System
自尊好比情绪免疫系统
In terms of its general behavior, our self-esteem fluctuates from day to day and sometimes, from hour to hour—much as our physical immune system does.
尽管专家们还在争论自尊究竟是什么(在心理学研究中,定义这种概念通常是十分棘手的),但我们却非常了解它到底能做什么。就一般行为而言,我们的自尊有时会有波动,今天和明天不一样,上一个小时和下一个小时有可能也不一样——这就像我们的心理免疫系统。
People with low self-esteem release more cortisol into their bloodstream when they experience stress and it stays there for longer periods, than people with higher self-esteem.
自尊水平低的人在承受压力时,会在血液中释放出更多的皮质醇,并且存在的时间更长。
But does improving our self-esteem necessarily boost our emotional immune systems?
然而,增强我们的情绪免疫系统一定要提高自尊心吗?
The answer is—yes! Researchers have found that boosting our self-esteem can indeed strengthen our emotional immune systems.
答案是——一定要!研究人员已经发现,提高自尊心水平的的确确能够增强我们的情绪免疫系统。
How to Boost Self-Esteem and Enhance Your Emotional Immune System
如何提高自尊心,如何增强你的情绪免疫力? Indeed, the approaches that have been proven effective in boosting self-esteem, come primarily in the form of writing exercises because writing allows us to make the self-esteem exercise both specific and individualized:
多数增强自尊心的项目最大的问题在于,他们不是针对个人情况的。的确,实践证明最有效的增强自尊心的方法就是写作练习,这是最原始也是最根本的办法,因为写作能使自尊得到更具体的锻炼,并且更有个人针对性。
1.Self-compassion exercises. Self-compassion exercises are ones that force us to substitute our automatic self-critical perspectives with ones that are more compassionate and ‘self-esteem friendly’.
自我疼惜锻炼法。自我疼惜锻炼法就是让我们集中精力多疼爱自己一些,“对自己的自尊心友好一些”。
因为我们很少会关心自我的评判标准,而这些评判标准一般都很严苛。这种自我疼惜的方法就是让我们从“如果这件事情发生在你关心的人身上”的角度看待自己,好好对待自己,从而更容易帮助我们宽容自己、同情自己。
2.Self-affirmation exercises. Self-affirmation exercises are those that affirm real aspects of ourselves we find valuable (as opposed to positive-affirmation exercises that affirm idealized versions of how we wish we could be).
自我肯定锻炼法。自我肯定锻炼法就是发掘自己有价值的方面,然后真正地肯定自己(这种自我肯定与正向肯定相反,正向肯定是指以希望自己是什么样的人的观点肯定自己,以这种理想化的观点肯定自己)。这种锻炼的方法就是要考虑到我们面对人际关系、工作环境和其他环境时所表现出来的个人特质和性格特点。 3. Personal empowerment exercises. Personal empowerment is not something we merely feel but something we can demonstrate in our lives. In other words, such exercises provide proof that we are not powerless and that we have can an impact (read How to Attain Personal Empowerment).
个人赋权锻炼法。个人赋权不仅仅是我们能够感觉到的东西,也是在生活中可以体现出来的东西。换句话说,这种锻炼就是自己给自己提供证据,证明自己并非无能,证明自己也有一定的影响力。