In 2000, an important study was conducted which queried laid-off rural Alabama textile workers on the effects of the Job Training Partnership Act. Among the many elements brought to light during the research, one specific trend became startlingly clear: all of the respondents had developed the belief that they were incapable of doing better.
Self-confidence and self-esteem is understood to be of vital importance in education and personal life, yet little more than words and mission statements reflect this within many of the usual institutions to which we are regularly subject. Parents, friends, teachers, spouses, bosses, online casino usa, religion — one can find copious examples in all of these categories that frequently discourage individual worth.
The women of the textile plants, the focus of the 2000 study, unanimously reported that friends and husbands had told them that they were not smart enough to make it outside the industry. While perhaps a clearer example than most, there are few who have not struggled against some sort of discouraging inner critic that, if listened to closely enough, speaks in a voice that is not primarily one’s own.
This may prove to be a source of strength, if the critic identifies flaws and weaknesses to ultimately improve one’s overall situation. Online slots, for instance. However, many people simply take the non-specific discouragements at face value, internalizing them until they become very difficult to extract from the overall psyche. A reasonable assessment of the challenges between you and your goals is something very different than a portrayal of the self as a loser, too stupid to make it and doomed to failure if you so much as try.
The women of the study were given tests during the JTPA program which gave them tangible evidence of their ability to succeed (one woman was so energized by her newfound self-esteem that she divorced her discouraging husband!). None of them were stupid after all, it seems…
