Confidence and Happiness, in general, are looked at as two positive but unrelated things in life. If I ask you what are the things you expect out of someone who is confident, you are more likely to state things like- “more successful”, “respectable”, etc. Happiness on the other hand is the feeling you would relate to your sound physical and mental being, having good people around, and having healthy relationships. There are barely any books that claim the association of confidence with happiness. The question arises if it is even right to link happiness with confidence. Let’s see some empirical evidence and uncover what truth:
The link between the two
In the following section of the article we will talk about three studies. These studies are recent and show positive correlation between confidence and happiness.
- A study from the year 2014 conducted on 200 students showed that there is a positive relationship between happiness and self-esteem. It concluded that whenever there is an increase in self-esteem it also leads to an increase in happiness.
- Another research conducted in Ireland on a small scale reported that favorable self-assessment is linked to the perception of self-satisfaction and happiness in life.
- “Does Self-Esteem Cause Better Performance, Interpersonal Success, Happiness, or Healthier Lifestyles?” is a widely cited paper by Prof. Roy Baumeister. In his paper, he concluded that high self-esteem is the most vital factor which predicted overall life satisfaction. He also showed the link between happiness and confidence to be 47%, which makes it statistically a very close relationship.
People with confidence look for relationships
People with low self-esteem tend to stay alone, have social aversion, shyness, and unwillingness to interact with new people. On the other hand, confident people are much more likely to socialize, interact, and always keen to push the boundaries of their network. They appreciate the importance of building a network and socializing. Something that is of even greater significance is that the relationships that we build are often the main source of happiness in our lives.
Self-esteem predicts happiness
In another research paper authored by Prof. Roy Baumeister, by the name of “Self-esteem predicts happiness”. In the study, the students with low self-esteem came across to be more shy, insecure, underachieving and emotionally unstable. In another study conducted, showed that people with low self-esteem and people with high confidence differ tremendously on most of the fronts. The study also tried to answer the question, more confident people have a different mindset when it is related to the failure. In other words, people who are confident believe failures to be a temporary setback and more of an opportunity. As a matter of fact, their level of self-worth remains un-staggered even when they are letdown.
Confident people do not seek validation from people outside
People who are confident do not look out for external validation as compared to the people who have low self-esteem. It is largely because of the fact that they know how much they are worth. I feel no one has any doubt about the fact that comparison is the root cause of many problems. Problems like anxiety, unhappiness, and dissatisfaction are common among people who compare themself with others. The attitude of “I want more than others” is a toxic framework. Once you get into it you never find anything good enough and you start to doubt your own worth.
However, if we look into The Social Comparison Theory, it tells us that even confident people engage in comparison to others that are better. But that is essentially driven by the sole purpose of improving and keeping themselves motivated. They generally have no intention of proving their worth to anyone else.
Conclusion
The fact that confident people are generally more emotionally stable. Owing to which they have a better outlook and most importantly greater self-respect and a sense of self-worth. They are able to follow what they want to do in life, live their relationships and the last thing they do is a comparison to others. It would not be wrong to state that confident people are better equipped to deal with things that come their way. Also, they are able to manage stress well and are able to reach their life goals.