Good relationships with others affect our self-esteem and sense of self.
Even “one-sided” relationships have a positive effect, for example, when a young man, admiring a famous artist (musician, athlete), tries to imitate him. This conclusion was made by psychologists Jaye L. Derrick and Shira Gabriel from the University of Buffalo (USA), studying the behavior of people with low self-esteem. Three groups of students, participants in the experiment, wrote different essays: about their idol, about another celebrity, or about someone close, and then everyone filled out a questionnaire in which they talked about their character traits and qualities that they would like to possess. It turned out that for those who thought about their idols, the gap between real qualities and the ideal self-image is smaller, and overall self-esteem (compared to other participants in the experiment) is higher. Thinking about who we want to look up to, we first of all imagine the character and life values of this person, and in the light of these qualities we perceive ourselves more positively.