Cathi Cohen, in her book, Raise Your Child’s Social IQ, offers the following list of characteristics of children with positive and negative self esteem:

Kids with High Self-Esteem

• Have fairly stable moods
• Set realistic goals and achieve them
• Have self-motivation and “stick-to-it-ness”
• Can accept rejection or critical feedback
• Can say “no” to peers
• Are realistically aware of their own strengths and weaknesses

Kids with Low Self-Esteem

• Often blame others for their actions
• Need to be liked by everyone
• See themselves as losers
• Are critical of others
• Get frustrated easily
• Have trouble accepting responsibility for their actions
• Make negative comments about themselves
• Tend to be quitters

Hmmmm… interesting. I can identify with points from both lists.