Self-esteem is confidence in one's own worth, abilities, or morals. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs about oneself (for example, "I am loved", "I am worthy") as well as emotional states, such as triumph, despair, pride, and shame. Smith and Mackie define it by saying "The self-concept is what we think about the self; self-esteem, is the positive or negative evaluations of the self, as in how we feel about it (see self)."

The construct of self-esteem has been shown to be a desirable one in psychology, as it is associated with a variety of positive outcomes, such as academic achievement, relationship satisfaction, happiness, and lower rates of criminal behavior. The benefits of high self-esteem are thought to include improved mental and physical health, and less anti-social behavior  while drawbacks of low self-esteem have been found to be anxiety, loneliness, and increased vulnerability to substance abuse.

Self-esteem can apply to a specific attribute or globally. Psychologists usually regard self-esteem as an enduring personality characteristic (trait self-esteem), though normal, short-term variations (state self-esteem) also exist. Synonyms or near-synonyms of self-esteem include: self-worth, self-regard, self-respect, and self-integrity.

History
The concept of self-esteem has its origins in the 18th century, first expressed in the writings of the Scottish enlightenment thinker David Hume. Hume posits that it is important to value and think well of oneself because it serves a motivational function that enables people to explore their full potential.

The identification of self-esteem as a distinct psychological construct has its origins in the work of philosopher and psychologist, William James. James identified multiple dimensions of the self, with two levels of hierarchy: processes of knowing (called the "I-self") and the resulting knowledge about the self (the "Me-self"). The observation about the self and storage of those observations by the I-self creates three types of knowledge, which collectively account for the Me-self, according to James. These are the material self, social self, and spiritual self. The social self comes closest to self-esteem, comprising all characteristics recognized by others. The material self consists of representations of the body and possessions and the spiritual self of descriptive representations and evaluative dispositions regarding the self. This view of self-esteem as the collection of an individual's attitudes toward itself remains today.

In the mid-1960s, social psychologist Morris Rosenberg defined self-esteem as a feeling of self-worth and developed the Rosenberg self-esteem scale (RSES), which became the most widely used scale to measure self-esteem in the social sciences.

In the early 20th century, the behaviorist movement shunned introspective study of mental processes, emotions, and feelings, replacing introspection with objective study through experiments on behaviors observed in relation with the environment. Behaviorism viewed the human being as an animal subject to reinforcements, and suggested making psychology an experimental science, similar to chemistry or biology. Consequently, clinical trials on self-esteem were overlooked, since behaviorists considered the idea less amenable to rigorous measurement.

In the mid-20th century, the rise of phenomenology and humanistic psychology led to a renewed interest in self-esteem as a treatment for psychological disorders such as depression, anxiety, and personality disorders. Psychologists started to consider the relationship between psychotherapy and the personal satisfaction of people with high self-esteem as useful to the field. This led to new elements being introduced to the concept of self-esteem, including the reasons why people tend to feel less worthy and why people become discouraged or unable to meet challenges by themselves.

In 1992, the political scientist Francis Fukuyama associated self-esteem with what Plato called —the "spiritedness" part of the Platonic soul.

From 1997, the core self-evaluations approach included self-esteem as one of four dimensions that comprise one's fundamental appraisal of oneself—along with locus of control, neuroticism, and self-efficacy.  The concept of core self-evaluations has since proven to have the ability to predict job satisfaction and job performance. Self-esteem may be essential to self-evaluation.

In public policy
The importance of self-esteem gained endorsement from some government and non-government groups starting around the 1970s, such that one can speak of a self-esteem movement. This movement provides evidence that psychological research can shape public policy. The underlying idea of the movement was that low self-esteem was the root of problems for individuals, making it the root of societal problems and dysfunctions. A leading figure of the movement, psychologist Nathaniel Branden, stated: "[I] cannot think of a single psychological problem – from anxiety and depression, to fear of intimacy or of success, to spouse battery or child molestation – that is not traced back to the problem of low self-esteem".

It was once thought that self-esteem was primarily a feature of Western individualistic societies, as it was not observed in collectivist cultures such as Japan.
Concern about low self-esteem and its many presumed negative consequences led California assemblyman, John Vasconcellos to work to set up and fund the Task Force on Self-Esteem and Personal and Social Responsibility, in California, in 1986. Vasconcellos argued that this task force could combat many of the state's problems – from crime and teen pregnancy to school underachievement and pollution. He compared increasing self-esteem to giving out a vaccine for a disease: it could help protect people from being overwhelmed by life's challenges.

The task force set up committees in many California counties and formed a committee of scholars to review the available literature on self-esteem. This committee found very small associations between low self-esteem and its assumed consequences, ultimately showing that low self-esteem was not the root of all societal problems and not as important as the committee had originally thought. However, the authors of the paper that summarized the review of the literature still believed that self-esteem is an independent variable that affects major social problems. The task force disbanded in 1995, and the National Council for Self-Esteem and later the National Association for Self-Esteem (NASE) was established, taking on the task force's mission. Vasconcellos and Jack Canfield were members of its advisory board in 2003, and members of its masters' coalition included Anthony Robbins, Bernie Siegel, and Gloria Steinem.

Theories
Many early theories suggested that self-esteem is a basic human need or motivation. American psychologist, Abraham Maslow included self-esteem in his hierarchy of human needs. He described two different forms of "esteem": the need for respect from others in the form of recognition, success, and admiration, and the need for self-respect in the form of self-love, self-confidence, skill, or aptitude. Respect from others was believed to be more fragile and easily lost than inner self-esteem. According to Maslow, without the fulfillment of the self-esteem need, individuals will be driven to seek it and unable to grow and obtain self-actualization. Maslow also states that the healthiest expression of self-esteem "is the one which manifests in the respect we deserve for others, more than renown, fame, and flattery".  Modern theories of self-esteem explore the reasons humans are motivated to maintain a high regard for themselves. Sociometer theory maintains that self-esteem evolved to check one's level of status and acceptance in one's social group. According to Terror Management Theory, self-esteem serves a protective function and reduces anxiety about life and death.

Carl Rogers (1902–1987), an advocate of humanistic psychology, theorized the origin of many people's problems to be that they despise themselves and consider themselves worthless and incapable of being loved. This is why Rogers believed in the importance of giving unconditional acceptance to a client and when this was done it could improve the client's self-esteem. In his therapy sessions with clients, he offered positive regard no matter what. Indeed, the concept of self-esteem is approached since then in humanistic psychology as an inalienable right for every person, summarized in the following sentence:

Measurement
Self-esteem is typically assessed using self-report inventories.

One of the most widely used instruments, the Rosenberg self-esteem scale (RSES) is a 10-item self-esteem scale score that requires participants to indicate their level of agreement with a series of statements about themselves. An alternative measure, the Coopersmith Inventory uses a 50-question battery over a variety of topics and asks subjects whether they rate someone as similar or dissimilar to themselves. If a subject's answers demonstrate solid self-regard, the scale regards them as well adjusted. If those answers reveal some inner shame, it considers them to be prone to social deviance.

Implicit measures of self-esteem began to be used in the 1980s.
These rely on indirect measures of cognitive processing thought to be linked to implicit self-esteem, including the name letter task (or initial preference task) and the Implicit Association Task.

Such indirect measures are designed to reduce awareness of the process of assessment. When using them to assess implicit self-esteem, psychologists apply self-relevant stimuli to the participant and then measure how quickly a person identifies positive or negative stimuli. For example, if a woman was given the self-relevant stimuli of female and mother, psychologists would measure how quickly she identified the negative word, evil, or the positive word, kind.

Development across lifespan
Experiences in a person's life are a major source of how self-esteem develops. In the early years of a child's life, parents have a significant influence on self-esteem and can be considered the main source of positive and negative experiences a child will have. Unconditional love from parents helps a child develop a stable sense of being cared for and respected. These feelings translate into later effects on self-esteem as the child grows older. Students in elementary school who have high self-esteem tend to have authoritative parents who are caring, supportive adults who set clear standards for their child and allow them to voice their opinion in decision making.

Although studies thus far have reported only a correlation of warm, supportive parenting styles (mainly authoritative and permissive) with children having high self-esteem, these parenting styles could easily be thought of as having some causal effect in self-esteem development. Childhood experiences that contribute to healthy self-esteem include being listened to, being spoken to respectfully, receiving appropriate attention and affection and having accomplishments recognized and mistakes or failures acknowledged and accepted. Experiences that contribute to low self-esteem include being harshly criticized, being physically, sexually or emotionally abused, being ignored, ridiculed or teased or being expected to be "perfect" all the time.

During school-aged years, academic achievement is a significant contributor to self-esteem development. Consistently achieving success or consistently failing will have a strong effect on students' individual self-esteem. However, students can also experience low self-esteem while in school. For example, they may not have academic achievements, or they live in a troubled environment outside of school. Issues like the ones previously stated, can cause adolescents to doubt themselves. Social experiences are another important contributor to self-esteem. As children go through school, they begin to understand and recognize differences between themselves and their classmates. Using social comparisons, children assess whether they did better or worse than classmates in different activities. These comparisons play an important role in shaping the child's self-esteem and influence the positive or negative feelings they have about themselves. As children go through adolescence, peer influence becomes much more important. Adolescents make appraisals of themselves based on their relationships with close friends. Successful relationships among friends are very important to the development of high self-esteem for children. Social acceptance brings about confidence and produces high self-esteem, whereas rejection from peers and loneliness brings about self-doubts and produces low self-esteem.

Self-esteem tends to increase during adolescence and young adulthood, reaching a peak in middle age. A decrease is seen from middle age to old age with varying findings on whether it is a small or large decrease. Reasons for the variability could be because of differences in health, cognitive ability, and socioeconomic status in old age. No differences have been found between males and females in their development of self-esteem. Multiple cohort studies show that there is not a difference in the life-span trajectory of self-esteem between generations due to societal changes such as grade inflation in education or the presence of social media.

High levels of mastery, low risk taking, and better health are ways to predict higher self-esteem. In terms of personality, emotionally stable, extroverted, and conscientious individuals experience higher self-esteem. These predictors have shown us that self-esteem has trait-like qualities by remaining stable over time like personality and intelligence.  However, this does not mean it can not be changed. Hispanic adolescents have a slightly lower self-esteem than their black and white peers, but then slightly higher levels by age 30. African Americans have a sharper increase in self-esteem in adolescence and young adulthood compared to Whites. However, during old age, they experience a more rapid decline in self-esteem.

Shame
Shame can be a contributor to those with problems of low self-esteem. Feelings of shame usually occur because of a situation where the social self is devalued, such as a socially evaluated poor performance. Poor performance leads to a decrease in social self-esteem and an increase in shame, indicating a threat to the social self. This increase in shame can be helped with self-compassion.

Real self, ideal self, and dreaded self
There are three levels of self-evaluation development in relation to the real self, ideal self, and the dreaded self. The real, ideal, and dreaded selves develop in children in a sequential pattern on cognitive levels.
 Moral judgment stages: Individuals describe their real, ideal, and dreaded selves with stereotypical labels, such as "nice" or "bad". Individuals describe their ideal and real selves in terms of disposition for actions or as behavioral habits. The dreaded self is often described as being unsuccessful or as having bad habits.
 Ego development stages: Individuals describe their ideal and real selves in terms of traits that are based on attitudes as well as actions. The dreaded self is often described as having failed to meet social expectations or as self-centered.
 Self-understanding stages: Individuals describe their ideal and real selves as having unified identities or characters. Descriptions of the dreaded self focus on  failure to live up to one's ideals or role expectations often because of real world problems.
This development brings with it increasingly complicated and encompassing moral demands. This level is where individuals' self-esteems can suffer because they do not feel as though they are living up to certain expectations. This feeling will moderately affect one's self-esteem with an even larger effect seen when individuals believe they are becoming their dreaded selves.

Types

High

People with a healthy level of self-esteem:
 firmly believe in certain values and principles, and are ready to defend them even when finding opposition, feeling secure enough to modify them in light of experience.
 are able to act according to what they think to be the best choice, trusting their own judgment, and not feeling guilty when others do not like their choice.
 do not lose time worrying excessively about what happened in the past, nor about what could happen in the future. They learn from the past and plan for the future, but live in the present intensely.
 fully trust in their capacity to solve problems, not hesitating after failures and difficulties. They ask others for help when they need it.
 consider themselves equal in dignity to others, rather than inferior or superior, while accepting differences in certain talents, personal prestige or financial standing.
 understand how they are an interesting and valuable person for others, at least for those with whom they have a friendship.
 resist manipulation, collaborate with others only if it seems appropriate and convenient.
 admit and accept different internal feelings and drives, either positive or negative, revealing those drives to others only when they choose.
 are able to enjoy a great variety of activities.
 are sensitive to feelings and needs of others; respect generally accepted social rules, and claim no right or desire to prosper at others' expense.
 can work toward finding solutions and voice discontent without belittling themselves or others when challenges arise.

Secure vs. defensive

Some people have a secure high self-esteem and can confidently maintain positive self-views without relying on external reassurance. However, others have defensive high self-esteem, and while they also report positive self-views on the Rosenberg Scale, these views are fragile and easily threatened by criticism. Defensive high self-esteem individuals internalize subconscious self-doubts and insecurities, causing them to react very negatively to any criticism they may receive. There is a need for constant positive feedback from others for these individuals to maintain their feelings of self-worth. The necessity of repeated praise can be associated with boastful, arrogant behavior or sometimes even aggressive and hostile feelings toward anyone who questions the individual's self-worth, an example of threatened egotism.

The Journal of Educational Psychology conducted a study in which they used a sample of 383 Malaysian undergraduates participating in work integrated learning (WIL) programs across five public universities to test the relationship between self-esteem and other psychological attributes such as self-efficacy and self-confidence. The results demonstrated that self-esteem has a positive and significant relationship with self-confidence and self-efficacy since students with higher self-esteem had better performances at university than those with lower self-esteem. It was concluded that higher education institutions and employers should emphasize the importance of undergraduates' self-esteem development.

Implicit and explicit

Implicit self-esteem refers to a person's disposition to evaluate themselves positively or negatively in a spontaneous, automatic, or unconscious manner. It contrasts with explicit self-esteem, which entails more conscious and reflective self-evaluation. Both explicit self-esteem and implicit self-esteem are theoretically subtypes of self-esteem proper.

However, the validity of implicit self-esteem as a construct is highly questionable, given not only its weak or nonexistent correlation with explicit self-esteem and informant ratings of self-esteem, but also the failure of multiple measures of implicit self-esteem to correlate with each other.

Currently, there is little scientific evidence that self-esteem can be reliably or validly measured through implicit means.

Narcissism and threatened egotism
Narcissism is a disposition people may have that represents an excessive love for one's self. It is characterized by an inflated view of self-worth. Individuals who score high on narcissism measures, Robert Raskin's Narcissistic Personality Inventory, would likely select true to such statements as "If I ruled the world, it would be a much better place." There is only a moderate correlation between narcissism and self-esteem; that is to say that an individual can have high self-esteem but low narcissism or can be a conceited, obnoxious person and score high self-esteem and high narcissism. However, when correlation analysis is restricted to the sense of superiority or self-admiration aspects of narcissism, correlations between narcissism and self-esteem become strong (usually at or around r = .50, but sometimes up to β = .86). Moreover, self-esteem is positively correlated with a sense of superiority even when controlling for overall narcissism.

Narcissism is not only defined by inflated self-esteem, but also by characteristics such as entitlement, exploitativeness, and dominance. Additionally, while positive self-image is a shared characteristic of narcissism and self-esteem, narcissistic self-appraisals are exaggerated, whereas in non-narcissistic self-esteem, positive views of the self compared with others are relatively modest. Thus, while sharing positive self-regard as a main feature, and while narcissism is defined by high self-esteem, the two constructs are not interchangeable.

Threatened egotism is a phenomenon in which narcissists respond to criticism with hostility and aggression, as it threatens their sense of self-worth.

Low

Low self-esteem can result from various factors, including genetic factors, physical appearance or weight, mental health issues, socioeconomic status, significant emotional experiences, social stigma, peer pressure or bullying.

A person with low self-esteem may show some of the following characteristics:
 Heavy self-criticism and dissatisfaction.
 Hypersensitivity to criticism with resentment against critics and feelings of being attacked.
 Chronic indecision and an exaggerated fear of mistakes.
 Excessive will to please and unwillingness to displease any petitioner.
 Perfectionism, which can lead to frustration when perfection is not achieved.
 Neurotic guilt, dwelling on or exaggerating the magnitude of past mistakes.
 Floating hostility and general defensiveness and irritability without any proximate cause.
 Pessimism and a general negative outlook.
 Envy, invidiousness, or general resentment.
 Sees temporary setbacks as permanent, intolerable conditions.

Individuals with low self-esteem tend to be critical of themselves. Some depend on the approval and praise of others when evaluating self-worth. Others may measure their likability in terms of successes: others will accept themselves if they succeed but will not if they fail. People with chronic low self esteem are at a higher risk for experiencing psychotic disorders; and this behavior is closely linked to forming psychotic symptoms as well.

Treatments
Metacognitive therapy, EMDR technique, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, rational emotive behavior therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy and trait and construct therapies have been shown to improve the patient's self-esteem.

The three states
This classification proposed by Martin Ross distinguishes three states of self-esteem compared to the "feats" (triumphs, honors, virtues) and the "anti-feats" (defeats, embarrassment, shame, etc.) of the individuals.

Shattered
The individual does not regard themselves as valuable or lovable. They may be overwhelmed by defeat, or shame, or see themselves as such, and they name their "anti-feat". For example, if they consider that being over a certain age is an anti-feat, they define themselves with the name of their anti-feat, and say, "I am old". They express actions and feelings such as pity, insulting themselves, and they may become paralyzed by their sadness.

Vulnerable
The individual has a generally positive self-image. However, their self-esteem is also vulnerable to the perceived risk of an imminent anti-feat (such as defeat, embarrassment, shame, discredit), consequently, they are often nervous and regularly use defense mechanisms. A typical protection mechanism of those with vulnerable self-esteem may consist in avoiding decision-making.  Although such individuals may outwardly exhibit great self-confidence, the underlying reality may be just the opposite: the apparent self-confidence is indicative of their heightened fear of anti-feats and the fragility of their self-esteem. They may also try to blame others to protect their self-image from situations that would threaten it. They may employ defense mechanisms, including attempting to lose at games and other competitions in order to protect their self-image by publicly dissociating themselves from a need to win, and asserting an independence from social acceptance which they may deeply desire. In this deep fear of being unaccepted by an individual's peers, they make poor life choices by making risky decisions.

Strong
People with strong self-esteem have a positive self-image and enough strength so that anti-feats do not subdue their self-esteem. They have less fear of failure. These individuals appear humble, cheerful, and this shows a certain strength not to boast about feats and not to be afraid of anti-feats.
They are capable of fighting with all their might to achieve their goals because, if things go wrong, their self-esteem will not be affected.  They can acknowledge their own mistakes precisely because their self-image is strong, and this acknowledgment will not impair or affect their self-image. They live with less fear of losing social prestige, and with more happiness and general well-being.
However, no type of self-esteem is indestructible, and due to certain situations or circumstances in life, one can fall from this level into any other state of self-esteem.

Contingent vs. non-contingent
A distinction is made between contingent (or conditional)  and non-contingent (or unconditional) self-esteem.

Contingent self-esteem is derived from external sources, such as what others say, one's success or failure, one's competence, or relationship-contingent self-esteem.

Therefore, contingent self-esteem is marked by instability, unreliability, and vulnerability. Persons lacking a non-contingent self-esteem are "predisposed to an incessant pursuit of self-value". However, because the pursuit of contingent self-esteem is based on receiving approval, it is doomed to fail, as no one receives constant approval, and disapproval often evokes depression. Furthermore, fear of disapproval inhibits activities in which failure is possible.

Non-contingent self-esteem is described as true, stable, and solid. It springs from a belief that one is "acceptable period, acceptable before life itself, ontologically acceptable". Belief that one is "ontologically acceptable" is to believe that one's acceptability is "the way things are without contingency". In this belief, as expounded by theologian Paul Tillich, acceptability is not based on a person's virtue. It is an acceptance given "in spite of our guilt, not because we have no guilt".

Psychiatrist Thomas A Harris drew on Tillich for his classic I'm OK – You're OK that addresses non-contingent self-esteem. Harris translated Tillich's "acceptable" by the vernacular OK, a term that means "acceptable". The Christian message, said Harris, is not "YOU CAN BE OK, IF"; it is "YOU ARE ACCEPTED, unconditionally".

A secure non-contingent self-esteem springs from the belief that one is ontologically acceptable and accepted.

Domain-specific self-esteem
Whereas global self-esteem addresses how individuals appraise themselves in their entirety, domain-specific self-esteem facets relate to how they appraise themselves in various pertinent domains of life. Such functionally distinct facets of self-esteem may comprise self-evaluations in social, emotional, body-related, school performance-related, and creative-artistic domains.

They have been found to be predictive of outcomes related to psychological functioning, health, education, and work.
Low self-esteem in the social domain (i.e., self-perceived social competence), for example, has been repeatedly identified as a risk factor for bullying victimization.

Importance
Abraham Maslow states that psychological health is not possible unless the essential core of the person is fundamentally accepted, loved and respected by others and by oneself. Self-esteem allows people to face life with more confidence, benevolence, and optimism, and thus easily reach their goals and self-actualize.

Self-esteem may make people convinced they deserve happiness. The ability to understand and develop positive self-esteem is essential for building healthy relationships with others. When people have a positive view of themselves, they are more likely to treat others with respect, compassion, and kindness. This creates the foundation for strong, positive relationships that are built on mutual respect and understanding. For Erich Fromm, the love of others and love of ourselves are not alternatives. On the contrary, an attitude of love toward themselves will be found in all those who are capable of loving others. Self-esteem allows creativity at the workplace and is a specially critical condition for teaching professions.

José-Vicente Bonet claims that the importance of self-esteem is obvious as a lack of self-esteem is, he says, not a loss of esteem from others, but self-rejection. Bonet claims that this corresponds to major depressive disorder. Freud also claimed that the depressive has suffered "an extraordinary diminution in his self-regard, an impoverishment of his ego on a grand scale... He has lost his self-respect".

The Yogyakarta Principles, a document on international human rights law, addresses the discriminatory attitude toward LGBT people that makes their self-esteem low to be subject to human rights violation including human trafficking. The World Health Organization recommends in "Preventing Suicide", published in 2000, that strengthening students' self-esteem is important to protect children and adolescents against mental distress and despondency, enabling them to cope adequately with difficult and stressful life situations.

Not only does higher self-esteem increase happiness, but it is also associated with improved stress coping and increased willingness to take on challenging tasks. This is in contrast to individuals with low self-esteem, who may struggle to cope with stress and avoid difficult tasks.

Correlations

From the late 1970s to the early 1990s many Americans assumed as a matter of course that students' self-esteem acted as a critical factor in the grades that they earned in school, in their relationships with their peers, and in their later success in life. Under this assumption, some American groups created programs which aimed to increase the self-esteem of students. Until the 1990s, little peer-reviewed and controlled research took place on this topic.

Peer-reviewed research undertaken since then has not validated previous assumptions. Recent research indicates that inflating students' self-esteems in and of itself has no positive effect on grades. Roy Baumeister has shown that inflating self-esteem by itself can actually decrease grades. The relationship involving self-esteem and academic results does not signify that high self-esteem contributes to high academic results. It simply means that high self-esteem may be accomplished as a result of high academic performance due to the other variables of social interactions and life events affecting this performance.

Attempts by pro-esteem advocates to encourage self-pride in students solely by reason of their uniqueness as human beings will fail if feelings of well-being are not accompanied by well-doing. It is only when students engage in personally meaningful endeavors for which they can be justifiably proud that self-confidence grows, and it is this growing self-assurance that in turn triggers further achievement.

Research has found a strong correlation between high self-esteem and self-reported happiness, but it is not yet known whether this relationship is causal. This means that although people with high self-esteem tend to report greater happiness, it is not certain whether having high self-esteem directly causes increased happiness. The relationship between self-esteem and life satisfaction is stronger in individualistic cultures.

In addition, people with high self-esteem have been found to be more forgiving than people with low self-esteem. This is because people with high self-esteem tend to have greater self-acceptance and are more likely to view conflict in a positive light, as an opportunity for growth and improvement. In contrast, people with low self-esteem may have a harder time forgiving others, due to a sense of insecurity and self-doubt.

High self-esteem does not prevent children from smoking, drinking, taking drugs, or engaging in early sex.

Mental health
Self-esteem has been associated with several mental health conditions, including depression, anxiety, and eating disorders. For example, low self-esteem may increase the likelihood that people who experience dysfunctional thoughts will develop symptoms of depression.
Consequently, cognitive treatment of depression helps with low self-esteem, and vice versa, addressing low self-esteem improves depressive symptoms.  In contrast, high self-esteem may protect against the development of mental health conditions, with research finding that high self-esteem reduces the chances of bulimia and anxiety.

Neuroscience
In research conducted in 2014 by Robert S. Chavez and Todd F. Heatherton, it was found that self-esteem is related to the connectivity of the frontostriatal circuit. The frontostriatal pathway connects the medial prefrontal cortex, which deals with self-knowledge, to the ventral striatum, which deals with feelings of motivation and reward. Stronger anatomical pathways are correlated with higher long-term self-esteem, while stronger functional connectivity is correlated with higher short-term self-esteem.

Criticism and controversy

Albert Ellis, an influential American psychologist, argued that the concept of self-esteem is actually harmful and unhelpful. Although acknowledging the human propensity and tendency to ego rating as innate, he has critiqued the philosophy of self-esteem as unrealistic, illogical and self- and socially destructive – often doing more harm than good. Questioning the foundations and usefulness of generalized ego strength, he has claimed that self-esteem is based on arbitrary definitional premises, and overgeneralized, perfectionistic and grandiose thinking. Acknowledging that rating and valuing behaviors and characteristics is functional and even necessary, he sees rating and valuing human beings' totality and total selves as irrational and unethical. The healthier alternative to self-esteem according to him is unconditional self-acceptance and unconditional other-acceptance. Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy is a psychotherapy based on this approach.

 "There seem to be only two clearly demonstrated benefits of high self-esteem....First, it increases initiative, probably because it lends confidence. People with high self-esteem are more willing to act on their beliefs, to stand up for what they believe in, to approach others, to risk new undertakings. (This unfortunately includes being extra willing to do stupid or destructive things, even when everyone else advises against them.)...It can also lead people to ignore sensible advice as they stubbornly keep wasting time and money on hopeless causes"

False attempts
For persons with low self-esteem, any positive stimulus will temporarily raise self-esteem. Therefore, possessions, sex, success, or physical appearance will produce the development of self-esteem, but the development is ephemeral at best. Such attempts to raise one's self-esteem by positive stimulus produce a "boom or bust" pattern. "Compliments and positive feedback" produce a boost, but a bust follows a lack of such feedback. For a person whose "self-esteem is contingent", success is "not extra sweet", but "failure is extra bitter".

As narcissism

Life satisfaction, happiness, healthy behavioral practices, perceived efficacy, and academic success and adjustment have been associated with having high levels of self-esteem (Harter, 1987; Huebner, 1991; Lipschitz-Elhawi & Itzhaky, 2005; Rumberger 1995; Swenson & Prelow, 2005; Yarcheski & Mahon, 1989). However, a common mistake is to think that loving oneself is necessarily equivalent to narcissism, as opposed for example to what Erik Erikson speaks of as "a post-narcissistic love of the ego". People with healthy self-esteem accept and love themselves unconditionally, acknowledging both virtues and faults in the self, and yet, in spite of everything, are able to continue to love themselves. In narcissists, by contrast, an " uncertainty about their own worth gives rise to...a self-protective, but often totally spurious, aura of grandiosity" – producing the class "of narcissists, or people with very high, but insecure, self-esteem... fluctuating with each new episode of social praise or rejection." For narcissists, regulating their self-esteem is their constant concern. They use defenses (such as denial, projection, self-inflation, envy, arrogance, and aggression), impression management through self-promotion, embellishment, lying, charm, and domination, and prefer high-status, competitive, and hierarchical environments to support their unstable, fragile, and impaired self-esteem.

Narcissism can thus be seen as a symptom of fundamentally low self-esteem, that is, lack of love towards oneself, but often accompanied by "an immense increase in self-esteem" based on "the defense mechanism of denial by overcompensation."
"Idealized love of self...rejected the part of him" that he denigrates – "this destructive little child" within. Instead, the narcissist emphasizes their virtues in the presence of others, just to try to convince themself that they are a valuable person and to try to stop feeling ashamed for their faults;  such "people with unrealistically inflated self-views, which may be especially unstable and highly vulnerable to negative information,...tend to have poor social skills."

See also

References

Further reading
 Baumeister, Roy F. (April 2001). "Violent Pride: Do people turn violent because of self-hate or self-love?", in Scientific American, 284, No. 4, pp. 96–101
 Branden, N. (1969). The Psychology of Self-Esteem. New York: Bantam.
 Branden, N. (2001). The psychology of self-esteem: a revolutionary approach to self-understanding that launched a new era in modern psychology. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
 Burke, C. (2008) "Self-esteem: Why?; Why not?", New York

 Franklin, Richard L. (1994). "Overcoming The Myth of Self-Worth: Reason and Fallacy in What You Say to Yourself."
 Hill, S.E. & Buss, D.M. (2006). "The Evolution of Self-Esteem." In Michael Kernis, (Ed.), Self Esteem: Issues and Answers: A Sourcebook of Current Perspectives.. Psychology Press: New York. 328–333. Full text
 Lerner, Barbara (1985). "Self-Esteem and Excellence: The Choice and the Paradox", American Educator, Winter 1985.
 Mecca, Andrew M., et al., (1989). The Social Importance of Self-esteem University of California Press, 1989. (ed; other editors included Neil J. Smelser and John Vasconcellos)
 Mruk, C. (2006). Self-Esteem research, theory, and practice: Toward a positive psychology of self-esteem (3rd ed.). New York: Springer.

 Ruggiero, Vincent R. (2000). "Bad Attitude: Confronting the Views That Hinder Student's Learning" American Educator.
 Sedikides, C., & Gregg. A. P. (2003). "Portraits of the self." In M. A. Hogg & J. Cooper (Eds.), Sage handbook of social psychology (pp. 110–138). London: Sage Publications.
 Twenge, Jean M. (2007). Generation Me: Why Today's Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled – and More Miserable Than Ever Before. Free Press.

Positive mental attitude
Psychological attitude
Conceptions of self
Motivation
Happiness
Harassment and bullying
Narcissism

Self-esteem


The Confession () is a 1970 French-Italian film directed by Costa-Gavras starring Yves Montand and Simone Signoret.

It is based on the true story of the Czechoslovak communist committed leftist Artur London, a defendant in the Slánský trial. Gavras did not intend the film as an anti-communist film but as a plea against totalitarianism and Stalinism.

Plot
Artur Ludvik, alias Gerard, is a loyal communist and hero of WWII who serves as the vice-minister of Foreign Affairs of Czechoslovakia in 1951. He realizes he is being watched and followed, and meets to discuss this with a group of his friends who have also attained top government positions. They realize they are all being watched, even the chief of the StB, the very secret police force that is carrying out the surveillance. One day, Artur is arrested and jailed by an organization that declares itself "above the ruling party", and put in solitary confinement for months without being told the reason why. His wife Lise and their children are kept in the dark by the government and told to cooperate for their own good; Lise is later removed from her job as a prominent radio news announcer and forced to work in a factory by the party. Though she believes in her husband, she is equally certain in the wisdom and ultimate goodness of the party.

Through brainwashing techniques, including sleep deprivation and being forced to walk back and forth all the time, Artur is slowly pressured into confessing imaginary crimes, including treason, and baited with the prospect of leniency at sentencing if he cooperates. He also learns that his friends have been arrested as well and are implicating him in crimes against the state. Upon finally confessing to his alleged crimes, Artur is then groomed for a public "trial", which will be broadcast live on radio and shown in cinemas. While his captors coach him to memorize prepared answers by rote, he is given robust meals, vitamin injections, and a sunlamp to improve his appearance after years of wasting.

At the trial, Artur and his colleagues faithfully play their parts. Lise, to her shame, is forced to make a recorded statement disavowing her husband and praising the party which airs during the trial. The prisoners are variously sentenced to either death or life imprisonment, with Artur given the latter. When their interrogators do not return to them, the prisoners panic and threaten to appeal, but are told by their court-appointed lawyers that the sentences are only for the party's benefit and will not be enforced if they do not appeal. The convicted men appear in court one final time to accept their sentences and waive their right to appeal.

Afterwards, Artur and some of his colleagues are gradually freed and rehabilitated between 1956 and 1963. However, the rest are executed and cremated, with their ashes scattered along a road. At the same time, a number of the officials behind the ordeal end up facing their own persecutions, including Kohoutek, Artur's own interrogator. Artur later encounters the demoted Kohoutek, who tries to downplay his role in Artur's torment by claiming he only followed orders and never understood what the party wanted.

In 1968, Artur completes his memoirs of his experiences in captivity and returns to Czechoslovakia to have them published. By then, amidst the Prague Spring, the Stalinist elements who had orchestrated the entire affair had been pushed out of power by the party, and Artur believed that the party now desired to expose the truth of what happened during those years as much as Artur himself did. Unfortunately, he arrives in Prague just as the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia begins.

Cast

 Yves Montand – Artur Ludvik
 Simone Signoret – Lise Ludvik
 Michel Vitold – Smola
 Gabriele Ferzetti – Kohoutek
 Jean Bouise – the factory head
  – Josef Pavel
 Gérard Darrieu – a policeman
 Gilles Segal
 Henri Marteau
  – a policeman
 Michel Beaune – the lawyer
 Jacques Rispal
 Michel Robin  – the prosecutor
  – Tonda
 Marc Bonseignour

 Monique Chaumette
 Marc Eyraud
 Jean-François Gobbi

 William Jacques
 Guy Mairesse
 François Marthouret
 Umberto Raho
 Laszlo Szabo
 Antoine Vitez

Production
Yves Montand lost more than  to play his role. Montand had been shaken by the  1956 events in Hungary and later said of the film: "There was in what I inflicted upon myself [for this role] something of an act of expiation."

Reception and awards
Vincent Canby in The New York Times in December 1970 did not consider The Confession a better film than Z (1969), but because the subject of this film "is much more complex, much more human, I find it vastly more interesting". It is "a harrowing film of intellectual and emotional anguish, dramatized by the breathless devices of melodrama." Roger Ebert wrote in April 1971: "It is not a thriller like Z, and it couldn't be, because there is no justice to emerge at the end and no scoundrels to unmask." The director, he wrote, "has made a point of insisting that the movie is anti-Stalinist, not anti-Communist." London remained a  communist at the time the film was made. Pauline Kael wrote in The New Yorker that the film is a "thoughtful, intelligent demonstration of how strong, idealistic men of character are turned into pawns of history". Although the film is "subdued, Costa-Gavras's work has tremendous zing, but it's not until the movie is almost over that it gains resonance."

Ronald Bergan and Robyn Karney in the Bloomsbury Foreign Film Guide (1988) wrote: "the screenplay's static  and wordy nature is not sufficiently tempered by the direction or the playing. However, some of the interrogation scenes which lead to the false confession of the title cannot fail to have an impact."

The film was nominated for the Golden Globes and BAFTA Awards as Best Foreign Language Film.

References

External links

The Confession: Enthralling Absurdity an essay by Dina Iordanova at the Criterion Collection

1970 films
1970 drama films
Films directed by Costa Gavras
Italian drama films
Films about capital punishment
Films about miscarriage of justice
Drama films based on actual events
Films based on non-fiction books
Films set in Prague
French drama films
Films critical of communism
Films produced by Robert Dorfmann
Films scored by Giovanni Fusco
Films set in Czechoslovakia
Films set in 1951
Films set in 1968
1970s French-language films
1970s Italian films
1970s French films

The Confession (1970 film)


Norway is a large energy producer, and one of the world's largest exporters of oil.
Most of the electricity in the country is produced by hydroelectricity.
Norway is one of the leading countries in the electrification of its transport sector, with the largest fleet of electric vehicles per capita in the world (see plug-in electric vehicles in Norway and electric car use by country).

Since the discovery of North Sea oil in Norwegian waters during the late 1960s, exports of oil and gas have become very important elements of the economy of Norway.
With North Sea oil production having peaked, disagreements over exploration for oil in the Barents Sea, the prospect of exploration in the Arctic, as well as growing international concern over global warming, energy in Norway is currently receiving close attention.

Statistics

Energy plan

In January 2008 the Norwegian government went a step further and declared a goal of being carbon neutral by 2030.  But the government has not been specific about any plans to reduce emissions at home; the plan is based on buying carbon offsets from other countries.

Fuel types

Fossil fuels

In 2011, Norway was the eighth largest crude oil exporter in the world (at 78 Mt), and the 9th largest exporter of refined oil (at 86 Mt). It was also the world's third largest natural gas exporter (at 99 bcm), having significant gas reserves in the North Sea. Norway also possesses some of the world's largest potentially exploitable coal reserves (located under the Norwegian continental shelf) on earth. More recently (2017), the Norwegian government has ranked 3rd worldwide as the largest exporter of natural gas, just behind Russia and Qatar.

Norway's abundant energy resources represent a significant source of national revenue. Crude oil and natural gas accounted for 40% of the country's total export value in 2015. As a share of GDP, the export of oil and natural gas is approximately 17%. As a means to ensure security and mitigate against the "Dutch disease" characterized by fluctuations in the price of oil, the Norwegian government funnels a portion of this export revenue into a pension fund, the Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG). The Norwegian government receives these funds from their market shares within oil industries, such as their two-thirds share of Equinor, and allocates it through their government-controlled domestic economy. This combination allows the government to distribute the natural resource wealth into welfare investments for the mainland. Tying this fiscal policy to the oil market for equity concerns creates a cost-benefit economic solution towards a public access good problem in which a select few are able to reap the direct benefits of a public good. Domestically, Norway has addressed the complications that occur with oil industry markets in protecting the mainland economy and government intervention in distributing its revenue to combat balance-of-payment shocks and to address energy security.

The externalities engendered from Norway's activities on the environment, pose another concern apart from its domestic economic implications. Most of Norwegian gas is exported to European countries. As of 2020, about 20% of natural gas consumed in Europe comes from Norway, and Norwegian oil supplies 2% of the global consumption of oil. Considering that three million barrels of oil adds 1.3 Mt of  per day to the atmosphere as it is consumed, 474 Mt/year, the global  impact of Norway's natural resource supply is significant. Despite that, Norway exports eight times the amount of energy consumed domestically, most of Norway's carbon emissions are from its oil and gas industry (30%) and road traffic (23%). To address the problem of  emissions, the Norwegian government has adopted different measures, including signing multilateral and bilateral treaties to cut its emissions in lieu of rising global environmental concerns.

According to a report from Norsk Petroleum, oil and petroleum is Norway's most crucial commodity export. In 2020, 40% of Norway's exports stemmed from the petroleum sector. This had an export value of 333 billion NOK. 2% of the world's oil consumption is produced by Norway making it the 15th largest oil producer in the world in 2019. Fossil fuels act as a major economic boost in Norway, meanwhile driving down the domestic energy costs. Fossil fuels operations in Norway is also a large source of Norwegian's employment.

It has been argued that Norway can serve as a role model for many countries in terms of petroleum resource management. In Norway, good institutions and open and dynamic public debate involving a whole variety of civil society actors are key factors for successful petroleum governance.

The International Energy Agency notes in a 2018 report that the fossil fuel industry in Norway may face various challenges in the future. New sources of energy and methods of production like Shale and Hydraulic fracturing (commonly known as fracking) may substitute oil and gas. Renewable Energy also poses a large risk to reducing fossil fuel production and deployment of new technologies. A new generation of people in the workforce may also lead oil producers to face backlash. Oil is facing a decline in price on the global market which plays a large role in global and European decarbonisation  The diminishing consumption of oil is impending, but the speed and scale of the transition to renewable energy sources is debated. In this regard, peak demand of oil is a large topic of discussion for oil producers. Current and future prices of oil has a much larger effect on peak demand for oil producers than solely relying on sales volumes' immediate effect. Scholars also question when oil and gas will reach its peak demand, but an increasing amount of scholars are more concerned with what happens after the peak - whether there will be a plateau, gentle decline, or sudden collapse

Increasing competition among oil suppliers also poses as a challenge within the fossil fuel debate. The evident transition to renewable energy may cause suppliers to quickly secure the remaining supply of oil so their fossil fuel assets do not go unprofitable and undeveloped. The European Union's history of taxing oil products and carbon-intensive also supports the transition away from fossil fuels.

Natural gas

In the aftermath of the 2022 Nord Stream pipeline sabotage, Norway became the leading natural gas supplier to the European Union. According to Lukas Trakimavičius, an energy security expert from the Center for European Policy Analysis, there is a risk that hostile actors could try to negatively affect the European Union's natural gas security by targeting Norway's offshore gas infrastructure. Considering the size and remoteness of Norway's subsea pipelines, attribution of such an attack could be very difficult.

North Sea oil

In May 1963, Norway asserted sovereign rights over natural resources in its sector of the North Sea. Exploration started on July 19, 1966, when Ocean Traveller drilled its first hole. Initial exploration was fruitless, until Ocean Viking found oil on August 21, 1969. By the end of 1969, it was clear that there were large oil and gas reserves in the North Sea. The first oil field was Ekofisk, which produced 427,442 barrels of crude in 1980. Subsequently, large natural gas reserves have also been discovered and it was specifically this huge amount of oil found in the North Sea that made Norway's separate path outside the EU facile.

Against the backdrop of the 1972 Norwegian referendum to not join the European Union, the Norwegian Ministry of Industry, headed by Ola Skjåk Bræk moved quickly to establish a national energy policy.  Norway decided to stay out of OPEC, keep its own energy prices in line with world markets, and spend the revenue—known as the "currency gift"—in the Petroleum Fund of Norway. The Norwegian government established its own oil company, Statoil (since renamed Equinor), which was raised that year, and awarded drilling and production rights to Norsk Hydro and the Saga Petroleum.

The North Sea turned out to present many technical challenges for production and exploration, and Norwegian companies invested in building capabilities to meet these challenges.  A number of engineering and construction companies emerged from the remnants of the largely lost shipbuilding industry, creating centers of competence in Stavanger and the western suburbs of Oslo. Stavanger also became the land-based staging area for the offshore drilling industry. Due to refinery needs when making special qualities of commercial oils, Norway imported NOK 3.5 billion of foreign oil in 2015.

Barents Sea oil

In March 2005, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jan Petersen stated that the Barents Sea, off the coast of Norway and Russia, may hold one third of the world's remaining undiscovered oil and gas. Also in 2005, the moratorium on exploration in the Norwegian sector, imposed in 2001 due to environmental concerns, was lifted following a change in government.  A terminal and liquefied natural gas plant is now being constructed at Snøhvit, it is thought that Snøhvit may also act as a future staging post for oil exploration in the Arctic Ocean.

Renewable energy

Wind power

In 2021, 64 wind farms had total installed wind power capacity of 4,649 MW with 706 MW of onshore power being added in 2021. Electricity produced in 2021 being 11.8 TWh or 8.5% of Norway's needs.

Solar power

In 2022 solar power had a capacity of 321 MW and produced around 0.3 TWh of electricity per annum.

Hydroelectric power
Norway is Europe's largest producer of hydropower.

Tidal power

Norway was the first country to generate electricity commercially using sea-bed tidal power. A 300 kilowatt prototype underwater turbine started generation in the Kvalsund, south of Hammerfest, on November 13, 2003.

Electricity generation

Electricity generation in Norway is almost entirely from hydroelectric power plants. Of the total production in 2005 of 137.8 TWh, 136 TWh was from hydroelectric plants, 0.86 TWh was from thermal power, and 0.5 TWh was wind generated. In 2005 the total consumption was 125.8 TWh.

Norway and Sweden's grids have long been connected. Beginning in 1977 the Norwegian and Danish grids were connected with the Skagerrak power transmission system with a transmission capacity of 500 MW, growing to 1,700 MW in 2015. Since 6 May 2008, the Norwegian and Dutch electricity grids have been interconnected by the NorNed submarine HVDC (450 kilovolts) cable with a capacity of 700 megawatts.

Policies to curb carbon emissions
Despite producing the majority of its electricity from hydroelectric plants, Norway is ranked 30th in the 2008 list of countries by carbon dioxide emissions per capita and 37th in the 2004 list of countries by ratio of GDP to carbon dioxide emissions. Norway is a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol, under which it agreed to reduce its carbon emissions to no more than 1% above 1990 levels by 2012.

On April 19, 2007, Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg announced to the Labour Party annual congress that Norway's greenhouse gas emissions would be cut by 10 percent more than its Kyoto commitment by 2012, and that the government had agreed to achieve emission cuts of 30% by 2020. He also proposed that Norway should become carbon neutral by 2050, and called upon other rich countries to do likewise.  This carbon neutrality would be achieved partly by carbon offsetting, a proposal criticised by Greenpeace, who also called on Norway to take responsibility for the 500 m tonnes of emissions caused by its exports of oil and gas. World Wildlife Fund Norway also believes that the purchase of carbon offsets is unacceptable, saying "it is a political stillbirth to believe that China will quietly accept that Norway will buy climate quotas abroad". The Norwegian environmental activist Bellona Foundation believes that the prime minister was forced to act due to pressure from anti-European Union members of the coalition government, and called the announcement "visions without content".

Globally, Norway set a clear agenda in terms of climate leadership and mitigating negative consequences stemming from climate change. In terms of climate goals, Norway, along with The Netherlands, has one of the most strict timelines to eliminate fossil fuels and reduction carbon emissions. However, The Federation of Norwegian Industries notes in a 2021 report that Norway is far from realising its goals concerning climate action and reducing emissions from carbon for both 2030 and 2050

Carbon capture and storage
Norway was the first country to operate an industrial-scale carbon capture and storage project at the Sleipner oilfield, dating from 1996 and operated by Equinor. Carbon dioxide is stripped from natural gas with amine solvents and is deposited in a saline formation. The carbon dioxide is a waste product of the field's natural gas production; the gas contains 9% CO2, more than is allowed in the natural gas distribution network. Storing it underground avoids this problem and saves Equinor hundreds of millions of euros in carbon taxes. Sleipner stores about one million tonnes of CO2 a year.

Large oil companies have invested in carbon capture and storage technology in Norway. The Northern Lights Project is the world's first network project within carbon capture and storage signed by Equinox, Shell, and Total totalling USD 675 million.

Carbon tax
Norway introduced a carbon tax on fuels in 1991. The tax started at a rate of  per tonne of  on gasoline, with an average tax of US$21 per tonne. The tax applied to diesel, mineral oil, oil and gas used in North Sea extraction activities. The International Energy Agency's (IEA) in 2001 stated that "since 1991 a carbon dioxide tax has applied in addition to excise taxes on fuel." It is among the highest rates in OECD. The applies to offshore oil and gas production. IEA estimates for revenue generated by the tax in 2004 were 7,808 million NOK (about  in 2010 dollars).

According to IEA's 2005 Review, Norway's CO2 tax is its most important climate policy instrument, and covers about 64% of Norwegian CO2 emissions and 52% of total greenhouse gas emissions. Some industry sectors were exempted to preserve their competitive position. Various studies in the 1990s, and an economic analysis by Statistics Norway, estimated the effect to be a reduction of 2.5–11% of Norwegian emissions compared to (untaxed) business-as-usual. However, Norway's per capita emissions still rose by 15% as of 2008.

In attempt to reduce  emissions by a larger amount, Norway implemented an Emissions Trading Scheme in 2005 and joined the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) in 2008. As of 2013, roughly 55% of  emissions in Norway were taxed and exempt emissions are included in the EU ETS. Certain  taxes are applied to emissions that result from petroleum activities on the continental shelf. This tax is charged per liter of oil and natural gas liquids produced, as well as per standard cubic meter of gas flared or otherwise emitted. However, this carbon tax is a tax deductible operating cost for petroleum production. In 2013, carbon tax rates were doubled to 0.96 NOK per liter/standard cubic meter of mineral oil and natural gas. As of 2016, the rate increased to 1,02 NOK. The Norwegian Ministry of the Environment described  taxes as the most important tool for reducing emissions.

See also
Carbon footprint
Climate change in Norway
Energy policy
European Economic Area
Future energy development
Natural resources of the Arctic
Oil megaprojects (2011)
Peak oil
Renewable energy in Norway

References

Further reading

External links
Interactive Map over the Norwegian Continental Shelf, live information, facts, pictures and videos.
Energy efficiency policies and measures in Norway 2006
Oil and gas in the Barents Sea – A perspective from Norway
CICERO: A green certificate market may result in less green electricity
Lofty Pledge to Cut Emissions Comes With Caveat in Norway
CO2STORE research project
Map of Norway's offshore oil and gas infrastructure

Politics of Norway

Energy in Norway


The Silver Wraith was the first post-war Rolls-Royce. It was made from 1946 to 1958 as only a chassis at the company's Crewe factory, its former Merlin engine plant, alongside the shorter Bentley Mark VI. The Bentley was also available as a chassis for coachbuilders, but for the first time could be bought with a Rolls-Royce built Standard Steel body. The use of the name "wraith" coincided with the established tradition of naming models after "ghosts".

It was announced by Rolls-Royce in April 1946 as the 25/30 hp replacement for the 1939 Wraith in what had been their 20 hp and 20/25 hp market sector, that is to say Rolls-Royce's smaller car. The size was chosen to be in keeping with the mood of post-war austerity. Even very limited production of the chassis of the larger car, the Phantom IV, was not resumed until 1950 and then, officially, only for Heads of State.

Improvements announced were: chromium-plated cylinder bores for the engine; a new more rigid chassis frame to go with new independent front suspension; and a new synchromesh gearbox. Chassis lubrication was now centralised.

Engine
The straight six-cylinder postwar engine, which had been briefly made for the aborted by war Bentley Mark V, replaced conventional overhead valve gear with an F-head configuration of overhead inlet valves and side exhaust valves and reshaped combustion chambers. There were new main and big-end bearings and a more efficient drive to the timing gear. To this prewar mix Rolls-Royce added chromed bores. Initially, this engine retained the Mark V's capacity of  increased from 1951 to  and in 1955, after the introduction of the (standard wheelbase) Silver Cloud, to  for the remaining Silver Wraiths.

Chassis

The first cars had an entirely new 127 inch (3226 mm) wheelbase chassis which differed considerably from that of the pre-war Wraith and was much nearer rigid. It matched the new Bentley chassis but with an extra 7 inch section added to the centre. The new chassis had coil sprung independent front suspension, which required a very rigid chassis to function properly, and at the rear conventional semi-elliptic springs and live axle. The braking system was a hydro-mechanical hybrid of hydraulic fronts and mechanical rears using the mechanical servo similar to that of the pre-war cars.

The last short-wheelbase cars were delivered in November 1953. The long, 133 inch (3378 mm), wheelbase chassis was announced in 1951 and the first delivered in January 1952. 639 were made by the time of the last deliveries in October 1958.

This was not quite the last Rolls-Royce model to be supplied as a rolling chassis ready for a wide variety of bespoke coachwork designed and made by a rapidly declining number of specialist coachbuilders.   Most of the bodies selected used "formal" limousine designs.

From 1949 until 1955 customers wishing to buy a Rolls-Royce fitted with a much smaller standard steel body could purchase the Silver Dawn. It rode on a chassis seven inches shorter than the Silver Wraith, and was almost identical to Rolls-Royce's Bentley Standard Steel saloon available alongside the Silver Wraith since July 1946.

Automatic transmission
Initially only a four-speed manual gearbox was offered, but this was supplemented by a General Motors Hydramatic automatic option from 1952.

Official uses
Irish Presidential State Car – 1947–present
Brazilian Presidential Ceremonial State Car – 1952–present
President of Zimbabwe's Ceremonial State Car - 1952–present
Royal Dutch State Limousine – 1958
Royal Danish Ceremonial Car "Store Krone" (Great Crown) – 1958
 Royal Greek Ceremonial Car (Silver Wraith Hooper version) – 1959
 2 Australian Ceremonial Cars for Royal Tour (Silver Wraith All-weather tourer by Hooper) – 1959
 Chief Minister of Penang Island,Federal Territory of Malaysia. Previously owned by Sir Henry Gurney, British High Commissioner of Malaya Before being ambushed by communist forces during the Malayan Emergency. – circa 1951

Film appearances

Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
Indiscreet (1958)
Let's Make Love (1960)
Victim (1961)
From Russia with Love (1963)
Joy House (Les félins) (1964)
The Love Bug (1968)
The Return of the Pink Panther (1975)
Stardust Memories (1980)
Arthur (1981)
Withnail and I (1987)
The Karate Kid, Part III (1989)
Batman (1989)
Batman Returns (1992)
The Odd Couple II" (1998)James Dean (2001)The Scapegoat (2012)Spectre'' (2015)

Gallery

State cars

References

Sources

External links

Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith, book by Martin Bennett
Pictures, information and specs @ Conceptcarz.com
Pictures, information, history and specs
Buy Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith

Silver Wraith
Cars introduced in 1946
1950s cars
Road transport of heads of state
Rear-wheel-drive vehicles
Full-size vehicles
Luxury vehicles
Sedans
Cars discontinued in 1958

Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith


An arcology (portmanteau of architecture and ecology) is a completely self sufficient building or complex which not only would provide the basic facilities of a city or town, but would also produce its own electricity and food as well as recycle its own waste. The building or compound would thus be akin to a self-contained ecosystem.

Many designs for arcologies have been proposed over the years. These include Broadacre City by Frank Lloyd Wright and Mile-high Chicago. The design for Mile-high Chicago was  a  tall building with 527 floor levels. Other examples include Tokyo SkyCity, SpaceCity 6000, Shimizu Mega-City Pyramid and Freedom Ship.

Arcology


Benjamin John Whitrow (17 February 1937 – 28 September 2017) was an English actor. He was nominated for the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor for his role as Mr Bennet in the 1995 BBC version of Pride and Prejudice, and voiced the role of Fowler in the 2000 animated film Chicken Run. His other film appearances include Quadrophenia (1979), Personal Services (1987) and Bomber (2009).

Early life and education
Whitrow was born on 17 February 1937 in Oxford, Oxfordshire, the son of Mary Alexandra (Flaunders) and Philip Whitrow, a teacher at St Edward's School, Oxford.

Whitrow attended two independent schools: The Dragon School in Oxford and Tonbridge School, in the town of Tonbridge in Kent, followed by the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

Life and career
Whitrow served in the King's Dragoon Guards during his national service from 1956 to 1958. He joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1981. He played Russell in the original radio version of After Henry by Simon Brett.

A lifelong fan of the writings of the English author Denton Welch, he was instrumental in bringing the third, revised version of Welch's journals to print in 1984, having made the acquaintance of one of Welch's friends who had possessed the manuscript of the original editor's edition.Whitrow appeared in the hard-hitting police drama,The Sweeney, in which he played Det. Chief Supt. Braithwaite

In 1989, Whitrow appeared in episode four of the BBC Two sketch show A Bit of Fry and Laurie (series one), playing an irate member of the audience who claimed that Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie had stolen several of their sketches from him.

Between 1990 and 1992, Whitrow appeared in the sitcom The New Statesman as Paddy O'Rourke, a Labour shadow minister who feigned an Irish accent when in public to attract the working-class vote.

Whitrow was nominated for the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Mr Bennet in the 1995 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice.

In the 2000 animated movie Chicken Run Whitrow voiced the character of Fowler, an old rooster who claims to have fought in World War II.

Whitrow's last work was two plays for BBC Radio 4, in which he played the late Poet Laureate Sir John Betjeman.  Mr Betjeman's Class was his last completed work; he died during the recording of Mr Betjeman Regrets, with the voice work being completed by Robert Bathurst.  Both plays were broadcast on BBC Radio 4 over Christmas 2017.

Personal life
Whitrow was married to Catherine Cook, with whom he had two children: Hannah Mary Whitrow (b. 1973) and Thomas George Whitrow (b. 1976).  He also had a son, Angus Imrie (b. 1994) with actress Celia Imrie.

Whitrow died from a brain hemorrhage in Wimbledon, London on 28 September 2017, aged 80.

Select filmography

Film
1963: The Small World of Sammy Lee as Joan's Client (uncredited)
1963: West 11 as Minor Role (uncredited)
1979: Quadrophenia as Mr. Fulford, Jimmy's Boss
1982: Brimstone and Treacle as Businessman
1986: Clockwise as Headmaster #1
1987: Personal Services as Mr. Marsden
1988: Hawks as Mr. Granger
1988: On the Black Hill as Arkwright
1988: A Man for All Seasons as Thomas Cromwell
1992: Damage as Civil Servant
1992: Chaplin as Station Master
1995: Restoration as Merivel's Father
1997: The Opium War as Lord Palmerston
1997: The Saint as Chairman at Oxford
1997: FairyTale: A True Story as Mr. Binley
1998: Jilting Joe as Arthur
2000: Chicken Run as Fowler (voice)
2006: Scenes of a Sexual Nature as Eddie Wright
2009: Bomber as Alistar
2017: Darkest Hour as Sir Samuel Hoare (final film role)

Television

1973: The Merchant of Venice (TV Movie) as the Duke of Venice (opposite Laurence Olivier as Shylock)
1973: The Brontes of Haworth as Arthur Bell Nicholls
1975-1981: Play for Today as James Sellars / Phillips / Tom / House Master / Josh
1978: The Sweeney as Det. Chief Supt. Braithwaite
1981: Bognor as Eric Gringe
1981: Troilus and Cressida (TV Movie) as Ulysses
1982: Tales of the Unexpected as Fergus Locke
1982: Harry's Game as Davidson
1983: Shackleton as Captain Scott
1983: Agatha Christie's Partners in Crime as Sir Arthur Merivale
1984: Hay Fever (TV Movie) as Richard Greatham
1985: Dempsey & Makepeace (TV Movie) as Lindsay
1985: Bergerac as B J Farrell
1990: Chancer as Robert Douglas
1991: Rumpole of the Bailey as The Reverend Bill Britwell
1991-1992: The New Statesman as Paddy O'Rourke
1995: Pride and Prejudice as Mr Bennet
1996: Inspector Morse as Brownlee
1997: The History of Tom Jones: A Foundling as Squire Allworthy
2001-2009: Midsomer Murders as Sir Malcolm Frazer / Hugo Balcombe
2005: The Queen's Sister (TV Movie) as Cronin
2006: Agatha Christie's Poirot (Episode: "After the Funeral") Timothy Abernathy
2014: New Tricks as Edward Fraser
2015: Toast of London as Ken Suggestion
2015: Man Down as Tim
2015: '' Wolf Hall'' as Arch Bishop

Radio
1980: Unman, Wittering & Zigo as the headmaster; by Giles Cooper; BBC R4 7/8/1980.
1984: Dracula in White by Peter Redgrove; BBC R4 7/3/1984.
1984: Tragedy at Law as the Judge; by Cyril Hare; BBC Radio 4 Saturday Night Theatre 7/4/1984.
1985–1989: After Henry as Russell; BBC Radio 4 series by Simon Brett.
1992: A Warden for All Saints as James Montague, by H.S. Bhabra; BBC R4 29 April 1992.
1995: In The Red as the bank manager murderer; by Mark Tavener; BBC Radio 4 series 5/1/1995-16/2/1995.
1997: MR James Ghost story readings – The Late Book.
1999: Plum's War by Michael Butt, BBC R4 7/7/99.
2003: Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh, dramatised by Jeremy Front, BBC R4 8/3/2003.
2003: The Last Bark of the Bulldog by Jonathan Smith; Benjamin Whitrow portrays Winston Churchill; BBC R4 21 June 2003.
2011: Portrait of Winston, by Jonathan Smith; sequel to The Last Bark of the Bulldog; BBC R4 13 September 2011
2017: Mr Betjeman's Class and Mr Betjeman Regrets both by Jonathan Smith; BBC R4 25 December 2017 and 26 December 2017

References

External links
Benjamin Whitrow at bbc.co.uk Drama

1937 births
2017 deaths
20th-century English male actors
21st-century English male actors
Male actors from Oxford
Alumni of RADA
English male film actors
English male stage actors
English male Shakespearean actors
English male radio actors
English male television actors
English male voice actors
Male actors from Kent
People educated at The Dragon School
People educated at Tonbridge School
1st King's Dragoon Guards soldiers
20th-century British Army personnel
Military personnel from Oxford

Benjamin Whitrow


The Villa Traversi Tittoni, or Villa Cusani Traversi Tittoni is a rural palace in Desio, northern Italy.

An original palace at the site was built by the  aristocratic Cusani family. The structure was rebuilt and redesigned first in 1776 by Giuseppe Piermarini in a Neoclassical style.  In 1817, the villa was sold to the lawyer Giovanni Traversi; beginning in 1840, the interiors were refurbished and the façade added by  Pelagio Palagi. The palace has extensive gardens, designed in a free nineteenth century "English style". In 1900, the Villa became property of Tommaso Tittoni, a statesman and diplomat. After World War II, the house functioned as a seminary, until, in 1975, it was acquired by the comune of Desio.

The villa now hosts a library and museum, named after Giuseppe Scalvini.

Sources
 LombardiaBeniCulturali: La Villa Traversi Tittoni a Desio

Tittoni Traversi, Desio
Neoclassical architecture in Lombardy
Houses completed in the 18th century
Giuseppe Piermarini buildings

Villa Tittoni Traversi, Desio


Grete Natzler (19 June 1906 – 10 June 1999) was an Austrian actress and operatic soprano. Born in
Vienna, she was the daughter of actress Lilli Meißner and actor and opera singer Leopold Natzler (1860–1926). Two of her younger sisters were also actors and singers. Her sister, Alice Maria ('Lizzi'), performed under the stage name of Litzie Helm, and Hertha Natzler performed under her own name. Grete began her career on the stage in her native country and in Germany as a performer in operettas. In the early 1930s she appeared in films in both Germany and England, including The Scotland Yard Mystery (1933) and in several film versions of German operettas. After moving to the United States in the late 1930s, she signed a contract with MGM and adopted the pseudonym Della Lind. She is perhaps best known for portraying the role of Anna Albert in the 1938 Laurel and Hardy film Swiss Miss. She was married to composer Franz Steininger (1906–1974).

Her cousin was actor Reggie Nalder.

Selected filmography
 Father Radetzky (1929)
 Josef the Chaste (1930)
 Vienna, City of Song (1930)
 Dolly Gets Ahead (1930)
 The Stranger (1931)
 The Duke of Reichstadt (1931)
 A Night in Paradise (1932)
 Melody of Love (1932), with Richard Tauber
 Peter (1934)
 The Scotland Yard Mystery (1934), with Sir Gerald du Maurier
 The Student's Romance (1935)
 Swiss Miss (1938), with Laurel and Hardy

References

External links

1906 births
1999 deaths
Austrian operatic sopranos
Austrian film actresses
Musicians from Vienna
Actresses from Vienna
20th-century Austrian actresses
20th-century Austrian women opera singers

Grete Natzler


"California Gurls" is a hit single performed by Katy Perry featuring Snoop Dogg. The song was released in 2010 and was very popular. This was the lead single of Teenage Dream, her hit record. It was No.1 in several countries.

It also went diamond in 99 countries and named as the best-selling song of all tine

2010 songs
Katy Perry songs
Snoop Dogg songs
Bubblegum pop songs
Pop songs
Songs about California
Songs about sexuality

California Gurls