Acceptance

Acceptance is the basic desire for positive self-regard. It motivates people to avoid criticism and rejection. Satisfaction of this desire produces a feeling of self-confidence, whereas frustration produces feelings of insecurity.

Acceptance is the basic desire most relevant to self-esteem and self-concept.  It motivates evaluation anxiety; that is, it is the reason people sometimes get nervous when they are evaluated or tested.

The overwhelming majority of people referred for psychological evaluation have a high need for acceptance. A low need for acceptance may indicate that the person is mentally healthy.

People with a STRONG BASIC DESIRE FOR ACCEPTANCE lack self-confidence. Typically they are insecure and have a tendency to be hurt by criticism, rejection, and failure. They see themselves in negative terms and are quick to blame themselves when something goes wrong. They may worry they will be judged inferior. Insecure people often require significant encouragement from others to try new things. Personality traits that may describe them include lacking self-confidence, downbeat, inconsistent effort, insecure, self-doubting, and perhaps indecisive or pessimistic.

People with a WEAK BASIC DESIRE FOR ACCEPTANCE are self-confident. Typically they have the basic optimism required to go after what they want in life and to expect success. They usually deal constructively with criticism, rejection, or failure. Personality traits that may describe them include confident, game (willing to try things), optimistic, and self-assured.