Self assertion

These qualities are manifest from early childhood, particularly in response to admiring applause or to the opposite, being ignored. They are essentially social and depend upon the presence of others - or at least on the idea of others if no-one else is actually present. Something or someone superior is approached submissively, in the case of something created (a work of art, for example) this implying admiration for the creator. Ultimately this implies admiration and respect for the creator of all things, for God. Even within such submission or self abasement there is self assertion in that the individual feels his admiration to be of worth or even necessary to what is admired. There is an inner struggle between assertion and abasement which results in an idea of the self in relation to others and in the development of self sentiment incorporating positive and negative self-feelings deriving from responses of others to assertion and abasement. Mental disturbance may lead to exaggerated symptoms of self abasement, shrinking from the observation of others, or to exaggerated self display.