Self-Respect

Self-respect is a sense of one’s worth. According to various accounts, a person with self-respect believes that he or she has full moral status, tries to live up [Page 3050]to certain ideals, and has a morally good character. Most agree that self-respect differs from self-esteem, though these concepts are related and are sometimes used interchangeably. Self-esteem and self-respect both involve evaluations of the self, but the latter is a specifically moral evaluation. The concept of self-respect plays a larger role in moral and political philosophy than in business ethics. When self-respect is appealed to in business ethics, it is often in the service of an argument for workers’ rights, especially the right to meaningful work.