By "self-esteem" is meant more than an innate sense of self-worth that presumably is a human birthright. Self-esteem is individuals' experience that they are appropriate to life and to the requirements of life. More specifically, self-esteem is confidence in the ability to think; confidence in the ability to cope with the challenges of life; and confidence in the right to be happy, the feeling of being worthy, deserving, entitled to assert one's needs and wants and to enjoy the fruits of one's efforts. Self-esteem is not a free gift, but a possession over time which represents an achievement. To say that self-esteem is a basic human need is to say that it makes an essential contribution to the life process; that it is indispensable to normal and healthy development; and that it has survival-value. If individuals do not believe in themselves the universe is a frightening place. The change from a manufacturing society to an information society and other social changes create demands for higher levels of education and training than were required of previous generations. These developments also create new demands on psychological resources. Persons possessing a decent level of self-esteem are now needed economically in large numbers. The virtues that self-esteem asks of individuals are also ones that life asks of individuals. (ABL)