The level of claims from a psychological point of view is the individual’s desire for a goal that, in his opinion, is fully consistent with his personal capabilities and abilities. The concept itself was introduced into use by a colleague of the German psychologist Levin, it is determined by two important factors: the fear of failure (unjustified hopes) and the desire for success.
In theory, the level of claims is a fairly generalized character, peculiar to each individual and, regardless of the specifics, manifests itself in any type of activity. It is assumed that people with optimistic views on life situations achieve their goals faster, even if this goal requires maximum effort and patience. Such individuals are distinguished by perseverance, strength of mind and faith in their own strength.
People who constantly doubt their skills constantly fear failure and underestimate their own capabilities, attract failure and trouble. The first category of personalities is inclined not to attach particular importance to small failures, this type considers all the troubles that occur to be a coincidence. The second one considers the turmoil as a confirmation of low self-esteem, such people sincerely believe that they deserve it.
Such a significant discrepancy is an error between real capabilities and the level of claims, as a result it leads to emotional breakdowns, deviant behavior, increased anxiety, irritability, etc. There is only one conclusion - the level of claim is closely interconnected with self-esteem and motivation to achieve the goal. The main functions of self-esteem are setting priorities and ensuring stability in society. It is she who allows a person to highly value their strength in various fields: physical development, sexuality, and professionalism.
In psychology, the following levels of self-esteem are distinguished: low, medium and high. Low self-esteem can be adequate and too low. Usually such people are afraid of change, they are conservatives, very modest and uninitiated. A person with an average adequate self-esteem has enterprise, initiative and the ability to adapt to new conditions. Overpriced self-esteem is also not always good. Such people are completely dependent on the opinion of experienced experts, but sometimes their point of view does not coincide with their own opinion. And then a person loses the initiative in order to avoid extreme situations.
To identify self-esteem, it is necessary to examine the level of personal aspirations. It is influenced by general cultural, social, individual factors. In any case, a person needs to respond correctly to external assessments, be sure to take into account and accept personal values, and then build an adequate self-esteem.
This can help a specially developed theory of motivation to achieve your goals. This manual was invented by the American scientists Atkinson and McClelland, who wanted to prove to society that everything is in the hands of man - the result will depend on our attitude. Motivated by luck people almost always achieve their goals.
F. Hoppe also came up with a methodology that determined the individual level of claims. Absolutely all methods are built according to this scheme: an individual is invited to choose a fixed number of tasks of different levels. All tasks are ranked by difficulty. The level of claim is revealed by the degree of complexity of the selected test task by the individual and his further actions, depending on the successful or unsuccessful decision.
If a person has a normal level of claims, then after a successful task he chooses a more complex one, and after an unsuccessful one, a lighter one. And a person with an underestimated level of claims in case of failure usually chooses either a very difficult or very easy task in order to rehabilitate themselves and protect their reputation in the eyes of other people. And finally, an individual with an overestimated level will always choose tasks of increased complexity.