from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
- n. Reliance on one's own capabilities, judgment, or resources; independence.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- n. The capacity to rely on one's own capabilities, and to manage one's own affairs; independence not to be dependent.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
- n. Reliance on one's own powers or judgment; self-trust.
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. Reliance on one's own powers.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- n. personal independence
Confucianism, etc., members of individualist societies like the U.S.A. are characterized by self-reliance, individual achievement, and an emphasis on personal goals.
An emphasis on self-reliance is also predicted by education, liberal political ideology, and race white, but religiosity remains the most powerful single predictor of this measure, even when other demographic factors are controlled.
People with pro-life attitudes are not only more religious when compared to those on the pro-choice side, they are far more likely to disapprove of premarital sex, to believe that it is best if women do not work outside the home, and to say that children should be taught obedience over self-reliance.
Yet Democratic congregants tend to cite Christian values such as equality, compassion, and helping the poor as the source of their politics, while Republicans generally point to principles of self-reliance and personal responsibility, as well as the “moral” issues of abortion and homosexuality.
Not surprisingly, they think that obedience, rather than self-reliance, is the cardinal virtue to be imparted to children.
Figure 13.14 shows the striking results—religious people emphasize obedience, secular people emphasize self-reliance.63 In turn, authority-mindedness is sufficiently related to our questions about Osama bin Laden and unpopular books that, statistically, it helps explain the greater intolerance of religious Americans.
But strip away the platitudes and cheap applause lines about freedom, self-reliance and the virtues of capitalism, and you're left with the subject that really interests Rush Limbaugh: himself.
Here's how parents can help the "typical" child develop day-to-day self-reliance and, ultimately, strong lifelong study habits.
It strives to instill in kids the ideas of self-reliance, self-worth, tolerance and self-acceptance early in life.
It is all about the process of helping kids gain independence and self-reliance gradually over time.