self-reliance

self- +‎ reliance

self-reliance (uncountable)

1. The capacity to rely on one's own capabilities, and to manage one's own affairs; independence.

   Synonym: self-sufficiency

   Loss of self-reliance leads to loss of self-confidence.

   • 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XVIII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 207:

     The present sorrow always exceeds its predecessors—not so the present joy; comparison exaggerates the one, while it diminishes the other; and people talk of their youth as if it had not been a period of feverish sensitiveness, awkward embarrassments, many heart-burnings, and an utter want of that self-reliance which alone can ensure content.

   • 2020 April 9, Ian Boyd, “We practised for a pandemic, but didn’t brace”, in Nature, volume 580, number 7802, page 9:

     A successful response uses social forces such as peer pressure and altruism to help people adapt to changing circumstances. It delivers messages and support that promote self-reliance rather than encourage people to fall back on stressed state support.

• self-reliant