It’s totally subjective. The impact left on the recipient and the actions invoked as a result are more pertinent here. First of all, it has both pros and cons.
Pros (that I can think of):
1) You get an opportunity to outshine others by rising above expectations with little effort. The person, say your boss or parents or teachers, having underestimated you must have lower expectations set for you.
2) You get an opportunity to impress your partner (friend/fiancé/spouse) with everyday things – remember stuff they care, maybe candle-lit dinner, make paper flower (ex: Michael Scoffield does for Sarah Tancreddi in Prison Break show), etc.
3) You can outwit your opponents/enemies by being little bit smarter (ex: agent 47 vs Belicoff in Hitman movie).
4) You would have to spend considerable time with the people you care about, for them to know your true self.
Cons (that I can think of):
1) You might lose out on 1-time opportunities (as you might not get more chances to prove yourself)
2) You won’t be able to win dealing with people that believe in ‘first impression is the last impression’ or ‘once a thief, always a thief’, etc.
3) The people you care about might form misconceptions about you initially.
4) You might start believing yourself that you are not capable of doing/being/getting stuff (this is really bad).
There are many real life examples of people underestimated by others (or the society), but they revolutionized the era: Rosa Parks – Claudette Colvin (civil rights), Pete Best (Beatles), Farnsworth (television), etc. (you can find lots of them online – also lots of quotations).
From psychology perspective, being underestimated (or doing it to others) has deeper meanings (looking glass self theory, self love, etc.); but since you have a rough idea on why it happens and how it happens, there is not much to gain by diving into that.
The people who underestimate you will remain at a disadvantage because they wouldn’t be able to understand/appreciate your worth; but you (i.e. the one being underestimated) have a “choice” – you can either accept the pros or the cons and live accordingly.
Pros (that I can think of):
1) You get an opportunity to outshine others by rising above expectations with little effort. The person, say your boss or parents or teachers, having underestimated you must have lower expectations set for you.
2) You get an opportunity to impress your partner (friend/fiancé/spouse) with everyday things – remember stuff they care, maybe candle-lit dinner, make paper flower (ex: Michael Scoffield does for Sarah Tancreddi in Prison Break show), etc.
3) You can outwit your opponents/enemies by being little bit smarter (ex: agent 47 vs Belicoff in Hitman movie).
4) You would have to spend considerable time with the people you care about, for them to know your true self.
Cons (that I can think of):
1) You might lose out on 1-time opportunities (as you might not get more chances to prove yourself)
2) You won’t be able to win dealing with people that believe in ‘first impression is the last impression’ or ‘once a thief, always a thief’, etc.
3) The people you care about might form misconceptions about you initially.
4) You might start believing yourself that you are not capable of doing/being/getting stuff (this is really bad).
There are many real life examples of people underestimated by others (or the society), but they revolutionized the era: Rosa Parks – Claudette Colvin (civil rights), Pete Best (Beatles), Farnsworth (television), etc. (you can find lots of them online – also lots of quotations).
From psychology perspective, being underestimated (or doing it to others) has deeper meanings (looking glass self theory, self love, etc.); but since you have a rough idea on why it happens and how it happens, there is not much to gain by diving into that.
The people who underestimate you will remain at a disadvantage because they wouldn’t be able to understand/appreciate your worth; but you (i.e. the one being underestimated) have a “choice” – you can either accept the pros or the cons and live accordingly.