Psychology - Self-Concept - Notes

Self-concept is the image that we have of ourselves.
How exactly does this self-image form

and change over time? This image develops in a number of ways but is particularly
influenced by our interactions with important people in our lives.
How Is Self-Concept Defined?
So how exactly do psychologists define self-concept? It is generally thought of as our

individual perceptions of our behavior, abilities, and unique characteristics.
Self-concept is essentially a mental picture of who you are as a person. For example, beliefs
such as "I am a good friend" or "I am a kind person" are part of an overall self-concept.
Self-concept tends to be more malleable when people are younger and still going through the
process of self-discovery and identity formation. As people age, self-perceptions become
much more detailed and organized as people form a better idea of who they are and what is
important to them.
"The individual self consists of attributes and personality traits that differentiate us from other
individuals (for example, 'introverted')," explain "Essential Social Psychology" authors
Richard Crisp and Rhiannon Turner. "The relational self is defined by our relationships with
significant others (for example, 'sister'). Finally, the collective self reflects our membership in
social groups (for example, 'British')."
Components of Self-Concept
Like many topics within psychology, a number of theorists have proposed different ways of
thinking about self-concept.
According to a theory known as social identity theory, self-concept is composed of two key
parts: personal identity and social identity. Our personal identity includes such things as
personality traits and other characteristics that make each person unique. Social identity
includes the groups we belong to including our community, religion, college, and other
groups.
Psychologist Dr. Bruce A. Bracken suggested in 1992 that there are six specific domains
related to self-concept:
 Social - the ability to interact with others

 Competence - the ability to meet basic needs
 Affect - the awareness of emotional states
 Physical - feelings about looks, health, physical condition, and overall appearance
 Academic - success or failure in school
 Family - how well one functions within the family unit
Humanist psychologist, Carl Rogers believed that there were three different parts of self-
concept:
1. Self-image, or how you see yourself. It is important to realize that self-image does not
necessarily coincide with reality. People might have an inflated self-image and
believe that they are better at things than they really are. Conversely, people are also
prone to having negative self-images and perceive or exaggerate flaws or weaknesses.
For example, a teenage boy might believe that he is clumsy and socially awkward
when he is really quite charming and likable. A teenage girl might believe that she is
overweight when she is really quite thin.
Each individual's self-image is probably a mix of different aspects including our

physical characteristics, personality traits, and social roles.
1. Self-esteem, or how much you value yourself. A number of factors can impact self-
esteem, including how we compare ourselves to others and how others respond to us.
When people respond positively to our behavior, we are more likely to develop
positive self-esteem. When we compare ourselves to others and find ourselves
lacking, it can have a negative impact on our self-esteem.
2. Ideal self, or how you wish you could be. In many cases, the way we see ourselves
and how we would like to see ourselves do not quite match up.
Congruence and Incongruence
As mentioned earlier, our self-concepts are not always perfectly aligned with reality.
Some students might believe that they are great at academics, but their school transcripts
might tell a different story.
According to Carl Rogers, the degree to which a person's self-concept matches up to reality is
known as congruence and incongruence. While we all tend to distort reality to a certain
degree, congruence occurs when self-concept is fairly well aligned with reality. Incongruence
happens when reality does not match up to our self-concept.
Rogers believed that incongruence has its earliest roots in childhood. When parents place
conditions on their affection for their children (only expressing love if children "earn it"
through certain behaviors and living up to the parents' expectations), children begin to distort
the memories of experiences that leave them feeling unworthy of their parents' love.
Unconditional love, on the other hand, helps to foster congruence. Children who experience
such love feel no need to continually distort their memories in order to believe that other
people will love and accept them as they are.
Self-concept is the mental image one has of oneself, as defined by Merriam-Webster. I think
this is very succinctly put: all our ideas, and beliefs about ourselves in particular area of life.
I.e. if we have poor self-concept in the idea of batting in baseball, we are unlikely become
very good at it, at least before we work to challenge these beliefs.

Psychology - Self-Concept - Notes

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Psychology - Self-Concept - Notes

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Psychology - Self-Concept - Notes

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Self-concept is the image that we have of ourselves.

How exactly does this self-image form

How Is Self-Concept Defined?

So how exactly do psychologists define self-concept? It is generally thought of as our

 Social - the ability to interact with others

Each individual's self-image is probably a mix of different aspects including our

Congruence and Incongruence

You might also like