Module I

Self: Core Competency

•Understanding Self
•Components of Self
•Self Concept
•Self Confidence
•Self Image
 Self: An Introduction
 Have you ever been at a noisy gathering, struggling to have a
conversation over music and the chatter of voices, and yet
managed to hear someone at the other end of the room
mention your name? If so, then you have experienced the
“cocktail party effect”—the tendency of people to pick a
personally relevant stimulus, like a name, out of a complex
and noisy environment. Even infants who are too young to
walk or talk exhibit this tendency.

To the cognitive psychologist, this phenomenon shows that

human beings are selective in their attention. To the social
psychologist, it also shows that the self is an important
object of our own attention.
 The self is essentially a collection of beliefs that we hold
about ourselves.

For e.g.
 What are our important

characteristics?
 What are we good at?
 What do we do poorly?
 What kind of situations

do we prefer or avoid?
 UNDERSTANDING SELF

 Self Understanding is the awareness of & ability

to understand one’s own thoughts & actions
 To attain insight into your attitudes, motives,
defences, reactions, weaknesses & strengths
 It is a subjective sense of the self & a complex
mixture of unconscious & conscious thoughts,
attitudes & perceptions.
 Definition
 Understanding self represents the sum total of
people’s conscious perception of their identity as
distinct from others. It is not a static
phenomenon, but continues to develop &
change throughout our lives
 The understanding self is thinking about what is
involved in being? What distinguishes you from
being an object, an animal or different person?
 Importance
 Self-understanding has been recognized as a key
competency for individuals to function efficiently
in organizations.
 It influences an individual’s ability to make key
decisions about self and others around.
 Understanding the self equips individuals with
making more effective career & life choices, the
ability to lead, guide & inspire with authenticity.
 COMPONENTS of SELF

Role
Performanc
Self
e Esteem

Body
Image SELF

Self
Identity
 Self Identity

 A sense of personal identity is what sets one

apart as a unique individual
 Identity includes a persons name, gender, ethnic
identity, family status, occupation, and roles
 One’s personal identity begins to develop during
childhood and is constantly reinforced and
modified throughout life
 Body Image

 Body image is an attitude about one’s physical

attributes and characteristics, appearance and
performance
 Body image is dynamic because any change in
body structure or function, including the normal
changes of growth and development, can affect
it
 Self Esteem

 Self Esteem is the judgment of personal

performance compared with the ‘ideal self’
 It is derived from a sense of giving and receiving
love and being respected by others
 Role Performance

 Role refers to a set of expected behaviors

determined by familial, cultural and social norms
 The level of self esteem is dependent upon the
self perception of adequate role performance in
these various social roles
 SELF CONCEPT (components contd..)
 The set of beliefs that we hold about who we are
 The sum total of an individual’s beliefs about his or her
own personal attributes
 The individuals image of the kind of person he or she is.
Especially included in this are
1. awareness of being (What I am)
2. awareness of function (What I can do)
 Includes not only our perceptions of what we are but
also what we think, we ought to be and would like to be.
This latter component of the self is called the ideal self.
The ideal self represents the self concept that an
individual would ideally want to posses.
 Two ways in which WE perceive
ourselves

POSITIVE SELF CONCEPT NEGATIVE SELF CONCEPT

Positive Self Concept
1. People with positive self concept believe in
themselves, are confident about their ability to
deal with problems, make decisions, feel equal
to others, have respect for themselves and
expect it from others.
2. These are people who are realistic in their
assessment of themselves and can admit to a
wide range of feelings, behaviours and needs.
Negative Self Concept
1. If people see themselves as failures and have a
negative, pessimistic image of themselves, they
will begin to act the part.
2. Negative feelings feed on themselves and become
a downward spiral, gradually encompassing all of
the people’s thoughts, actions and relationships.
3. People with negative self concepts tend to
complain constantly and find it difficult to accept
criticism.
 Aspects of Self Concept

 Cognitive Aspect (Self Schema)

 Affective/Evaluative Aspect (Self Esteem)
 Behavioral Aspect (Self Perception)
Cognitive Aspect: Self Schema

Self schemas are “cognitive generalizations

about the self, derived from past
experience, that organize and guide the
processing of self-related information”
Affective/evaluative Aspect: Self Esteem
Self esteem reflects the perceived difference between
an individual’s actual self concept (who I think I really
am) and some ideal self image (who I would really like
to be).”

William James (1890) expressed the relationship:

Self esteem= success/pretension*

(*pretension refers to ideals against which individuals

assess their actual self image)
 Behavioral Aspect: Self Perception

 Daryl Bem’s (1972) influential theory of Self Perception says

we observe our behavior and the situation in which it took
place, make attributions about why the behavior occurred,
and draw conclusions about our own characteristics and
dispositions.
 In other words, we come to understand ourselves the same
way we perceive and understand others.
Factors Affecting Self-Concept
Psychologi
cal Factors
Fatigue, Developmental
Cultural & trauma, factors
Life Style chronic illness,
Factors
etc

Factors
across the
Life Span

Depression, Living
Physiologic
stress, condition,
al
Factors trauma, etc religion,
etc
 Building up Self Concept
 Building up self concept is the primary factor of
effective personality and behaviour. The four
steps to build-up self concept are as follows:

1. Self awareness
2. Self acceptance
3. Self realization
4. Self disclosure
 Self Awareness
 Our attention is sometimes directed outward towards the
environment and sometimes focused inward on ourselves.
 Certain experiences automatically focus attention inwards, such
as catching sight of ourselves in the mirror, having our picture
taken, or being evaluated by others.
 We begin to think of ourselves not as moving actors in the
environment, but as objects of our own and others’ attention.
This is self awareness.
 It leads people to evaluate their behaviour against a standard
(of physical appearance, intellectual performance, athletic
prowess, or moral integrity) and set an adjustment process in
motion for meeting the standard.
 Self Acceptance
 Being aware of who we are, rather than the person we would
wish to be, the next step is to accept ourselves
 Self-acceptance is an individual's satisfaction or happiness with
oneself & is thought to be necessary for good mental health
 Involves self-understanding, a realistic, though subjective,
awareness of one's strengths & weaknesses. Results in an
individual feeling that they are of "unique worth”
 Self Realization

 It means the fulfilment of one's own potential

 It is realizing our inner potentialities
 Involves growth & development motivated from within
 It is a willingness to pursue our ideal-self on our own, to grow
& change because we think it is important.
 Self Disclosure
 The process of letting another person know what we think, feel
& want; i.e. telling others about ourselves.
 Includes all kinds of information: life experiences, personal
circumstances, feelings, dreams, opinions, etc.
 Involves disclosing our innermost thoughts and feelings.
 The final stage towards a mature self concept is how we are
going to reveal our ‘self’, and this is where self awareness plays
an important role. We need to know ourselves well before we
can disclose or reveal anything to others about our ‘real self’.
 Research indicates self-disclosure leads to self-contentment,
helps a person be more perceptive, adaptive, competent,
trusting & positive towards others.
 SELF CONFIDENCE
 A feeling of trust in one's abilities, qualities &
judgement
 The belief that you can achieve success & competence.
 Might be in reference to specific tasks or a more wide
ranging attitude you hold about your abilities in life.
 Self confidence & self esteem relate to your perception
of yourself, the former to your perception of your
abilities and the latter, to your worth or value.
 Both concepts are closely related & those with low self
confidence will often have low self esteem & vice versa
Self confident Low Self Confidence

 Doing what you believe to be right  Governing your behavior based

even if others mock or criticize you on what other people think
for it 

Staying in your comfort zone,
Being willing to take risks & go the
fearing failure and avoiding
extra mile to achieve better things
 risks
Admitting mistakes & learning from
 Working hard to cover mistakes
them
 Waiting for others to congratulate so they go unnoticed
you on your accomplishments  Extolling your own virtues as
 Accepting compliments graciously often as possible
(e.g.: “thanks! I really worked hard  Dismissing complements off
on that prospectus. I’m pleased you
handedly (e.g.: “oh! That
recognized my efforts”)
prospectus was nothing, really.
Anyone could have done it”)
 SELF IMAGE
 It is how you perceive yourself.
 Self-impressions that have built up over time
e.g. What are your hopes and dreams? What do you
think and feel? What have you done throughout your
life and what did you want to do?
 The self-images can be positive, giving a person self
confidence in their thoughts and actions, or negative,
making a person doubtful of their capabilities & ideas.
 One’s self-image can be very different from how the world sees
him/her.
e.g. Some people who outwardly seem to have it all (intelligence,
looks, personal & financial success) may have a bad self-image. Others
who had a very difficult life may have a positive self-image.
 Some believe that a person's self-image is defined by events that affect
him or her (doing well or not in school, work, or relationships.)
 Others believe that a person's self-image can help shape those events

e.g. failing at something can certainly cause one to feel bad about
oneself, just as feeling good about oneself can lead to better
performance on a project.
 It cannot be denied that your self-image has a very
strong impact on your happiness, and your outlook
on life can affect those around you. If you project a
positive self-image, people will be more likely to
see you as a positive, capable person.
 However, it's important that your self-image be both
positive and realistic.
 Having a self image that is unrealistic can be a
drawback, whether that self image is positive or
negative
 Having an occasional negative thought or criticism
about oneself can encourage change, hard work,
growth & success
 Having too positive an image of oneself can
encourage complacency, underachievement &
arrogance
 Finding the balance between feeling positive about
oneself but having realistic goals is important
 Cognitive Behavior Triangle
Relationship between Thoughts, Behaviors & Actions
Thank You!