Self -Concept

आत्मानम विद्धि
“Know Thyself”
-Socrates
 Self -Concept

Self-concept : self image

Each individual is unique with own self-concept
View of self affects one’s ability to function as well
as health
Self-knowledge helps
– Explaining our behavior
– Predicting our behavior
– Predicting our feelings
– The wisdom and illusions of self-analysis
 Who am I?
Our sense of self
– Self-concept
– Self-schemas
– Self-reference effect
– Possible selves
Sources for the development of self concept
– The roles we play
– Social identity
– Success and failure
– Social comparisons
– Other people’s judgments
Self Concept
 Culture and Self
Self-concept or self-construal
In an individualistic culture, self is a bounded entity
that consists of a number of internal attributes (needs,
abilities, motives, rights, etc.)
– Independent construal of self: individuals focus on
personal, internal attributes
– “The squeaky wheel gets the oil”
In a collectivist culture, the “fundamental
connectedness of human beings is generally assumed
– Interdependent construal of self: the self is
unbounded, flexible, and contingent on context and
finely tuned interpersonal relationships.
– “The nail that sticks up gets pounded down”
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Who am I?
Self Concept
What affects self concept?
 Motivations
Independent Self Interdependent Self
– Internally guided – Extended
– Individualism responsibilities
– Pride – Family or group
– “False uniqueness” (the expectations
tendency for individuals to – “Face”
underestimate the commonality
of desirable traits and to – Harmony
overestimate their own – Shame
uniqueness)
Embarrassment

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 Development of self Concept

Self-Differentiation in Infancy
– 2 months – a limited sense of personal agency – they
are responsible for some events
Self-Recognition in Infancy
– Self-concept – who or what we are
5 months – recognize the self as familiar
– Self-recognition
Rouge test
– 18-24 months, most realized the person in the
mirror was them
– 2 to 3 years, limited to present self
– 4 to 5 years, extended self
Contributors to and Consequences of Self-
Recognition
Contributors
Cognitive development is necessary
Social experience
– Secure attachment
– Parents provide descriptive information
Cultural differences
– Younger self-recognition if autonomy was stressed
Consequences
Necessary for self-conscious emotions
Infants become more socially skilled
May begin to cooperate
Begin to categorize themselves on dimensions of how
people differ
 Identity

An internal sense of individuality and wholeness.

Who are you?
Name, gender, race, religion, occupation, role,
+++so much more
Begins during childhood as parents provide role
models
Continues during adolescence as teens establish
own identity
 Roles

What is your role?????????

A part of self-concept is the way a person perceives
their ability to carry out significant roles
What are the expected behaviors you perform????
Simultaneously hold many roles and they change
Who do you want to be????
What do you want your role to be???
 Factors Affecting Self-concept

Health status: illness, injury, body change, loss of

control, dependency on others
Role stressors; overload, strained,
feelings of inadequacy
Developmental transitions – aging in our culture
Personal “success” or failure history
Crisis and/or life events: personal and/or global
Internal and external resources
Individual perception of crisis
 Self Presentation

“Any behavior intended to create, modify, or

maintain an impression of ourselves in the minds of
others” (Brown, 1998)
False modesty
Self-handicapping
Impression management
– Self-presentation
– Self-monitoring
 Types of Self-Presentation

Ingratiation
Self-Promotion
Intimidation
Exemplification
Supplication

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 Body Image

What do you think you look like physically?

?????
What do you think about your appearance??????
Body image is dynamic: the body changes
through normal growth and development.
Cultural and societal attitudes affect body image
 The Spotlight Effect

The tendency to believe that others are paying more

attention to us than they actually are.
– T-shirt study
– Spilled drink study

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 The Ubiquity of Self-Presentation

Self-Presentation is involved in:

Self-handicapping
Cognitive dissonance
Conformity
The foot-in-the-door phenomenon
Social facilitation

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 Functions of Self-Presentation
Facilitate social interaction
Gain material and social rewards
Self-Construction

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 Individual Differences in Self-
Presentation
Self-Monitoring—degree to which people
monitor their social behavior.
High self-monitors tend to tailor their behavior
to the situation/audience.
Low self-monitors tend to use their own
attitudes and values to guide their behavior.

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 Self-Esteem

The emotional appraisal of self-concept.

How do you regard yourself??????
Feel about self?
Sense of worth or value??
This appraisal is an on-going process
so…levels of self-esteem can change.
 What is self esteem ?
Self-worth
Confidence in our ability to think and cope
with life’s challenges
Confidence in our right to be happy and
successful
A feeling that we are deserving, entitled to
assert our needs and desires
 Self-Esteem…What is it?
Self-esteem refers to the
way we see and think
about ourselves.
Overall self-evaluation of
self-worth. It influences
-how we operate in the
workplace, school, and
home. How we chose our
friends? Who we fall in
love with?
 High self-esteem

Is the best predictor of personal happiness.

Is like having an emotional surplus, thus it is easier to
love.
The opposite is emotional impoverishment, which
means you have a lot of unfulfilled needs.
 Benefits of high self-esteem

More persistent at a difficult task

Increased respect for oneself and behave in
ways that encourage others to respect
(Me)more
Improve unconscious behavior
Feel better, live better
 Self-Esteem…What’s it made of?

Your self-esteem is
made up of all the
experiences and
interpersonal
relationships you’ve
had in your life.
Everyone you’ve ever
met has added to or
taken away from how
you see yourself!
 The Effects of High Self-Esteem
People with high self-esteem possess the following
characteristics:
-They like to meet new people.
-They don’t worry about how others will judge them.
-They have the courage to express themselves.
-Their lives are enriched with each new encounter.
-They are nicer to be around.
-Their ideas are met with interest because others want
to hear what they have to say.
-They are magnets to positive opportunities!
-They have an “I think I can” attitude!
 Healthy vs. unhealthy
self-esteem
Rationality, realism See others as inferior
Creativity Fear of the unknown
Independence Inappropriate
conformity or
Flexibility rebelliousness
Ability to manage Defensiveness
change Over controlling
Willingness to admit hostility
mistakes
 The Effects of Low Self-Esteem

People with low self-esteem possess the following

characteristics:
-They don’t believe in themselves and see themselves failing
before they begin.
-They have a hard time forgiving their mistakes and make
themselves pay the price forever.
-They believe they can never be as good as they should be or
as others. They are afraid to show their creativity because they
will be ridiculed.
-They are dissatisfied with their lives and complain and
criticize and worry about everything and do nothing.
People with low self-esteem have an “I can’t do it” attitude.
 Average self-esteem

Fluctuate between feeling appropriate and

inappropriate
Sometimes act wisely, sometimes foolishly
Inconsistent in behavior
This relationship with self reflects
relationships with others
 High self-esteem vs. Low self-esteem

Assertive Passive “who cares attitude”

Self-directed Excessively Dependent
Makes decisions Hesitant to express views
Praises self Overly Critical of self
Speaks clearly Monotone voice – lack of
Attends to needs emotion & energy
Neglects own needs
Difficulty making decisions
Overly apologetic
Avoidance of eye contact
 What causes low self-esteem?
Overly critical Parents
Significant childhood losses
Parental abuse
Parental alcoholism and drug addiction
Parental neglect/overprotectiveness
Parental rejection
Parental overindulgence
 How can we improve our self-esteem?

Living more consciously

Taking good care of yourself
The practice of self-acceptance
The practice of self-responsibility
Self assertiveness
Developing support and intimacy
The practice of personal integrity
 The practice of living consciously:

Watch your thoughts…do you find yourself saying:

I know I am not doing my best but I do not want to think about
it.
I know the way I eat is wrecking my health but….
I know I am living beyond my means, but…
Living consciously means:
Being in the moment
A concern to understand the world around me
A commitment to learning
To seek clarity
Be aware of values that motivate me
Distinguish between facts and feelings
 Self acceptance

Self-esteem is something we experience, self-

acceptance is something we do.
Refusal to be in an adversarial relationship with self.
Listening to feelings can lead to a deeper awareness
of important information
 Self-assertiveness/responsibility

Willingness to stand up for self

Protecting boundaries
To live by your values
Learn to be kind without self-sacrificing
Cooperate with others without betraying our
standards and convictions
 The practice of personal integrity

Is the integration of ideals, standards, beliefs and

behaviors
When our behavior is congruent with our professed
values, when ideals and practice match, we have
integrity
When we have lapses in integrity it is detrimental to
our self-esteem
One of the biggest enemies to high self-esteem is
Laziness:
We do not challenge our inertia
We do not chose to be “awake”
We do not wish to experience discomfort
The greatest problem is that it becomes a vicious
cycle and our “laziness” or inaction damages our self-
esteem and we tend to become more lazy.
 Living purposefully

To live productively
Translating thoughts into reality
Answering questions such as: What am I trying to
achieve ? Why do I think these means are
appropriate ? Does the feedback from the
environment convey that I am succeeding or failing ?
 12 Steps to High Self-Esteem
Step 1 -Forgive yourself for past mistakes.
Step 2-Focus on your positive attributes.
Step 3-Follow the example of successful people.
Step 4-Become a self talker.
Step 5-Exhibit a good attitude.
Step 6-Get plenty of rest.
Step 7-Make your work skills your own
Step 8-Practice your talents
Step 9-Become physically fit.
Step 10-Learn new things.
Step 11-Improve your personal relationships.
Step 12-Dress well!
 Lets Review
Self-esteem comes from every experience of
your life.
How you view yourself affects everything you do
in life.
High self-esteem gives you a GOOD feeling
about yourself.
Low self-esteem distorts your view of yourself.
Self-esteem can me improved!
 Perceived Control
Self-efficacy
Locus of control
Learned helplessness versus self-determination
The costs of excess choice
Locus of Control
Learned helplessness
 Self serving Bias
Explaining positive and negative events
– Can we all be better than average?
Unrealistic optimism
False consensus and uniqueness
Explaining self-serving bias
Reflections on self-esteem and self-serving bias
– The self-serving bias as adaptive
– The self-serving bias as maladaptive
– The group-serving bias
 Self Serving Bias

If you get a great grade on your next exam, why will

that be?
– Because you’re smart?
– Because you studied hard?
What if you get a lousy grade? Will that be because
the exam was too hard? Because I’m a lousy teacher?
 Self-serving bias

The tendency to claim more responsibility or taking credit for

successes than failures. It may also manifest itself as a
tendency for people to evaluate ambiguous information in a
way beneficial to their interests (see also group-serving bias).
E.g. Kingdon (1967) interviewed successful & unsuccessful
American politicians about major factors in successes &
failures. Tended to attribute wins to internal factors (hard
work, reputation) but failures to external (lack of money,
national trends).
Actually involves 2 two biases :
1.) self-enhancing bias (taking credit for success)
2.) Self-protecting bias (denying responsibility for failure)
Self-handicapping bias – more subtle form of self-serving bias
Explanations of self-serving bias

Cognitive explanation - Miller & Ross (1975) If

people intend to succeed, then behaviour can be
seen to be due to their efforts, then it seems
reasonable to accept more credit for success than
failure
Motivational explanation – Zuckerman (1979)
argues the need to maintain self-esteem directly
affects the attribution of task outcomes
 Self-Concept Questionnaire
Describe yourself.
What are your personal characteristics?
What are your strengths?
What are your fears or weaknesses?
Describe your body.
What do you like most about your body?
What do you like least about your body?
Tell me about some things you do or have done in the past
that give you a sense of achievement or accomplishment.
Describe the primary roles you fill.
How do you feel about your ability to perform
these roles?
Are these roles satisfying to you?
 Final Thought
You are a unique individual. No one else is
like you in the whole world. This makes
you special already!
Our time in this world is limited. Make it
happen for you so you leave your mark in
history!
 “No one can make you feel
inferior without your consent”

- Eleanor Roosevelt