SELF CONCEPT

Self Concept defined• A relatively stable set of perceptions or beliefs you hold of

yourself.

• These beliefs are also called self-schemas which are developed from past experiences and contain conceptual awareness one holds of himself.

• At one given time only one self concept operates which is known as working self concept.

• Not only do the beliefs about the self influence current behavior they also influence future behavior. It appears that there are more than one possible selves. However individuals maintain a consistent view of themselves.

•

Self Discrepancies• The mismatch of self perceptions is termed self-discrepancy.

Individuals have several sets of self perceptions i.e. the actual self (qualities or attributes you or others believe that you posses), the ideal self (characteristics that you or others would like you to have). There is also another concept of “ought self”.

• Self Discrepancy and their effects– When people live up to their personal standards they experience high

self esteem when they don’t meet their expectations their self esteem suffers.

– Dejection related emotions– Agitation related emotions

• Every one experiences self discrepancies yet most people manage to feel reasonably good about themselves. The question arises how is this possible? Three factors are important in this regard, i.e. the amount of discrepancy you experience, your awareness of the discrepancy and whether the discrepancy is actually important to you.

• Coping with self-discrepancies– In order to cope people can change their behavior to bring it more in line

with their personal standards (ideal or ought). For example if your ideal self is getting above average grades and you actually get D on a test you can study more hard to match your ideal standard and so.

– Another way to cope is to blunt your self awareness. – Increased self awareness does not always make people to focus on negative

aspects of the self. People have a need to focus about good aspects of their self so they focus on their positive features rather than negative ones.

Factors shaping the self concept• A variety of sources influence one’s self concept

such as one’s own observations, feedback from others and cultural values.

• Your own observations– We become more aware of ourselves by measuring

ourselves against others, a process called social comparison.

– However, it can be self-defeating to take social comparisons too far, to cause your self-esteem to suffer because you compare yourself unrealistically to others.

• Feedback from others– Self-concept of a person is shaped tremendously by the feedback you

get from other people. – Parents and family are not the only source of feedback during

childhood. There are others too in ones reference group e.g. friends.• Cultural Values

– Self concept is also shaped by cultural values. – Cultures differ on the dimension of individualism versus collectivism.– Individuals reared in the individualistic cultures usually have an

independent view of self perceiving themselves as unique and distinct from others. Those reared in collectivistic culture typically have an interdependent view of the self. Still there is an interesting individualistic vs collectivistic cultural views in terms of gender differences.

Self Esteem • Self Esteem refers to one’s overall assessment of one’s worth as

a person; it is the evaluative component of the self-concept. • The term “Positive Self Concept” is used as a synonym for self-

esteem. • Low and high self esteem range on a continuum.• Self Esteem is only a perception and not a reality.• Self esteem tend to be stable over time however it is also true

that certain ups and downs of daily life can produce short term fluctuations in Self-Esteem.

The importance of self esteem • Self esteem and adjustment• HIGH SELF ESTEEM i.e. we have a positive view of ourselves. This tends to lead to

Confidence in our own abilities Self acceptance Not worrying about what others think Optimism

• LOW SELF ESTEEM i.e. we have a negative view of ourselves. This tends to lead to Lack of confidence, Unpleasant Moods, and more emotional problems Want to be/look like someone else, lacking in social skills associated with fear of

humiliation, negative expectations about their performance Always worrying what others might think Pessimism Experience anxiety, irritability, aggressiveness, unhappiness, resentment and

alienation, insomnia, psychosomatic symptoms etc Low esteem persons are confused about themselves.

• High Self Esteem Versus Narcissism– Having positive feelings about oneself would not seem to be highly

desirable but that is not always the case. Problems arise when people’s self views are inflated and unrealistic. Narcissism is the tendency to regard oneself as grandiosely self important.

• Roots of Self Esteem– The foundations for high and low self esteem appear to be laid very early

in life. Parenting style leaves a marked influence on children’s self esteem.

– Researchers have found a relationship between parenting styles, children’s traits and behaviors.

– Unconditional Positive regard– Setting clear and strong standards– Enough freedom latitude and respect for their behavior.

Methods of Self Enhancement• Downward Comparisons

– This defensive tendency to compare ones self with some one whose troubles are more serious than one’s own is termed downward social comparisons.

• Self Serving Bias– The self serving bias, or the tendency to attribute ones

successes to personal factors and one’s failures to situational factors.

• Basking in Reflected Glory– Basking in reflected glory is the tendency to engage one’s image

by publically announcing one’s association with those who are successful.

• Self Handicapping– When people fail at an important task they need

to save face. In such cases people come up with a face-saving excuse. Hence it’s a tendency to provide an excuse for possible failure.

Self Regulation

• Directing and controlling one’s behavior is termed as self-regulation.

• Self Efficacy– According to Albert Bandura (1997) self efficacy

refers to people’s conviction that they can achieve specific goals.

– A no. of researches indicate that people with high self efficacy anticipate success in future outcomes and can tune out negative thoughts that can lead to failure.

• Developing Self Efficacy– Self efficacy is central to commitments to goals and

ability to meet those goals.– Mastery experiences

• The most effective way to self efficacy is through mastering new skills.

– Vicarious experiences• Another way to improve self efficacy is by watching others

perform a skill you want to learn. One must choose a model who is competent at the task.

– Persuasion and Encouragement• Though it is less effective than the first two but still it can work.

– Interpretation of emotional arousal• The interpretation you give to physiological arousal that

accompany your feelings effect your self efficacy.

Self-Presentation

• Definition– Also known as “Impression Management” is the

process through which we try to control the impressions people form of us.

– Self-Presentation is pervasive in everyday life. • Why do people self-Present– Self-presentation is a way of gaining control over

one’s life, a way of increasing one’s rewards and minimizing one’s costs.

– Self-presentation is a self-perception process. – Self Presentation helps us get what we want and to

create that image. It helps others to know how we expect to be treated.

• When do people self-Present – People are more likely to present to others when they

perceive themselves to be in the “public eyes”. – Also people high in self monitoring are most

motivated and concerned about how others view them in comparison to those low in self monitoring.

– Spotlight Effect– Public Self-Consciousness– Importantly the more important the goals the more

efforts for self presentation. – People also self present to others if they believe that

the others hold a negative impression of them. – Certain behaviors occur mindlessly and self-

presentations are no exceptions.

• The Nature of Self Presentation – Self presentation takes the form of displaying the

various selves or social roles to meet immediate important goals and then perhaps exaggerating a little bit of it.

– However, despite our best efforts sometimes self presentation fails.

– When it fails it may be often linked to a problem known as “social anxiety”.

– Sometimes there is also “False Advertising”. However there is a risk with this kind of behavior; the risk of unintended impressions. People may think of the presenter as being dishonest, insincere and hypocritical.

• Appearing Likable– Strategies of Ingratiation-It is an attempt to get

others to like us. Four of ingratiation techniques are as follows:-

– Expressing Liking for others– Creating Similarity– Making Ourselves Physically attractive– Projecting Modesty

• Gender– Why is ingratiation relatively more important for

females than males?

Some Non Verbal Presentation Ways

Class Activity

• SIMPLE SMILE -Person not participating in outgoing activity. Fake Smile

• UPPER SMILE –Real Greeting smile.

• BROAD SMILE -Associated with laughing.

SMILING

OPPOSING CAMPS

• DEFENSIVE (maintaining distance)

• Tensed

• ANGRY

• HAPPY

• CONFIDENT

• CONTENDED

OPPOSING CAMPS

WALKING GESTURES

• Eyes down

• Dejected

• Burdened

WALKING GESTURES

• Wants to go shortest possible distance in shortest possible time.

• Ambitious

WALKING GESTURES

• PREOCCUPIEDHead downHands clasped

behindPace slow• BOASTINGImpression creator

• Evaluation of one’s performance

• Thinking a point

• Meditation

EVALUATION GESTURES

• Hand to face• Index finger along

his cheek• Body drawn away

from the other individual

CRITICAL EVALUATION

• Decision making process.

• Hand , fingers in contact with face /chin

LET ME CONSIDER EVALUATION

• Wise man making judgement

• Slight Squinting of eyes

MAKING JUDGEMENT

• Pondering on an information in form of some thing in mouth

GAINING TIME

CONFIDENCEAnd NERVOUSNESS

CONFIDENCE

• No head scratching

• No covering the mouth

• Standing up straight and feeling your emotions