Self-concept is our personal knowledge of who we are. It encompasses all of our thoughts and feelings about ourselves. It also includes our knowledge of how we behave, our abilities and our individual characteristics.
Our self-concept develops most rapidly during childhood and adolescence. This knowledge continues to form and change over time as we learn more about ourselves.
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Defining the self concept
Social psychologist Roy Baumeister says that self-concept must be understood as a structure of knowledge. People pay attention to themselves, noticing their internal states, responses and external behavior.
Through this self-awareness, people gather information about themselves. Self-concept is built from this information and continues to develop as people expand their ideas about who they are.
Early research on self-concept was based on the idea that it was a single, stable and unitary conception of the self. More recently, however, scholars have recognized it as a dynamic and active structure that is impacted by both the individual's motivations and the social situation.
Components by Carl Rogers
Carl Rogers, one of the founders of humanistic psychology, suggested that the self-concept includes three components:
Self image
Self-image is the way we see ourselves. Self-image includes what we know about ourselves physically, our social roles, and our personality traits.
This component does not always correspond to reality. Some individuals have an inflated perception of one or more of their characteristics. These inflated perceptions can be positive or negative. An individual may have a more positive view of certain aspects of the 'self' and a more negative view of others.
Self esteem
Self-esteem is the value we place on ourselves. Individual levels of self-esteem depend on how we evaluate ourselves. These ratings incorporate our personal comparisons with others, as well as other people's responses to us.
When we compare ourselves to others and find that we are better at something, our self-esteem in that area grows. On the other hand, when we compare ourselves to others and find that we are not as successful in a certain area, our self-esteem drops.
We can have high self-esteem in some areas and at the same time have low self-esteem in others.
ideal self
The ideal self is the self we would like to be. There is always a difference between a person's self-image and a person's 'ideal self'. This incongruity can negatively impact someone's self-esteem. According to Carl Rogers, self-image and the ideal self can be congruent or incongruent.
Development of self-concept
Self-concept begins to develop in early childhood. This process continues throughout life. However, it is between early childhood and adolescence that the self-concept experiences the most growth.
At 2 years old, children begin to differentiate themselves from others. At age 3 and 4, children understand that they are separate and unique selves. At this stage, the child's self-image is largely descriptive. It is mostly based on physical characteristics or concrete details.
However, children pay more and more attention to their capabilities. By age 6, children can communicate what they want and need. They are also beginning to define themselves in terms of social groups.
Between the ages of 7 and 11, children begin to make social comparisons. Thus, they consider how they are perceived by others. At this stage, children's descriptions of themselves become more abstract. They begin to describe themselves in terms of skills and not just concrete details.
For example, a child at this stage will begin to see themselves as more athletic than others and less athletic than others. At this point, the ideal self and self-image begin to develop.
Adolescence is a key period for self-concept. The self-concept established during adolescence is usually the basis of self-concept for the rest of life. During adolescence, people experience different roles, personas, and selves.
For adolescents, self-concept is influenced by success in areas they value and the responses of valued others to them. Success and approval can contribute to greater self-esteem and a stronger self-concept in later life.