Being Me
Exploration of self concept,
self efficacy and personal
identity
What is Self Concept?
The self concept is how we think about and
evaluate ourselves. To be aware of oneself is to
have a concept of oneself.
The term self-concept is a general term used to
refer to how someone thinks about or perceives
themselves. It is an important term for both
Social Psychology and Humanism.
Lewis (1990)
suggests that development of a concept of self has two
aspects: (1) The Existential Self
“the most basic part of the self-scheme or self-concept;
the sense of being separate and distinct from others and
the awareness of the constancy of the self” (Bee 1992).
Child realises that they exist as a separate entity from
others + they continue to exist over time and space.
Awareness of existential self begins as young as two to
three months old
Arises partially due to relationship with the world. (e.g.
the child smiles and someone smiles back, or the child
touches a mobile and sees it move)
Lewis (1990)
(2) The Categorical Self
Having realised that he or she exists as a separate
experiencing being, the child next becomes aware that
he or she is also an object in the world. Just as other
objects including people have properties that can be
experienced (big, small, red, smooth and so on) so the
child is becoming aware of him or her self as an object
which can be experienced and which has properties. The
self too can be put into categories such as age, gender,
size or skill. Two of the first categories to be applied are
age (“I am 3”) and gender (“I am a girl”).
Early childhood apply very concrete categories to
themselves (e.g. hair colour, height and favourite things).
Later, begins to include reference to internal
psychological traits, comparative evaluations and to how
others see them.
Carl Rogers
Believes that Self Concept has three
different components:
1. The view you have of yourself (Self
image)
2. How much value you place on yourself
(Self esteem or self-worth)
3. What you wish you were really like (Ideal
self)
repertory grid
The repertory grid is a technique for
identifying the ways that a person
construes his or her experience. It
provides information from which
inferences about personality can be made,
but it is not a personality test in the
conventional sense. It is underpinned by a
strong theory, the Personal Construct
Theory developed by George Kelly first
published in 1955.
A repertory grid consists of four parts:
1. A Topic: it is about some part of the person's experience
2. A set of Elements, which are examples or instances of the Topic.
3. A set of Constructs. (basic terms client uses to make sense of the
elements - always expressed as a contrast. E..g. meaning of 'Good'
depends on 'Good versus Poor', ( construing a theatrical
performance), or 'Good versus Evil', (construing the moral status.)
4. A set of ratings of Elements on Constructs - positioned between the
two extremes of the construct using a 5- or 7-point rating scale
system
How we see things
Table 5.3: An example of some similarities and contrasts in four different coffees. These
classifications are found in the knowledge elicitation phase of the RGT.
Similarity
Coffee A
Coffee B
Coffee C
Coffee D
Contrast
Pole
Pole
Bitter
Sweet
Cold
Hot
Light
Dark
Strong
Weak
Etc.
Etc.
An example of the ratings of four different coffees. These
ratings are found in the rating grid phase of the RGT.
Similarity
Coffee A
Coffee B
Coffee C
Coffee D
Pole
Contrast
Pole
Bitter
5
3
2
1
Sweet
Cold
4
4
5
4
Hot
Light
2
4
3
5
Dark
Strong
1
3
2
4
Weak
Etc.
Etc.
Self Image (what you see in yourself)
Does not necessarily have to reflect reality
(anorexia).
self image is affected by many factors, e.g.
– parental influences,
– friends,
– the media
– Models etc.
Kuhn (1960)
The Twenty Statements Test.
People to answer question 'Who am I?' in
20 different ways.
responses could be divided into two major
groups.
social roles (external or objective aspects of
oneself such as son, teacher, friend)
personality traits (internal or affective
aspects of oneself such as gregarious,
impatient, humorous).
“Who Am I?”
probably include examples of each of the following four types
of responses:
1) Physical Description: I’m tall, have blue eyes...etc.
2) Social Roles: We are all social beings whose behaviour is
shaped to some extent by the roles we play. Such roles as
student, housewife, or member of the football team not only
help others to recognize us but also help us to know what is
expected of us in various situations.
3) Personal Traits: These are a third dimension of our selfdescriptions. “I’m impulsive...I’m generous...I tend to worry a
lot”...etc.
4) Existential Statements (abstract ones): These can range
from "I’m a child of the universe" to "I’m a human being" to
"I’m a spiritual being"...etc.
Typically young people describe themselves more in terms of
such personal traits, whereas older people feel defined to a
greater extent by their social roles.
Self Esteem and Self Worth (the extent to
which you value yourself)
Self esteem refers to the extent to which we like accept or approve
of ourselves or how much we value ourselves. Self esteem always
involves a degree of evaluation and we may have either a positive or
a negative view of ourselves.
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
Want to be/look like someone else
Always worrying what others might think
Pessimism
Morse and Gergen (1970)
in uncertain or anxiety arousing situations our self
esteem may change rapidly.
Participants waiting for a job interview in a waiting room
were sat with another candidate (a confederate of the
experimenter) in one of two conditions:
A) Mr Clean - dressed in smart suit, carrying a briefcase
opened to reveal a slide rule and books.
B) Mr Dirty - dressed in an old T-shirt and jeans, slouched
over a cheap sex novel.
Self-esteem of participants with Mr Dirty increased whilst
those with Mr Clean decreased!
No mention made of how this affected subjects’
performance in interview.
Level of self esteem affects performance at numerous
tasks though (Coopersmith 1967) so we could expect Mr
Dirty subjects to perform better than Mr Clean.
perseverance effect
self-esteem might fluctuate, but at times we continue to
believe good things about ourselves even when
evidence to the contrary exists. perseverance effect
Ross et al (1975) showed that people who believed they
had socially desirable characteristics continued in this
belief even when the experimenters tried to get them to
believe the opposite.
Does the same thing happen with bad things if we have
low self-esteem?
May not be, but perhaps with very low self-esteem all we
believe about ourselves might be bad.
Argyle: 4 major factors influence self esteem
1) THE REACTION OF OTHERS.
1) If people admire us, flatter us, seek out our company, listen attentively and
agree with us we tend to develop a positive self-image.
2) If they avoid us, neglect us, tell us things about ourselves that we don’t
want to hear we develop a negative self-image.
2) COMPARISON WITH OTHERS.
1. If our reference group appear to be more successful, happier, richer, better
looking than ourselves we tend to develop a negative self image
2. if they are less successful than us our image will be positive.
3) SOCIAL ROLES.
1. Some social roles carry prestige e.g. doctor, airline pilot, TV. presenter,
premiership footballer and this promotes self-esteem.
2. Other roles carry stigma. E.g. prisoner, mental hospital patient, refuse
collector or unemployed person.
4) IDENTIFICATION.
Roles aren’t just “out there.” They also become part of our personality i.e.
we identity with the positions we occupy, the roles we play and the
groups we belong to.
But just as important as all these factors, are the influence of our parents
Ideal Self (what you'd like to be)
There is an intimate relationship between selfimage, ego-ideal and self-esteem.
If there is a mismatch between how you see
yourself (e.g. your self image) and what you’d
like to be (e.g. your ideal self ) then this is likely
to affect how much you value yourself.
A person’s ideal self may not be consistent with
what actually happens in life and experiences of
the person. Hence, a difference may exist
between a person’s ideal self and actual
experience. This is called incongruence.
Congruence and Incongruence
Michael Argyle
says there are four major factors which
influence its development:
The ways in which others (particularly
significant others) react to us.
How we think we compare to others
Our social roles
The extent to which we identify with other
people
Self-Acceptance - 7 Ways to Improve by
Susan Derry
Unless you can accept yourself you remain stuck, unable to do what is
necessary to create the change that you want. Self-acceptance can
be difficult for many people to achieve.
Feel more accepting of yourself:
1. Begin and end each day with gratitude.
2. Breathe in the good; breathe out the bad.
3. Look at yourself in the mirror for one to two minutes a day.
4. Dress to bring out your best.
5. Walk tall.
6. 6. Smile and connect with people.
7. Spend time with confident and friendly people.
Self-acceptance can take a bit of practice and effort for some, but it is well
worth the effort. Give yourself permission to accept who you are and
love yourself.
Ways to Promote SELF-ESTEEM
Provide successful experiences for the student
Treat students with Dignity & Respect
Object to the BEHAVIOUR - not the student
Praise the student for achievements
Avoid Competition; always a loser; Set individual goals for each student
Give students room to achieve & explore – to make mistakes and learn from
them
Allow students to make choices whenever possible
Help students understand their feelings – provide releases for emotions
Show a basic feeling of worth & dignity toward student – All people need respect
Provide for productive & creative work - music-art-drama-poetry and literature
Listen to students and talk with them - Active Listening: eye contact - let them
know they are heard
Clear Messages - let student know exactly what is expected of him/her
Provide clear guidelines for Behaviour
Guide through Care and warmth instead of Fear or Guilt
Encourage Independence: “Don’t do anything for a student that he or she can do
for himself!”
Avoid Power Struggles
Be a Good Role Model
Nicknames - be positive - we become what we hear we are
Let students “overhear” positive comments about them
Improve self-efficacy for struggling students
Use moderately- difficult tasks
too easy - will be boring or embarrassing, may communicate feeling that teacher
doubts their abilities;
too-difficult task re-enforces low self-efficacy. Difficulty target is slightly above
students' current ability level.
Use peer models
learn by watching peer succeed.
Teach specific learning strategies
Give students a concrete plan of attack for working on an assignment.
Capitalize on students' interests
Link course material/concepts to student interests (e.g.) sports, pop culture, movies,
technology.
Allow students to make their own choices
Set some areas where students can make their own decisions (planning, marking).
Encourage students to try
Give consistent, credible and specific encouragement; "You can do this” Provide
outlines for assignments.
Give frequent, focused feedback
Praise and encouragement important, must be credible (earned praise); avoid
hyperbole. Feedback - compare to past performances by the same student, don't
make comparisons between students.
Encourage accurate attributions
Establish students don't fail because they're dumb, fail because they didn't follow
instructions, didn't spend enough time on the task; or, didn't follow through on the
learning strategy.
(from Margolis and McCabe, 2006 )
Self-esteem
Self-esteem reflects the intrinsic belief in the self, ie the overall opinion and value of a person.
Possessing a healthy capacity for good self-esteem involves self-respect, self-acceptance and an
appreciation of self-worth that embraces both strengths and limitations.
A person with ‘good enough’ self-esteem is able to feel good, even in the face of adversity (when
life events seem difficult, they still value themselves as good enough.)
Chronic low self-esteem in a similar situation may feel overwhelmed with negativity
Common elements of low self-esteem include:
Negative thoughts and beliefs about self
De-valuing of self-worth
Poor opinion of self
Self doubt and condemnation
Self criticism
Propensity for depressive thinking and hopelessness
Inclination to perfectionism
Distorted world view
Low self-esteem usually develops from early life ‘messages’ about being unacceptable in some way
that hold and strengthen over time thus developing the sense of low self-worth.
Moving out of low self-esteem
Possessing a healthy self-esteem does not necessarily
mean feeling happy and positive but rather that, even in
times when we feel sad or low, our intrinsic belief in our
worthwhile self remains in tact. Moving out of chronic low
self-esteem may be helped by
Reflect on reasons for low self-esteem - maybe thinking
through early life-experiences
Review negative beliefs and thoughts that hold low selfesteem locked in, and then dispute them (eg ‘I am
inferior’ could change to ‘I am OK as I am’)
Monitor self-critical, anxious thinking; counter negativity
with self-acceptance and positivity to ‘practice’ healthy
self-esteem beliefs
Consider lifestyle changes to include healthy options for
body, mind and spirit
Plan to do something enjoyable that is empowering and
self-nourishing and makes you feel good about yourself
Four Kinds of Identities
1. Master identities
2. Interactional identities
3. Personal identities
4. Relational identities
Four Kinds of Identities
• Master identities . . .
– are relatively stable and unchanging: gender,
ethnicity, age, national and regional origins
• The meanings of master identities
change across time and space.
– “Though the sex to which I belong is
considered weak … you will nevertheless find
me a rock that bends to no wind.”
– Queen Elizabeth I speaking to a French ambassado
Four Kinds of Identities
• Interactional identities . . .
– refer to roles that people take on in a
communicative context with specific other
people.
• For instance, Joey is my next door
neighbor Dan’s oldest child, he works for
Glass Nickel Pizza, he is friends with my
daughter Jenni, he shares an apartment
with some buddies from high school.
Four Kinds of Identities
• Personal identities . . .
– are expected to be relatively stable
and unique.
– reference ways in which people talk
and behave toward others: hotheaded,
honest, forthright, reasonable,
overbearing, a gossip, a brown-nose.
• Personal identities are frequently
contested.
Four Kinds of Identities
• Relational identities . . .
– refer to the kind of relationship that a
person enacts
• with a particular conversational partner
• in a specific situation.
• Relational identities are negotiated
from moment to moment and are
highly variable.
Johari WIndow