CHAPTER 4
Seeking Selfhood
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CHAPTER SUMMARY
What Is the Self-Concept?
Self-Image
Ideal Self
Multiple Selves
Duffy/Atwater © 2005 Prentice Hall
Chapter Summary Cont’d
Core Characteristics
of the Self-Concept
Self-Consistency
Self-Esteem
Self-Enhancement and
Self Verification
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Chapter Summary Cont’d
The Self-Concept
and Personal Growth
The Self You’d Like to Be
Our Social Selves
Learning from Criticism
Greater Self-Direction
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What Is the Self-Concept
Introduction
Self-concept is the overall image or awareness
we have of ourselves. It includes all those
perceptions of “I” and “me”, together with the
feelings, beliefs, and values associated with them.
Self-concept provides you with a personal
identity or sense of who you are.
Most people actively manage their self-concepts
so as to maintain a positive view of themselves.
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Introduction Cont’d
Most people adopt self-serving biases. That is, they make
positive attributions about themselves.
Attribution is the process of ascribing the cause of some
event.
Self-serving attribution means glorifying the self or
conceiving of the self as causing the good outcomes that
come to us.
Self-concept is comprised of many component, such as
Body image
Self-image
Ideal self
Social self
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Self-Image
Self-image is the self “I see myself as”.
In other words, it is the self you think you are.
We acquire many self-perceptions over the years that
combine to make up our self-image.
Self-image is shaped by significant others, such as
parents.
People with a sturdy self-image cope better than those
without one.
We continually revise our self-image because of
experiences.
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Ideal Self
Ideal self is the self you would like to be, including your
aspirations, moral ideals, and personal values.
The ideal self is substantially derived
from the “shoulds” and “oughts” we
learned as children.
If our ideal self is different from the way we believe others
see us, the result often is social anxiety or extreme
shyness that interferes with daily life.
In those instances where our ideals seem unattainable, it is
wise to revise the ideal self.
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Multiple Selves
As mentioned earlier, the self is made up of multiple
components derived from our experiences, interactions
with others, successes, failures etc.
Thus, people from different cultures possess
different self-concepts; culture is a very
influential factor in personal development.
Some people possess more differentiated and complex
self-concepts than others.
People with too fragmented or incoherent self-concepts
have difficulty adjusting to changes in circumstances.
In extreme cases such people may develop mental
disorders.
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Core Characteristics
of The Self-Concept
Self-Consistency
Self-consistency is our tendency to perceive our
experiences in a manner consistent with our self-concept.
Our self-concept, however, is not always consistent with all
of our experiences, because, as Carl Rogers stated, we
have had conditions of worth placed on us.
Conditions of worth are conditions placed on us such that
we only feel loved IF we meet the conditions.
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Self-Consistency Cont’d
Thus, we begin to selectively allow only certain
experiences into our reality.
Experiences that do not mesh with our learned selfconcept may be seen as too threatening or might be
distorted to fit our current reality.
Such denial of experiences is roughly comparable to
what Freud called denial.
Another tactic for coping with experiences that don’t fit
our self-concept is self-immunization.
Self-immunization involves trivializing threatening
information by making the behavior seem less
important.
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Self-Esteem
Self-esteem is our evaluation of ourselves and the
resulting feelings of worth associated with self-concept.
Self-esteem may be the most important component of
self in terms of its affect on our mental health, coping
abilities, and personal growth.
Our achievements, rejection by others, estimations of
our intelligence, personal appearance, and other
attributes influence our level of self-esteem.
As such, our overall self-esteem is a complex
combination of factors.
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Self-Esteem Cont’d
Most people tend to enjoy moderately high levels of selfesteem.
This is fortunate, because self-esteem exerts a powerful
influence on expectations we have for ourselves.
People with high self-esteem:
Like what they see in the mirror
Feel comfortable with themselves
Regard failures as opportunities
Give credit to others when it is due
Make realistic demands of themselves
Accept compliments graciously
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People with low self-esteem:
Feel discontented most of the time
Brag about or apologize for their achievements
Make excuses for failures
Try to convert others to their viewpoints
Envy others or “put them down” with sarcasm
Expect too much or too little of themselves
Reject compliments or “qualify” them
Withhold affection out of fear of being hurt
Fortunately, self-esteem is an acquired trait, so it can be
modified or improved no matter how little you have to start
with!
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Self-Enhancement and Self-Verification
There are two competing theories regarding feedback
about the self:
Self-enhancement theory states that people will try
to get positive feedback that affirms their own ideas
about their positive qualities.
Self-verification theory stipulates that people want
to preserve their own images (positive and negative)
and therefore elicit feedback from others that verifies
or confirms their own self-perceptions.
In summary, people generally prefer to hear personal
feedback that is positive but also confirms their own selfperceptions.
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Self-Enhancement and Self-Verification Cont’d
WOMEN AND MEN:
Gender role is a social and cultural expectation about
what is appropriate for males or females.
Neither masculinity nor femininity per se contributes more
to self-esteem.
Instead, if the attribute being judged is associated with
one’s sex role, it is more crucial to judgments of self-worth.
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WOMEN AND MEN CONT’D:
Thus, because the feminine sex role promotes social
relationships, feminine women with many friends probably
have higher esteem
The masculine sex role is more task-oriented, so masculine
men who accomplish many tasks may have higher esteem
than men who don’t.
Men’s and women’s self-esteem levels, therefore, are similar,
according to research.
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MINORITIES
Minority groups are relatively small or have less
power as compared to the majority group.
The fastest growing minority in the United States is
Hispanics. Other minority groups include AfricanAmericans, Asians such as the Chinese and
Japanese, as well as other groups.
Minorities use some of the same self-protections for
maintaining self-esteem as do Whites.
For example, minorities sometimes attribute their
failures to prejudice or discrimination.
Or minorities compare themselves to each other
rather than to the White majority.
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The Self-Concept
and Personal Growth
The Self You’d Like to Be
As mentioned earlier, self concept is ever-evolving,
because our self-image changes based on our
experiences.
New friends, a different job, changes in family
circumstances or finances – all have an impact on our
self-concept.
Despite spontaneous change, Americans spend
billions of dollars trying to improve themselves.
One promising and “free” method for changing yourself
is visualizing and practicing being the self you’d like to
be.
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Our Social Selves
Social self refers to the impressions we think others
have of us.
We have as many social selves as there are groups of
people we know.
The spotlight effect, though, creates errors in our
judgments of what others think of us; because of this
effect, we overestimate the salience of our behaviors
and our effects on others.
Thus, others shape our self-perceptions
and our own self-perceptions shape
what others think of us!
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Learning from Criticism
Of course, most people don’t like to be criticized.
We waste precious energy and feel unwelcome anxiety
when we worry about criticism.
Accepting and managing criticism may provide valuable
opportunities for personal growth.
Criticism can also provide new and needed information.
Criticisms that are repeated may have some kernel of
truth to them and merit our attention.
If you think the criticism is worthy of consideration,
instead of defending yourself, take positive steps toward
self-change.
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Greater Self-Direction
We also need to listen to ourselves. Underneath it all, we may
be asking “Who am I, really?”
As we understand who we are and become more comfortable
with ourselves, we proceed from “other-directedness” (letting
others guide us) to “self-directedness” (creating our own
future).
For example, as other-directed children become
self-directed adolescents, they search for a
self-identity. This search, guided by self-direction,
may be what many adults perceive as
negativity on the part of adolescents.
The later stages of self-fulfillment or self-actualization, by
which our search for self is inspired, are filled with selfdirectedness.
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Greater Self-Direction Cont’d
Individuals who are actualizing or are self-directed are MORE:
Open to their own experiences
Characterized by trust in themselves
Accepting of others
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Individuals who are NOT self-directed are MORE:
Dependent on others and feel more obligated
to them
Likely to seek approval from others rather
than seek self-satisfaction
Unlikely to self-correct harmful behaviors
and attitudes
Apt to feel a sense of self-alienation
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Conclusion
Personal growth may be unsettling at times.
It involves moving away from what is familiar and
comfortable.
Growth means that you see yourself as a different and
evolving person.
Personal growth is a never-ending journey.
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