INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION
Unit 3 Seminar
Self-concept and communication
SELF CONCEPT
The relatively stable set of perceptions
you hold of yourself.
SELF ESTEEM
The part of the self-concept that
involves evaluations of self-worth.
Self-concept
• Values – refers to your relatively permanent
ideas of what is good or bad, worthwhile or
not.
• Beliefs – what you think is true based on
logic.
• Attitudes – refer to more specific application
of your values. How you act.
• Feeling – emotional responses to things such
as events, people, places or situations
Self-disclosure
• This is the process of sharing personal information or
feelings with others. This process is often difficult.
• This process can take place in three settings.
Public
Public-private
Private
• Factors that influence self-disclosure include
1. The place
2. The person or group
Communication behavior
• People change their communication in direct
response to the situation, place and people.
• Situation – with the Dean, in trouble
• Place – in class, after school, at Mass,
• People – teachers, parents, friends
For discussion
• What do you remember being told as a
child that still influences your behavior
today in a negative way? In a positive
way?
BIOLOGICAL AND SOCIAL ROOTS OF THE SELF
Biology
1. Personality
Socialization
1. Reflected Appraisal
• Significant Others
2. Social Comparison
• Reference Groups
CHARACTERISTICS OF SELF-CONCEPT
1. The self-concept is subjective.
1. Obsolete information
2. Distorted feedback
3. Myth of perfection
4. Social expectations
2. The self-concept resists change.
1. Cognitive conservatism
INFLUENCES ON IDENTITY
1. Culture
2. Sex and Gender
For discussion
• How are your identity and social views
defined, sustained, and reinforced by
the cultures within which you immerse
your life?
SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECY
Occurs when a person’s expectations of
an event and her/his subsequent behavior
based on those expectations make the
outcome more likely to occur than would
otherwise have been true.
Two types:
self-imposed
others-imposed
Changing your self-concept
• Have a realistic perception of
yourself.
• Have realistic expectations.
• Have the will to change.
• Have the skill to change.
IDENTITY MANAGEMENT
The communication strategies people
use to influence how others view them.
PERCEIVED SELF: the person you believe
yourself to be in moments of honest selfexamination
PRESENTING SELF: the way we want
others to view us
For discussion
• What is a strong value, belief, or
attitude you have that you learned from
your family while growing up?
CHARACTERISTICS OF
IDENTITY MANAGEMENT
1. We strive to construct multiple identities.
2. Identity management is collaborative.
3. Identity management can be deliberate or
unconscious.
4. Identity management varies by situation.
5. People differ in their degree of identity
management.
For discussion
• How might you benefit from changing
your self-concept?
WHY MANAGE IDENTITIES?
To start & manage relationships; adhere to social rules
To gain compliance of others; accomplish personal goals
To save others’ face
HOW DO WE MANAGE IMPRESSIONS?
Face-to-face: manner, appearance, setting
Mediated: choices to include and exclude
For discussion
• What are some general world views
that you hold? Where did you learn
them?