Understanding Self Components of Self Self Concept Self Confidence Self Image Sabnam Basu

SELF
UNDERSTANDING SELF
COMPONENTS OF SELF
SELF CONCEPT
SELF CONFIDENCE
SELF IMAGE
SABNAM BASU
INTRODUCTION TO SELF
 Have you ever been at a noisy gathering—struggling to have a
conversation over music and the chatter of voices—and yet
managed to hear someone at the other end of the room mention your
name? If so, then you have experienced the “cocktail party
effect”—the tendency of people to pick a personally relevant
stimulus, like a name, out of a complex and noisy environment
(Cherry, 1953; Wood & Cowan, 1995). Even infants who are too
young to walk or talk exhibit this tendency (Newman, 2005). To the
cognitive psychologist, this phenomenon shows that human beings
are selective in their attention. To the social psychologist, it also
shows that the self is an important object of our own attention.
 The self is first and foremost the collection of beliefs that we hold
about ourselves.
 What are our important characteristics? What are we good at? What
do we do poorly? What kind of situations do we prefer or avoid?
UNDERSTANDING SELF
 Self Understanding is the awareness of and ability
to understand one’s own thoughts and actions.
 To attain the insight into your attitudes, motives,
defences, reactions, weaknesses and strengths.
 It is a subjective sense of the self & a complex
mixture of unconscious & conscious thoughts,
attitudes & perceptions.
DEFINITION OF UNDERSTANDING SELF
 Understanding self represents the sum total of
people’s conscious perception of their identity as
distinct from others. It is not a static phenomenon,
but continues to develop & change throughout our
lives. - George Herbert Head
 The understanding self is thinking about what is
involved in being? What distinguish you from being
an object, an animal or different person? - Richard
Stevens
IMPORTANCE OF UNDERSTANDING SELF
 Self-understanding has been recognized as a key

competency for individuals to function efficiently in
organizations.
 It influences an individual’s ability to make key
decisions about self, others around.
 Understanding the self equips individuals with
making more effective career & life choice, the
ability to lead, guide & inspire with authenticity.
SELF CONCEPT
 The set of beliefs that we hold about who we are is

called the self concept.
 It can also be defined as the sum total of an
individual’s beliefs about his or her own personal
attributes.
 It is basically the individuals image of the kind of
person he or she is. Especially included in this are
the awareness of being (What I am) and
awareness of function (What I can do).
 Self concept includes not only our perceptions of
what we are but also what we think, we ought to be
and would like to be. This latter component of the
self is called the ideal self. The ideal self represents
the self concept that an individual would ideally want
to posses.
TWO WAYS IN WHICH WE PERCEIVE
OURSELVES
 POSITIVE SELF CONCEPT: People with positive
self concept believe in themselves, are confident
about their ability to deal with problems, make
decisions, feel equal to others, have respect for
themselves and expect it from others. These are
people who are realistic in their assessment of
themselves and can admit to a wide range of
feelings, behaviours and needs.
 NEGATIVE SELF CONCEPT: If people see
themselves as failures and have a negative,
pessimistic image of themselves, they will begin to
act the part. Negative feelings feed on themselves
and become a downward spiral, gradually
encompassing all of the people’s thoughts, actions
and relationships. People with negative self
concepts tend to complain constantly and find it
difficult to accept criticism.
Like other belief systems, the self concept includes
1.cognitive aspect
2. behavioral aspect
3. affective aspect
COGNITIVE ASPECT: SELF SCHEMA
 Self schemas are “cognitive generalizations about
the self, derived from past experience, that
organize and guide the processing of self-related
information”
AFFECTIVE/EVALUATIVE ASPECT : SELF
ESTEEM
“self esteem reflects the perceived difference

between an individual’s actual self concept (who I
think I really am) and some ideal self image (who I
would really like to be).”
William James (1890) expressed the relationship this
way.
Self esteem= success/pretension
Pretension (ideals against which individuals assess
their actual self image)
BEHAVIORAL ASPECT : SELF PERCEPTION
 Darl Bem (1972) influential self perception theory
reflects we observe our behavior and the situation
in which it took place, make attributions about why
the behavior occurred, and draw conclusions about
our own characteristic and disposition.
 In other words we come to understand ourselves
the same way we perceive and understand others.
COMPONENETS OF SELF-
CONCEPT
1. Self- 2. Body
esteem Image
Self-
concept
4. Role 3. Personal
performance Identity
Factors Affecting Self-Concept
Factors
across the life
span
Psychological Self Physiological

Factors Concept Factors
Cultural and life

style Factors
BUILDING UP SELF CONCEPT
 Building up self concept is primary factor of
effective personality and behaviour. The four steps
to build-up self concept are as follows:
1. Self awareness
2. Self acceptance
3. Self realization
4. Self disclosure
SELF AWARENESS
 Our attention is sometimes directed outward towards the
environment and sometimes it is focused inward on
ourselves.
 Certain experiences in the world automatically focus
attention inwards, such as catching sight of ourselves in
the mirror, having our picture taken, or, more subtly,
being evaluated by others.
 We begin to think of ourselves not as moving actors in
the environment but as objects of our own and others’
attention. Experiencing oneself as an objects of our own
and others’ attention is called self awareness.
 It leads people to evaluate their behavior against a
standard (standards for physical appearance,
intellectual performance, athletic prowess, or moral
integrity) and to set an adjustment process in motion for
meeting the standard.
SELF ACCEPTANCE
 Having being aware of who we really are, rather
than the person we would wish to be, the next step
on our journey to self concept is to accept
ourselves.
 According to Shepard (1979), self-acceptance is an
individual's satisfaction or happiness with oneself,
and is thought to be necessary for good mental
health.
 Self-acceptance involves self-understanding, a
realistic, though subjective, awareness of one's
strengths and weaknesses. It results in an
individual's feeling about oneself, that they are of
"unique worth".
SELF REALIZATION
 The term self realization means to fulfilment of
one's own potential.
 It is realizing our inner potentialities.
 This step on self concept route involves growth and

development motivated from within.
 It is a willingness to pursue our ideal-self on our
own, to grow and to change because we think it is
important.
SELF DISCLOSURE
 Self disclosure is the process of letting another person know
what we think, feel and want, that is telling others about
ourselves.
 It includes all kinds of information: life experiences, personal
circumstances, feelings, dreams, opinions and so on.
 It involves disclosing our innermost thoughts and feelings.
 The final stage towards a mature self concept is how we are
going to reveal our ‘self’, and this is where self awareness
plays an important role. We need to know ourselves well
before we can disclose or reveal anything to others about our
‘real self’
 Research indicates that self-disclosure leads to self-
contentment, helps a person to be more perceptive, adaptive,
competent, trusting and positive towards others.
SELF CONFIDENCE
 A feeling of trust in one's abilities, qualities, and
judgement is self confidence.
 The belief that you can achieve success and
competence. In other words – believing yourself to be
capable.
 Self-confidence might be in reference to specific tasks
or a more wide ranging attitude you hold about your
abilities in life.
 Both self confidence and self esteem relate to your
perception of yourself, the former relates to your
perception of your abilities and the latter relates to your
perception of your worth or value.
 Both concepts are closely related and those with low
self confidence will often have low self esteem and vice
versa
SELF IMAGE
 Self-image is how you perceive yourself.
 It is a number of self-impressions that have built up over
time: What are your hopes and dreams? What do you
think and feel? What have you done throughout your life
and what did you want to do?
 These self-images can be very positive, giving a person
self confidence in their thoughts and actions, or
negative, making a person doubtful of their capabilities
and ideas.
 Surprisingly, your self-image can be very different from
how the world sees you. Some people who outwardly
seem to have it all (intelligence, looks, personal and
financial success) may have a bad self-image.
Conversely, others who have had a very difficult life and
multiple hardships may also have a very positive self-
image.
 Some believe that a person's self-image is defined by
events that affect him or her (doing well or not in school,
work, or relationships.)
 Others believe that a person's self-image can help
shape those events.
 There is probably some truth to both schools of thought:
failing at something can certainly cause one to feel bad
about oneself, just as feeling good about oneself can
lead to better performance on a project.
 But it cannot be denied that your self-image has a very
strong impact on your happiness, and your outlook on
life can affect those around you. If you project a
positive self-image, people will be more likely to see
you as a positive, capable person.
 However, it's important that your self-image be both
positive and realistic.
 Having a self-image that is unrealistic can be a
drawback, whether that self-image is negative OR
positive.
 Sometimes having an occasional negative thought
or criticism about oneself can encourage change,
hard work, growth and success. Sometimes having
too positive an image of oneself can encourage
complacency, underachievement, and arrogance.
Finding the balance between feeling positive about
oneself but having realistic goals is important.
THANK YOU

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What are the components of self?

What is self-concept?

SELF

 Self-understanding has been recognized as a key

 The set of beliefs that we hold about who we are is

“self esteem reflects the perceived difference

Psychological Self Physiological

Cultural and life

 This step on self concept route involves growth and

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