Concept of Self

The Concept of the Self in the Social World University Of Phoenix Understanding What Self Concept is Self Concept is the gathering of information about self, including ones personality, character, capabilities, and values. Self concept begins as an early as infancy, during this time the individual begins to formulate information about themselves. This process allows them to prepare and began to understand how they are related to others in their social world. Individuals’ going through this process of development is an exact reaction that is a result of their relationship with their peers and family members. A child’s self concept is less likely to be as defined but more set on things like physical looks, skills, and what materialistic things that they have in common. As the individual gets older the self concept becomes more compound and defined. The individual takes into consideration the social comparison. This paper will discuss self concept in the social world according to Myers, examples of how self concept is related to me and two social experiences that have had an effect on my development personally. Self Concept in the Social World The most essential aspect of you is you (Myers 2010). Self concept is a combination of various things that an individual feels contributes to who they are. Self concept involves what gender or gender role you play, how smart or not smart an individual sees themselves, even their sexuality. The components of an individual’s self concept and those exact things that an individual believes makes them who they are called self schemas (Myers 2010). Self schemas is the mental way that we classify ourselves, tall or short, big or small, rich poor. Self schemas also help the way the we perceive others and ourselves. An individual’s self concept also helps the way we perceive ourselves in the present form and the way we perceive ourselves in the future (Myers 2010). Our social behavior is also affected by our self concept. In the social world we are often placed into new roles in our life. These new roles help us to discover things that may not have been considered before, leadership or teaching are some examples. Social Comparison The way we view ourselves as being smart, lazy, or rich have to do with the way we compare ourselves to our social world. The majority of our life is based off of social comparison (Myers 2010). We often times view ourselves differently than what we view others. When people are doing better than us we tend to compare ourselves in hopes that we will reach their level of greatness (Myers 2010). The way that others view us are also a part of what affects our social concept. If people in the social world view us smart or pretty, dumb or ugly then there is a chance that we will view ourselves the same way. Charles H. Cooley developed the looking glass self which states that we use how we think people perceive us as the way we perceive ourselves. George Herbert Mead came and filtered Cooley’s theory by saying that it doesn’t matter how others see us but how we think they see us. Applying Self to My Life Self Concept When I consider what self concept is exactly, how I view myself, (Myers 2010) I think back to my social surroundings. Prior to this class I never considered how big of a part my up bring affected the way that I view myself. There may have been a time when I viewed myself as dumb instead of not comprehending something. When in actuality it doesn’t mean that I am dumb but that I just didn’t grasp an understanding of the problem. As an adult and having younger people looking at me I try to create a sense of positivity around them, so that they can see past the current situations that they may be facing. I never considered this to be a part of me having an impact on their self concept. Self Esteem Self esteem is a part of self concept. I believe my self esteem plays a big part in my personal worth and the way that I value myself. Studies show that low self esteem can result in violence (Roy & Smart & Boden). I think that my self esteem affects the way that I dress, the compared to hierarchy of needs. Abraham Maslow, hierarchy of needs, suggests that we not only need the esteem from others but also the respect that I have for myself. For myself my self esteem has helped me have pride in myself and hold my head high in different situations. Personally I believe that my self esteem has helped me make some of the choices I’ve made about my body and mind. Esteem set to highly in high school can lead to poor achievements (Purkey). Although my self esteem has been good for the most part people that I’ve surrounded myself with have kept me humble. Self Efficacy My self efficacy like my self concept and self esteem started when I was younger. I was always told to reach for my dreams and set my mind to whatever it is I wanted out of life I go for it. Similar to my self esteem I think my self efficacy has had an effect on my motivation and the way that I behave. I think that life throws curve balls but because of my self efficacy even though I don’t succeed in the beginning I don’t allow those things to let me give up. I also believe that because of my self efficacy when I am very interested in something I usually dedicate myself to it 100 percent. Two Social Experiences Growing Up I kind of grew up with the good vs. vil lifestyle. Although both my parents grew up in the same neighborhood they were raised differently. My mother grew up in a very religious house, my father grew up on the slightly criminal and drug environment. I grew up with my father being on drugs and an alcoholic. It actually started right after I was born. This left me feeling like I was the cause for a long time even though in reality I ha d nothing to do with it. My mother was forced to work a lot of jobs, as many as four at one time. I can’t remember being told I was pretty from my parents but I had 3 brothers who did. I also had my grandparents who influenced my life for the better, I think instead of taking the negative I tried to use it as a positive. Instead of me judging or hating my mother because she was never around I looked at her as having a lot of strength. I learned that no matter the situation you have to keep pushing. In return I don’t think I show emotions a lot of times. My father’s situation made me stay away from drugs for the most part minus my experimenting with weed. Being Helpful My grandparents for as long as I can remember gave whatever they had to help even though they didn’t have a lot. I’ve always been the type of child who always wanted to make sure those older than me where okay. As I grew older I in a way it was by chance that I walked into my career choice. In the beginning it was because I needed a job, but my desire and passion to help others has kept me there for as long as it has. I have always wanted to help people no matter the age, gender, or circumstance. I also believe that this is the reason I have stuck with psychology. I have had many setbacks since I began the quest for this degree in 2000, but I feel like this is my life’s calling and I have to graduate. Conclusion The concept of the self I a social world is really amazing. It’s very interesting how your social surroundings as small as infants can carry on to adulthood and play a big part in the individual that you become. I believe if more people realized the importunacy of self concept, self esteem, and self efficacy then individuals could possibly have a better life and an outlook on life. Work Cited Baumeister, Roy F. ; Smart, Laura; Boden, Joseph M. (1996). Relation of threatened egotism to violence and aggression: The dark side of high self esteem. Psychological Review, 103 (1) 5-33 Bracken, Bruce A. Ed), (1996). Handbook of self-concept: Developmental, social, and clinical considerations, (pp. 38-90). Marsh, W. Herbert, Shavelson, Richard (2010). Self Concept: Its Multifaceted, Hierarchical Structure. 107-123 Mcleod, S. A. (2008). Simply Psychology; The Self Concept in Psychology. Retrieved 19 December 2011, from http://www. simplypsychology. org/self-concept. html Myers, D. (2010 ). Social Psychology (10th ed. ). New York: McGraw Hill. Pajares, Frank; Miller, M. David. (1994) Journal of Educational Psychology, Vol 86(2), 193-203. Purkey, William Watson. (1970). Self Consept and School Achievment.