Unit III - SELF

Self concept
Self-concept is the way people think about themselves. It is unique, dynamic, and always
evolving. This mental image of oneself influences a persons identity, self-esteem, body image,
and role in society. As a global understanding of oneself, self-concept shapes and defines who we
are, the decisions we make, and the relationships we form.
A persons self-concept is often defined by self-description that results to the question Who am
I. The answer includes all of the characteristic ways a person thinks of herself. For example, a
person might say I am a student or I am carefree.
The general self-concept does not reflect adequately the diversity of specific self-facets. If the
role of self-concept is to better understand the complexity of self in different contexts, to predict
a wide variety of behaviors, to provide outcome measures for diverse interventions, and to relate
self-concept to other constructs, then the specific facets of self-concept are more useful than a
global indicator.
Shavelson and his colleagues reviewed existing research and developed a multifaceted,
hierarchical model of self-concept. According to them, Self-concept is
1. It is organized or structured, in that people categorize the vast amount of information they
have about themselves and relate these categories to one another.
2. It is multifaceted, and the particular facets reflect a self-referent category system adopted
by a particular individual and/or shared by a group.
3. It is hierarchical, with perceptions of personal behavior at the base moving to inferences
about self in subareas (e.g., English and mathematics components contribute to academic
self-concept, whereas physical, social, emotional components contribute to nonacademic
self-concept), and then to inferences about the self in general.
4. The hierarchical general self-conceptthe apex of the modelis stable, but as one
descends the hierarchy, self-concept increasingly becomes situation-specific and less
stable.

5. Self-concept increasingly becomes multifaceted as the individual moves from infancy to

adulthood.
6. Self-concept has both a descriptive and an evaluative aspect, such that individuals may
describe themselves ("I am happy") and evaluate themselves ("I do well in
mathematics").
7. Self-concept can be differentiated from other constructs such as academic achievement.

Self esteem
The term self-esteem is used to refer to the way people generally feel about themselves. It is a
person's overall subjective emotional evaluation of his or her own worth. This overall attitude
(feeling of self-worth) is result of the way people evaluate their various abilities and attributes. It
is relatively enduring, both across time and situations.
High self-esteem is characterized by a general fondness or love for oneself; low self-esteem is
characterized by mildly positive or ambivalent feelings toward oneself.
Researchers have noted that self-esteem develops at an early age and is characterized by two
types of feelings.
a) Feeling of belonging is rooted in social experiences. Belonging is the feeling that one is
unconditionally loved and valued, not for any particular quality or reason but simply for
who one is. A sense of belonging gives people a secure base in life. It gives them the
feeling that no matter what happens, they are valued and respected.
b) Feelings of mastery involve the perception that one is having an impact on the world
not necessarily in any largescale sense, but in ones day-to-day life. Mastery is not the
same as perceived competence.

People with high self-esteem possess the following characteristics:

They like to meet new people.

They dont worry about how others will judge them.
They have the courage to express themselves.
Their lives are enriched with each new encounter.

People with low self-esteem possess the following characteristics:

They dont believe in themselves.
They see themselves failing before they begin.
They have a hard time forgiving their mistakes and make themselves pay the price
forever.

They believe they can never be as good as they should be or as others.

They are afraid to show their creativity because they will be ridiculed.
They are dissatisfied with their lives.
They spend most of their time alone.
They complain and criticize.
They worry about everything and do nothing.

Self-efficacy
Self-efficacy is the belief in ones own ability to successfully accomplish something. It is
perceptions of one's skills and capabilities to execute courses of action required to deal with
prospective situations. Peoples self-efficacy beliefs determine their level of motivation, as
reflected in how much effort they will exert in an endeavor and how long they will persevere in
the face of obstacles.
People with high assurance in their capabilities approach difficult tasks as challenges to be
mastered rather than as threats to be avoided. Such an efficacious outlook fosters intrinsic
interest and deep engrossment in activities. They set themselves challenging goals and maintain
strong commitment to them. In contrast, people who doubt their capabilities shy away from
difficult tasks which they view as personal threats. They have low aspirations and weak
commitment to the goals they choose to pursue. When faced with difficult tasks, they dwell on
their personal deficiencies, on the obstacles they will encounter, and all kinds of adverse
outcomes rather than concentrate on how to perform successfully
The theory introduces the idea that the perception of efficacy is influenced by four factors:
mastery experience, vicarious experience, verbal persuasion, and somatic and emotional state

a) Mastery experience We all have mastery experiences. These occur when we attempt to do
something and are successful; that is, we have mastered something. Mastery experiences
are the most effective way to boost self-efficacy because people are more likely to
believe they can do something new if it is similar to something they have already done
well.

b) Vicarious experience another factor influencing perception of self-efficacy is vicarious

experience, or the observation of the successes and failures of others (models) who are
similar to ones self. Watching someone like yourself successfully accomplish something
you would like to attempt increases self-efficacy. Conversely, observing someone like
you fail detracts or threatens self-efficacy. The extent to which vicarious experiences
affect self-efficacy is related to how much like yourself you think the model is. The more
one associates with the person being watched, the greater the influence on the belief that
ones self can also accomplish the behavior being observed.
c) Verbal persuasion: The third factor affecting self-efficacy is verbal or social persuasion.
When people are persuaded verbally that they can achieve or master a task, they are more
likely to do the task. Having others verbally support attainment or mastery of a task goes
a long way in supporting a persons belief in himself or herself. Coaches frequently use
this tactic with their teams. Coach tells the players that they are going to win, that the
other team is no match for them, that they are stronger, faster, better prepared, and so on.
d) Somatic and emotional states The physical and emotional states that occur when someone
contemplates doing something provide clues as to the likelihood of success or failure.
Stress, anxiety, worry, and fear all negatively affect self-efficacy. If the emotional state
improves (ie emotional arousal or stress is reduced) people may perceive higher selfefficacy which, in turn, leads to higher degree of goal attainment.

Self-Presentation
The tendency to convey some information about oneself or some image of oneself to other
people is termed as self-presentation. It involves any behavior intended to create, modify, or
maintain an impression of ourselves in the minds of others. Because much of our time is spent in
the company of other people, self-presentation is a pervasive feature of social life. We even
engage in self-presentation when we are alone; for example, we rehearse what we are going to
say or do in public, molding our behavior to an imaginary or anticipated audience. Sometimes
this rehearsal is deliberate and noticeable (as when we prepare for a job interview or a public
speaking engagement); other times it is automatic and almost imperceptible (as when we
mindlessly check our hair in the mirror before stepping out the front door).
Our success at leading others to believe we possess various characteristics has a profound
influence on our outcomes in life. Who we marry, who our friends are, whether we get ahead at
work, and many other outcomes depend, to a great extent, on our ability to convince people that
we are worthy of their love, their friendship, their trust, and their respect.
Although everyone engages in self-presentation, people vary with respect to how concerned they
are with their public image and with the kinds of impressions they try to convey. Successful selfpresentation involves a mix of motivation and ability. People can be motivated to make a
particular impression, but they may fail to do so because they are unaware of what behaviors are
needed or because they arent able to perform the appropriate behaviors.
There are several ways in which people try to form their impressions on others. These are
a) Ingratiation is a psychological technique in which an individual attempts to become more
attractive or likeable to their target. Often ingratiation is accomplished through imitation,
flattery, doing favors for someone, and displaying positive personal characteristics.
b) Self-promotion is another common self-presentational strategy. Here we seek to convince
people of our competence. This is not the same as ingratiation. With ingratiation, we are
trying to get people to like us. With self-promotion, we are trying to get people to think
we are capable, intelligent, or talented.
c) Intimidation: On many occasions people want to be feared. This is intimidation. An
employer, for example, might want to be viewed as tough, powerful, or ruthless. These

views might serve to increase her workers productivity and soften their demands for
salary increases and other benefits.
d) Exemplification is defined as a strategic self-presentational strategy whereby an
individual attempts to project an image of integrity and moral worthiness. A person can
accomplish exemplification by presenting him or herself as honest, disciplined, selfsacrificing, generous, or principled. When successful, a person who exemplifies integrity
and moral worthiness may be able to influence other people to follow his or her example.
Like other self-presentation strategies, the goal of exemplification is to gain power over
others by controlling the perceptions of the actor's character.
e) Supplication occurs when individuals present their weaknesses or deficiencies to receive
compassion and assistance from others. The individual engaging in supplication
purposely advertises his or her own weaknesses and incompetence so as to gain sympathy
from potential helpers.
f) Self-handicapping occurs when individuals produce obstacles to own success. The
intention is to create an impression that the failure is actually caused because of some
external obstacle and not due to incompetence. Self-handicapping can be seen as a
method of preserving self-esteem particularly when the chances of failure are high.