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AN EXPLORATION OF 'WHO AM I?'

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Self-concept is the image that we have of ourselves. How exactly does this self-image form and change over time? This image develops in a number of ways but is particularly influenced by our interactions with important people in our lives.

Defining Self-Concept

Self-concept is generally thought of as our individual perceptions of our behavior, abilities, and unique characteristics. It is essentially a mental picture of who you are as a person. For example, beliefs such as "I am a good friend" or "I am a kind person" are part of an overall self-concept.

Self-concept tends to be more malleable when people are younger and still going through the process of self-discovery and identity formation. As people age, self-perceptions become much more detailed and organized as people form a better idea of who they are and what is important to them.

According to the book "Essential Social Psychology" by Richard Crisp and Rhiannon Turner:

The individual self consists of attributes and personality traits that differentiate us from other individuals. Examples include introversion or extroversion.

The relational self is defined by our relationships with significant others. Examples include siblings, friends, and spouses.

The collective self reflects our membership in social groups. Examples include British, Republican, African-American, or gay.

At its most basic, self-concept is a collection of beliefs one holds about oneself and the responses of others. It embodies the answer to the question "Who am I?"

Theories of Self-Concept

Like many topics within psychology, a number of theorists have proposed different ways of thinking about self-concept. According to a theory known as social identity theory, self-concept is composed of two key parts: personal identity and social identity.

Personal identity includes the traits and other characteristics that make each person unique. Social identity refers to how we identify with a collective, such as a community, religion, or political movement.

Psychologist Dr. Bruce A. Bracken suggested in 1992 that there are six specific domains related to self-concept:

Social: the ability to interact with others

Competence: the ability to meet basic needs

Affect: the awareness of emotional states

Physical: feelings about looks, health, physical condition, and overall appearance

Academic: success or failure in school

Family: how well one functions within the family unit

Humanist psychologist, Carl Rogers believed that there were three different parts of self-concept:

Self-image, or how you see yourself. Each individual's self-image is a mixture of different attributes including our physical characteristics, personality traits, and social roles. Self-image doesn't necessarily coincide with reality. Some people might have an inflated self-image of themselves, while others may perceive or exaggerate the flaws and weaknesses that others don't see.

Self-esteem, or how much you value yourself. A number of factors can impact self-esteem, including how we compare ourselves to others and how others respond to us. When people respond positively to our behavior, we are more likely to develop positive self-esteem. When we compare ourselves to others and find ourselves lacking, it can have a negative impact on our self-esteem.

Ideal self, or how you wish you could be. In many cases, the way we see ourselves and how we would like to see ourselves do not quite match up.

Congruence and Incongruence

As mentioned earlier, our self-concepts are not always perfectly aligned with reality. Some students might believe that they are great at academics, but their school transcripts might tell a different story.

According to Carl Rogers, the degree to which a person's self-concept matches up to reality is known as congruence and incongruence.

While we all tend to distort reality to a certain degree, congruence occurs when self-concept is fairly well aligned with reality. Incongruence happens when reality does not match up to our self-concept.

Rogers believed that incongruence has its earliest roots in childhood. When parents place conditions on their affection for their children (only expressing love if children "earn it" through certain behaviors and living up to the parents' expectations), children begin to distort the memories of experiences that leave them feeling unworthy of their parents' love.

Unconditional love, on the other hand, helps to foster congruence. Children who experience such love feel no need to continually distort their memories in order to believe that other people will love and accept them as they are.

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What Is Self-Concept and How Does It Form?

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Self-concept is the image that we have of ourselves. How exactly does this self-image form and change over time? This image develops in a number of ways but is particularly influenced by our interactions with important people in our lives. Self-concept is generally thought of as our individual perceptions of our behavior, abilities, and unique characteristics.

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SIGMUND FREUD   UNDER ANALYSIS   PBS DOCUMENTARY   History Biography Psychology full documentary

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Carl Rogers believed that humans are constantly reacting to the stimuli they encounter within their reality. This stimuli changes constantly, which requires each person to develop their concept of self, based on the feedback they receive from their reality. Rogers, a humanistic psychology, believed that his theory of personality would help to understand why there is such an emphasis on the importance of self-fulfilling tendencies and prophesies during the personality shaping.

This means it is up to each individual to shape their own personality, based on the type of feedback that they receive from their external and internal worlds. It also means that the personality of an individual can change over time because the stimuli they encounter, either real or perceived, may vary.

Rogers believed that humans are always active. They are always experiencing life as it occurs in creative ways. This causes them to form perceptions, which will evolve into relationships, and then this creates encounters where the personality can be developed. In other words, if a person wants to have a humorous personality, they will create life situations that will help them to develop such a personality.

Does This Mean a Person's Personality Is Based on Free Will?

When Rogers formed the humanistic theory of personality, he emphasized the concept of free will in the theory's foundation. He also made a general assumption about what the human potential for doing good on a regular basis happens to be.

This allowed him to developed what he called the "Phenomenal Field." At the center of this field is the "self," or the core of who each individual happens to be. Then each person will surround themselves with five specific influential factors that interact with them inside of the phenomenal field.

Although the self does not change, it can be constantly influenced within the phenomenal field by these five influential factors. This is why there are internal and external factors involved with personality development and why a person's personality can change over time.

Yet the phenomenal field is not the only influential factor involved in personality development. The environment can act upon a person's phenomenal field, creating unanticipated changes and interactions with the influential personality factors. The personal motivations an individual may have, like the pursuit of a dream or specific goal, can also have an influence on the phenomenal field.

This, in turn, creates a situation where a battle for dominance begins to take place. It is a battle between the real self and the ideal self.

What Is the Real Self and Why Is It Different from the Ideal Self?

Rogers looked at his humanistic theory of personality and realized that the "concept of self" needed to be divided into two distinct categories: the "real" self and the "ideal" self. The real self is the person you happen to be right now, whereas the ideal self is the person that you would like to be one day.

Rogers decided that there needed to be a certain level of consistency between these two concepts of self. This is what the battle between the real self and the ideal self is intended to do. As balance is created and achieved, it influences the personality of that individual.

If balance can be achieved, then it creates a personality that is based on high levels of self-worth. People with a good balance, according to Rogers, have the best opportunities to create a life for themselves that is both healthy and productive.

For those who are unable to achieve a balance, which means their ideal life is a great deal different than their real life, then is creates a state of maladjustment. It forms a personality that is based of discontent and other forms of personalized negative energy.

Rogers called this state of imbalance "incongruence."

How Can We Have the Good Life?

In the humanistic theory of personality, Rogers believed that there was no greater influence on a person than unconditional love. When there is such a positive influence, it limits the amount of incongruence that can be created. This, in turn, helps to define a positive self-worth, allowing the individual to create an even better balance.

When this balance could be achieved, then individuals could begin to pursue what Rogers called the "Good Life." It is a pursuit that is based on the traits that only balance could provide, such as being open, trusting personal judgment, and embracing freedom of choice.

Personalities can be quite varied. They can also change over time. A personality may also have several permanent elements to it. With the humanistic theory of personality, Carl Rogers helps us all be able to understand why we are the people we happen to be today.

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Carl Rogers Humanistic Theory of Personality Explained - HRF

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Carl Rogers believed that humans are constantly reacting to the stimuli they encounter within their reality. This stimuli changes constantly, which requires each person to develop their concept of self, based on the feedback they receive from their reality. Rogers, a humanistic psychology, believed that his theory of personality would help to understand why there ...

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Definition : Self (and personality) refer to the various characteristics we use to define our existence and being, and the way our experiences reflect in our behaviour.
-The idea and awareness of self emerges and its formation begins as the child grows and is influenced by parents, peers, and other significant people in the Childs life.
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Brief Introduction: The self is an individual person as the object of its own reflective consciousness. Self-concept is how you perceive your behavior, abilities, and unique characteristics.

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Definition: The combination of characteristics

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an individual's typical character or behavior; an individual's temporary behavior or character; a person in prime condition... See the full definition