Self-concept: origin and definition

We can understand that Self-concept is the idea or image we have of ourselves. This inner reflection is formed and conditioned by the multitude of roles we play, our goals and objectives, our personality, our ideology or philosophy, etc. On the other hand, this idea of ​​ourselves is dynamic, which means that it varies over time, being sensitive to changes in the facets that we have listed before.

Knowing ourselves helps us decide what and how we should think and what we should do in each situation. This self-knowledge can occur at the individual or group level. Awareness of our identity and that of others makes our lives simpler and facilitates our interpersonal and intergroup relationships.

In psychology, self-concept can be studied from different perspectives. Personality psychologists will focus on knowing the content of identity, creating typologies of it. While social psychology will be interested in seeing to what extent it affects the relationships we have with others or how it is conditioned by the relationships we have with them.

How is self-concept formed and modified?

Next, we will talk of two theories that explain how self-concept is created or developed. One of them is the theory of self-discrepancy, based on internal regulation of the individual. And the other is the theory of the mirror self, based on social regulation.

The theory of self-discrepancy

This theory is based on the fact that human beings seek coherence between the different perceptions they have of themselves. Other interconnected self-concepts come into play here. Which, explained briefly, consist of:

The “ideal self”: It is the self-concept that tells us how we want to become.The “responsible self”: It is the self-concept that has the idea of ​​how we should become.The “potential self”: It is the idea about our potential, how far we can become.The “expected self”: It is the self-concept about the prediction of what we can become in the future.

These self-concepts are quite similar to each other, they only differ in small nuances. The important thing about these “selves” is that they act as generators of discrepancy with our current self-concept.

AND When one of them is dissonant with our current self-concept or even with each other, anxiety is generated.. From here, this anxiety will motivate changes in self-concepts in order to resolve the discrepancy.

For example, If in our “ideal self” we see ourselves as supportive people, but we normally behave with a selfish attitude, a discrepancy will be generated. This dissonance can be resolved in different ways: (a) changing our selfish behavior and with it our current self-concept, (b) altering the perception of our behavior, classifying it as selfish and thus altering our current self-concept, or (c) changing our “ ideal self”, adapting it to our current self-concept.

The mirror self theory

This vision is based on the creation of self-concept as a process in which the social has a lot of weight. Its creation is due to the ideas that others have about us. This way we will build the notion of what we are like through the information that others give us about ourselves.

This is because we perceive that in the minds of others there is an idea of ​​what we are like, therefore we will try to know what it is. We will have a motivation to avoid the discrepancy between the idea that others have of us and our own self-concept. When this dissonance exists, we can resolve it in two ways: (a) changing our relationships for others that see us as we think we are, or (b) changing the idea we have of ourselves.

This theory explains, to a large extent, why we seek relationships that agree with our self-concept and we avoid those that see us differently from how we think we are. It also helps us understand the effects that expectations have about a person, such as the well-known Pygmalion Effect.

An important aspect is that we do not tend to see ourselves as others really see us, but as we think they see us. We determine how others see us not by the information we receive from them, but by our self-perceptions. We create an idea of ​​ourselves, and we think that others see us the same.

Both theories explain how self-concept is formed and modified in different, but not contradictory, ways. It is interesting to see from a broad perspective, and understand how the “selves” of self-discrepancy theory can also be created and modified due to social influence. By taking into account the two positions when explaining the self-concept, we achieve a solid vision of the facts that optimally explains reality.

Components of self-concept

For his part, for the psychologist Carl Rogers, the concept of self is made up of three different factors. These are:

The image of oneself or self-image

The self-image It is the mental representation we have of ourselves and that is present every time we say or think “I am” or I am not. In other words, it refers to how we see ourselves.

It is important to mention that self-image does not always coincide with reality. For example, a person may have an inflated self-image and believe that they are better than they really are. Or the opposite case may occur, where the individual develops a negative view of himself, exaggerating his defects and weaknesses.

The self steem

The self steem refers to how much we like, accept or approve of ourselves. In other words, it refers to how much we value ourselves. In this regard, Rogers explained that the root of many people’s problems is that they despise themselves and consider themselves worthless and unworthy of being loved.

Generally, self-esteem is strongly influenced by the treatment we receive from others, especially during childhood and adolescence. In this sense, when others treat us positively, we will be more likely to develop positive self-esteem.

The ideal self

For its part, The ideal self refers to how we would like to be. And, as we said before, the way we see ourselves does not always coincide with how we would like to see ourselves; which directly affects our self-esteem.

Self-concept characteristics

To better understand what this construct consists of, below we present its main characteristics:

It is relatively stable

Although the concept usually evolves over time, it does not do so abruptly.. On the contrary, it always follows gradual and gradual trends. It is not common that we change our most defining characteristics overnight.

In the different stages of our life we ​​formulate a concept that defines us as a person and we create an image of what we want to become. These representations usually remain stable over a periodgenerally, until circumstances change it.

It’s dynamic

We already said it, self-concept is not a static phenomenon that remains intact throughout life. On the contrary, This changes as we evolve as people, have experiences and relate to others.

It is not innate

From the above it follows that self-concept is not something we are born withbut rather it is created from the experiences we live, the relationships we have and the evolutions we have as a person.

It is different from self-esteem

Many people tend to confuse self-concept and self-esteem, assuming them as if they were the same construct. Although the two are closely related, they do not imply the same thing..

As we already saw, self-concept refers to the opinion or image we have of ourselves, while self-esteem refers to our way of valuing ourselves.

It is related to self-awareness

Self-concept in humans is only possible because we are aware that we exist as an entity differentiated from the rest.. In this way, the moment we realize that there are things that are foreign to us, we are already creating our own image, no matter how rudimentary it may be.

What is the self-concept for?

To conclude, we want to emphasize the importance of self-concept in the life of a human being. Thanks to him inferences can be made about how to behave and the way in which others will behave towards us.

Besides, It allows us to project what we want to be in the future and change our behavior so that it adjusts to what we want to achieve.. Finally, being aware of what we think about ourselves can help us know ourselves and rectify those attitudes with which we are not satisfied.

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