Self-Concept and Behavior

12 Key excerpts on "Self-Concept and Behavior"

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  Self-presentation

  Impression Management And Interpersonal Behavior

  • Mark R Leary(Author)
  • 2019(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  A similar example involves daily grooming. Most mornings, I stumble into the bathroom to shave, shower, and dress without any thoughts of impression management. (I may have other self-relevant thoughts, however, such as “I hate getting up,” “I feel like hell,” or whatever.) Even so, many of these behaviors are self-presentational. When I was little, my parents had to remind me to comb my hair, then later I had to consciously remind myself. Now, I do it pretty much without thinking.

  The Self-Concept and Phenomenal Self

  The Self-Concept

  When people are thinking about themselves (that is, when their self is active), how they present themselves to other people is affected by whatever they are thinking about themselves at the time. The self-concept consists of the set of beliefs that a person holds about him- or herself. Just as we have beliefs about things in the external world (including other people), we also have beliefs about ourselves. These include beliefs about our physical bodies (our appearance, health, level of fitness, and so on), our personal characteristics (such as our personality, intelligence, and abilities), our social relationships (including our relationships with family members, friends, co-workers, and even enemies), the roles we play (student, accountant, teacher, salesperson, or what-ever), the beliefs we consciously hold (such as our religious convictions, attitudes, and philosophy of life), our personal histories, and even our possessions (we recognize that we own certain books, cars, clothing, stereo equipment, and so on).

  The self-concept has been compared to a person’s “theory” about what he or she is like (Epstein, 1973). Like a theory, the self-concept not only contains facts that we believe are true about ourselves but also untested hypotheses. Your assumptions about how you would respond in new situations are essentially hypotheses that you have derived from the theory you hold about yourself.

  The self-concept is also like a theory in the sense that people use it to interpret their experiences. Two scientists who hold different theoretical orientations may interpret the same experimental observation in two very different ways. Similarly, two people with different self-theories may interpret the same event differently. If your self-theory (i.e., your self-concept) says you are intelligent, you may attribute a poor test grade to the teacher’s unfairness or to the fact you didn’t study enough. On the other hand, if your self-theory says that you have the intelligence of a baboon, you might interpret a poor test score as a reflection on your intelligence.

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  Psychology for Language Learning

  Insights from Research, Theory and Practice

  • S. Mercer, S. Ryan, M. Williams, S. Mercer, S. Ryan, M. Williams(Authors)
  • 2012(Publication Date)
  • Palgrave Macmillan

    (Publisher)

  2 Self-concept: Situating the Self Sarah Mercer Introduction Self-concept is a powerful construct that lies at the centre of an individual’s psychology connecting various dimensions such as moti- vation, affective attitudes, motivation, goals, and strategic behaviours (Denissen, Zarrett, & Eccles, 2007; Marsh, 2006). While this makes it an exciting construct to study, self-concept poses a challenge for those wishing to research it, given that there is “wide disagreement about how to define the self, measure it, and study its development” (Brinthaupt & Lipka, 1992, p. 1). In this chapter, I will attempt to make some sense of the differing perspectives in the field and provide an overview of key understandings about the construct. I will begin by establishing a defini- tion and clarifying the relationship of self-concept to other self-related constructs. Then I will look at some of the characteristics of self-concept, focusing in particular on its potential dynamism and development, and considering the ways in which the construct can be researched. An example of research is then presented which seeks to consider in what ways the English as a foreign language (EFL) self-concept can be conceived of as a situated construct. Background literature Definitional concerns Any discussion of research in the field must remain aware of the mul- titude of possible definitions of self-concept emerging from the interest of different disciplines and diverse theoretical perspectives. Although all the terms share a common concern with the self, they differ with respect to their focus and boundaries in ways that are important to understand. 10 Sarah Mercer 11 While I have chosen to conceptualize self-concept in a certain way, other researchers may have used this and related terms differently, and readers need to be aware of potentially conflicting understandings of terms. As the words suggest, self-concept represents our ‘concept’ of our- selves.

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  Social Beings

  Core Motives in Social Psychology

  • Susan T. Fiske(Author)
  • 2018(Publication Date)
  • Wiley

    (Publisher)

  Note that laypeople often use the terms self-concept, self-esteem, and self-presentation interchangeably, but social psycholo- gists do not. Self-Concept Social psychologists have been particularly interested in the self-concept, or cognitive represen- tation of the self. With the use of a cognitive approach, studying the self has overwhelmingly focused on the content of people’s knowledge of themselves or beliefs about themselves. Hav- ing just read about social cognition, many students raise the question of overlap between the self-concept and self-schema, which the social cognition chapter examined. The overlap is con- siderable. Self-schemas make up one particular operational way of looking at the self-concept, namely, a dimension on which one rates oneself as high (e.g., very independent), as definitely not the opposite (not at all dependent), and as important (most central) (Markus, 1977). Not all aspects of the self are self-schematic. And not everybody who studies the self-concept endorses the idea of a schema; social psychologists hypothesize different approaches to how the mind might structure self-knowledge. In general, though, self-schema and self-concept are close cousins, and a schema is one way to operationalize the most important aspects of the self-concept. Another operational definition of the self-concept comes from answers to the question “Who am I?”, as illustrated in the self-descriptions from my classes. For example, the “Twenty Statements Test (TST)” (the who-am-I exercise constrained to 20 answers) contrasts Japanese and American self-concepts (Cousins, 1989), as described later. Self-Esteem Another area of self research—namely, work on self-esteem—illustrates different working defini- tions that focus on self and emotion: Social psychologists often measure whether people feel good about themselves and feel that they are lovable and worthwhile people.

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  Psychology Applied to Modern Life

  Adjustment in the 21st Century

  • Wayne Weiten, Dana Dunn, Elizabeth Hammer(Authors)
  • 2014(Publication Date)
  • Cengage Learning EMEA

    (Publisher)

  SELF-CONCEPT LEARNING OBJECTIVES ● Identify some key aspects of the self-concept. ● Cite two types of self-discrepancies, and describe their effects and ways to cope with them. ● Discuss important factors that help form the self-concept. ● Explain how individualism and collectivism influence the self-concept. Copyright 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. 168 CHAPTER 6 traits, abilities, physical features, values, goals, and social roles (Campbell, Assanand, & DiPaula, 2000). People have self-schemas on dimensions that are important to them, in- cluding both strengths and weaknesses. Figure 6.1 depicts the self-concepts of two hypothetical individuals. Each self-schema is characterized by relatively dis- tinct thoughts and feelings. For instance, you might have considerable information about your social skills and feel quite self-assured about them but have limited information and less confidence about your physical skills. Your self- concept is apt to be “relational”—that is, your sense of self is based on your current and past relationships with signifi- cant others in your life, such as friends, family, and roman- tic partners (Andersen & Chen, 2002). Beliefs about the self influence not only current behavior but also future behavior. According to social psychol- ogist Hazel Markus, possible selves are one’s conceptions about the kind of person one might become in the fu- ture (Erikson, 2007; Markus & Nurius, 1986). If you have narrowed your ca- reer choices to personnel manager and psychologist, they would represent two possible selves in the career realm.

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  Self Perception

  • Richard Riding, Stephen Rayner, Richard Riding, Stephen Rayner(Authors)
  • 2001(Publication Date)
  • Praeger

    (Publisher)

  It was described as a configuration that could be dramatically altered by one aspect affecting the whole and reflecting how the person saw the self. It was described as a continuous process that reflected the self as known and Aspects of the Self as Learner 29 the self as knower. Behavior, ultimately, was viewed as “the goal-directed attempt of the organism to satisfy its needs as experienced in the field as perceived” (Ro- gers, 1951, p. 491). Rogers also distinguished between the self-concept and “ideal self.” He did not interpret any difference between the two as a potential source of disturbance but saw such disturbance rather as the result of perceptions of the environment and the need for consistency between these perceptions and the self-concept (realism). Person-centered therapy was aimed at building congruency between the environ- ment and the self in an effort to close the gap between self-concept, the environ- ment, and the ideal self. Experimental Psychology Psychologists interested in self-concept carried out a great deal of independent experimental research during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, characterized by one- time experiments, which were often predicated on a “global” or “unitary” model of self-concept. Examples can be found in the work of Piers and Harris (1969), Burns (1979), or Lawrence (1996). This approach, however, failed to reveal any positive evidence to support the construct. Instead, researchers progressively moved towards a realization that the phenomenon they were seeking to validate was a multidimensional and dynamic system in which several context- or domain- related self-concepts might be distinguished. Shavelson, Hubner, and Stanton (1976) were the first researchers to propose that self-concept should be understood as a complex set of self-perceptions.

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  The Social Self

  Pergamon General Psychology Series

  • Robert C. Ziller, Arnold P. Goldstein, Leonard Krasner(Authors)
  • 2013(Publication Date)
  • Pergamon

    (Publisher)

  A degree of stability or consistency with regard to perceptions of the self and others is required in order to reduce the complexity of the environment to manageable pro-portions. To borrow from another adage, it might be proposed that even if consistency did not exist, it would be invented. Even the invented consistency, consistency which exists only in the eye of the perceiver, is still a phenomenon with behavioral correlates. Persons act on the basis of their perceptions. Indeed, study of the self concept is based upon similar arguments. On the other hand, consistency suggests non-responsivity to situational demands. Consistency under changing conditions is, in fact, a simple definition of non-adaptability or even dogmatism. In terms of the self concept, then, it must be asked, what is the utility of the concept of the self in a relatively kaleidoscopic environment? It is proffered here that the self concept is a perceived working theory of behavior. The self con-cept is subject to change, but in the intervals between change, the individ-ual provides himself with a modicum of perceived stability. As previously stated, a degree of stability provides a point of reference and a point for projection of the self into the future. Like any theory, it also provides a basis for asking more meaningful questions and limits the regions of information search concerning behavioral decisions. Essentially, the concept of the self as used here is provisional, thereby providing for a degree of adaptability. The strategy of using a concept of 93 94 Consistency and Change of the Social Self this kind is similar to that used by Lewin and embodied within his concept of dynamic equilibrium. It is assumed that equilibrium is not the final goal of the organism.

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  Communication in a Civil Society

  • Shelley D. Lane, Ruth Anna Abigail, John Casey Gooch, Ruth Anne Abigail, John Gooch(Authors)
  • 2016(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  self-concept refers to how we perceive ourselves. No matter how we perceive ourselves or how others perceive us, the self-concept is inextricably entwined with perception and communication.
• Describe the relationship among perception, self-concept, and civility.
  Some scholars contend that there is a connection between uncivil discourse and words used to describe the self. These scholars maintain that todays “vocabulary of the self” reflects the overemphasis on individualism as a societal value and is devoid of responsibility and accountability. Shifting our perception from the extreme individualistic sense of self to self-control (restraint) and self-discipline will promote civil interaction and benefit society.
• Identify the three stages that make up the perception process.
  Perception is the process of selecting, organizing, and interpreting sensory information. During selection, we select from the environment the stimuli to which we will attend. Organization occurs when we categorize the stimuli we have selected from the environment to make sense of it. Interpretation occurs when we assign meaning to the stimuli that we have selected and organized from the environment and is influenced by expectancy and familiarity.
• explain two theoretical perspectives about perception.
  Attribution theory explains exactly how we create explanations or attach meaning to our own or another’s behavior. The fundamental attribution error occurs when we tend to overemphasize inherent characteristics or personality and underempha-size situational factors when we explain the reasons for others’ behavior. The self-serving bias occurs when we tend to attribute our successful behavior to inherent characteristics or our personality and our unsuccessful behavior to situational factors. Implicit personality theory illustrates that we tend to perceive others based on a set of beliefs that tell us which characteristics relate to other characteristics. We typically believe that personality traits cluster together; therefore, if we perceive a person to have one characteristic or trait, we assume that the person will have a number of other similar traits or characteristics. Implicit personality theory contributes to the halo effect, which causes you to perceive that a person holds many positive qualities if you believe she or he possesses one or a few positive qualities.