In this paper I will be discussing the importance and necessity of having a strong self-concept. Also, I will be examining and thoroughly analyzing the in-depth concepts that help contribute to or compose your own self-concept. The ideas that I will be discussing in-depth are: self-esteem and it’s effect upon our lives, impression management and how society could fall apart without it and the ways that our society benefits from reflected appraisals. Self-Esteem is something that could be considered an “X-factor” part of our personalities. Having strong self-esteem is something that is preached and recommended as an answer to almost any problem that people are facing socially. One of the most evident examples of this phenomenon would be in …show more content…
A simple example would be how it is hard-wired in all of our brains to simply respond “Fine, and you?” any time we are asked “Hey! How are ya?”. This is so ingrained in our brains because it is a simple form of impression management. Modern society teaches us to be normal, anything that isn’t “normal” is considered weird. An example of this behavior externalized would be how it was popular in the late 1900s for children to ridicule other children with glasses. Obviously there is nothing wrong with requiring corrective lenses, but because it was outside of the social norm, it was commonplace to consider those kids “weird”. As such, we have developed strong tools such as impression management in order to be able to always present ourselves as “normal”. Our textbook defines impression management as “The communication strategies people use to influence how others view them” (Adler, Rosenfeld & Proctor, 80). These have become integrated into our society with such force that many people dismay the “fakeness” that may be associated with impression management. A common example of impression management would be dressing appropriately for work in order to communicate the message that you are a professional and are to be treated as such. However, that same person may dress in work-out clothes during their trip to the gym in order to be seen
The question of whether self- esteem has significance with real world- consequences is a valid concern. Ulrich Orth and Richard W. Robins provide the answer, with evidence contributed by researched studies, in their article The Development of Self- Esteem that self- esteem, in fact, does influence societal significance. With the determination on self- esteem trajectory from adolescence to old age, self- esteem stability, and the relationship between levels of self-esteem and predictions of success and failure, one can conclude that self- esteem influences life outcomes; moreover, people can participate to involvements focused at positively influencing the development of self- esteem.
In unit one of Interactions, the authors Ann Moseley and Jeanette Harris showed a number of readings about the idea of the self. The self-concept is an important matter because people change with age constantly and their thoughts change as well. There are many factors that can affect any individual’s thought of self-concept such as growing up, life experiences, friends and family, and meeting new people. Moreover, a number of readings in unit one by different authors showing their experiences and struggles with self-concept such as ethnicities, economy status, and self-esteem issue. I have had similar experiences with several authors, which are, “Zero” by Paul Logan, “Living in two worlds” by Marcus Mabry, and “The Jacket” by Gary Soto.
The concept of self-esteem was first discovered by the philosopher and psychologist, William James. James is well known for his brilliant formula for self-esteem, which states that self-esteem is equated to one’s successes divided by pretensions, or one’s expectations of success. This
Self-concept is a prominent term used not only in humanism, but also in social psychology to explain how a person perceives or thinks about herself. It is simply the image we have about ourselves and is influenced by people we interact with in our lives. It also portrays our ability and our uniqueness and constitutes a collection of qualities, beliefs, behavior, and the nature of an individual. Self-concept ent...
The self-esteem movement came about in the 1970’s. Psychologist Nathaniel Branden published a highly acclaimed paper called “The Psychology of Self-Esteem.” He argued that self-esteem was a “profound and powerful human need essential to healthy adaptiveness, that is, to optimal functioning and self-fulfillment. To the extent that the need is frustrated, we suffer and are thwarted in our development.” (Branden XV). Branden claims that all psychological problems are somehow connected to the lack of self-esteem. He claims that people can only be happy and successful if th...
Heavy self-criticism, envy and a pessimistic attitude follow (Kirsh, 2005). Three states of self-esteem are identified: Strong self-esteem is when they have a positive self-image and are secure enough to make decisions and remain unaffected by any adverse scenario that would cause detrimental effects. Vulnerable self-esteem is when there is a positive self-image yet their ability to maintain it is not reliable. People with a vulnerable self-esteem avoid making decisions, blame others when situations were to turn sour to protect their own reputation. People who do not regard themselves as admirable or valuable, defeated and immerse in self-pity, define shattered self-esteem. Shattered self-esteem is undoubtedly related to low self-esteem
older people imagine clear to a greater degree by their social roles. (Kuhn, 1960). The need for self-esteem plays an important role in psychologist Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs, which depicts self-esteem as one of the basic human motivations. Maslow suggested that people need both esteem from other people as well as inner self-respect. Both of these needs must be fulfilled in order for an individual to grow as a person and achieve self-actualization.
Self-esteem touches everything about a person’s belief about himself and his emotional state. One’s belief can be positive e.g. I love myself, I am a great person. On the other hand, it can be negative e.g. I am useless or I am too fat. Furthermore, emotional state include shame, pride, joy, despair etc.
Palladino, (1994) noted that “self-esteem reflects [who each individual is] to everyone with whom [they] come into contact with (sec.1p.1). Self-esteem does not remain the same throughout an individual’s lifetime. There are many circumstances that come and go that causes self-esteem to also change. As stated by Palladino, (1994) “self-esteem is both conscious and unconscious. It is an ongoing assessment of who someone is; a belief about what they can and cannot do” (sec.1p. 1). For example, when a person buys a house, self-esteem will be high. If a person loses his or her house due to foreclosure, self-esteem can be low.
Due to self-depreciating attitudes and beliefs, the individual tends to have a low internal self-esteem. The individual perceives the physical and cultural characteristics identified
Self-awareness is the ability to perceive circumstances that are generated in our mind according to how each of us can come to understand different situations and the circumstances that surround them. Being an internal activity, and different for each individual, self-awareness can be presented in many different ways for each of us, bearing in mind that each one of us is responsible for creating ideals and reproducing them based on their personal acts and perceptions. Starting from this idea, it can be said that self-awareness is punctually the knowledge that each one of us has of oneself as an individual, the understanding of the different moods that can alter us, the acts that lead to these and therefore how our personality is affected by these. The proper understanding of self-awareness is not only essential to comprehend how the environment can harm or favor me, in this way I can analyze and understand what is positive and not for my growth as a person and for a continuous self-development. We could say that the correct perception of this mental function is directly related to the basic instinct of survival, which for the human being is rationalized giving it a greater capacity for self-control and creativity in pre-conscious intelligence (Blakemore, S. J., & Frith, C. 2003). Next, we will analyze how self-awareness and Continuous self-development are not only part of our essence as humans, but how they should be taken into account for academic, professional
Floyd states that “Your self-concept is composed of those stable ideas about who you are; also, it is the It is your identity, your understanding of whom you are” (Floyd 72). Okay, in my mind I have played around with the self-theory who I am and what makes me, but up until reading this chapter I can honestly say that I have not really contemplated on it; however, I if I’m asked henceforth I will be able to say it without any shadow of doubts. There are more than few ways to describe conclude what self-concept and identity; when I think about identification and understanding of myself, I say that I’m a very strong minded and opinionated person; I have been viewed as stubborn because I do not to back down a like for my voice to be heard most
will act to maintain his or her self-image regardless of whether it is high or low.” (Greene & Frandsen, 1979, p. 124) Self-esteem is important in social situations; it can help a person have
Self esteem, as stated earlier, is a very popular term which seems to be studied a lot. In reviewing many journal articles on the topic it was found that, indeed their was a lot of research on self esteem but not ...
The Self-Concept is a complicated process of gaining self-awareness. It consists of mental images an individual has of oneself: physical appearance, health, accomplishments, skills, social talents, roles, intellectual traits, and emotional states and more –all make up our self-concept.