Self - Concept

Self - Concept
SAHAR ADHAM
2016-2017
SELF-CONCEPT
How you perceive yourself: your feelings and thoughts about your strengths and weaknesses , abilities and limitations. Self-concept develops from the image that others have of you and reveal to you; the comparisons you make between yourself and others; your cultural experiences in the realms of nice, ethnicity gender, and gender roles; and your evaluation of your own thoughts and behaviors.
• Others Images
If you wished to see how your hair looked, you would probably look in a mirror. But what would you do if you wanted to see how friendly or how assertive you were? According to the concept of the looking-glass self (Cooley 1922), you would look at the image of yourself that others reveal to
• you through their behaviors and especially through the way they treat you and react to you.
Comparisons with Others
Another way you develop your self-concept is to compare yourself with others, to engage in what are called social comparison processes
Cultural Teachings
Through your parents, your teachers, and the media, your culture instills in you a variety of beliefs, val¬ues, and attitudes about success about the rele¬vance of your religion, race, or nationality; and about the ethical principles you should follow in business and in your personal life
Your Own Interpretations and Evaluations
You also react to your own behavior; you interpret it and evaluate it. These interpretations and evalua¬tions contribute to your self-concept.
• The Four Selves : Johari Window
The Open Self
The open self represents all the information, behav-iors, attitudes, feelings, desires, motivations, ideas, and so on that you know about yourself and that others also know. The information included here might range from your name, skin color, and gen¬der to your age, political and religious affiliations, and job title. Your open self will vary in size de¬pending on the individuals with whom you re deal¬ing.
The Blind Self
The blind self represents information about yourself that others know but you don t. This may vary from relatively insignificant "you rubbing your nose when you get angry, fight strategies,
Communication depends in great part on both parties . Where blind areas exist, communication will be difficult. Yet blind areas will always exist for each of us. Although we may be able to shrink our blind areas, we can never elim¬inate them
The Unknown Self
The unknown self represents those parts of yourself about which neither you nor others know. This is the information that is buried in your unconscious.
sensory deprivation, dreams. The exploration of the unknown self through open, honest, and em¬pathic interaction with trusted and trusting others parents, friends, counselors, children, lovers is an effective way of gaining insight.
The Hidden Self
The hidden self contains all that you know of your¬self but keep hidden from others. This area includes all your successfully kept secrets about yourself and
others. At the extremes of this quadrant are
• The over disclosers tell all, keeping nothing hidden about themselves or others. They will tell you their family history, sexual problems, financial status, goals, failures and suc¬cesses, and just about everything else.
The under- disclosers tell nothing. They will talk about you but not about themselves.
Self-concept includes the following elements:
• Self-perception
• Self-image
• Self-identity
• Self esteem
• General sense of worth