Self-concept

Psychologists Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow had major influence in popularizing the idea of self-concept in the West. According to Rogers, everyone strives to reach an "ideal self." He believed that a person gets to self-actualize when they prove to themselves that they are capable enough to achieve their goals and desires, but in order to attain their fullest potential, the person must have been raised in healthy surroundings which consist of "genuineness, acceptance, and empathy"; however, the lack of relationships with people that have healthy personalities will stop the person from growing "like a tree without sunlight and water" and affect the individual's process to accomplish self- actualization. Rogers also hypothesized that psychologically healthy people actively move away from roles created by others' expectations, and instead look within themselves for validation. On the other hand, neurotic people have "self-concepts that do not match their experiences. They are afraid to accept their own experiences as valid, so they distort them, either to protect themselves or to win approval from others." • The view one has of oneself (self-image) • How much value one places on oneself (self-esteem or self-worth) • What one wishes one were really like (ideal self) Abraham Maslow applied his concept of self-actualization in his hierarchy of needs theory. In this theory, he explained the process it takes for a person to achieve self-actualization. He argues that for an individual to get to the "higher level growth needs", he must first accomplish "lower deficit needs". Once the "deficiency needs" have been achieved, the person's goal is to accomplish the next step, which is the "being needs". Maslow noticed that once individuals reach this level, they tend to "grow as a person" and reach self-actualization; however, individuals who experienced negative events while being in the lower deficit needs level prevents them from ascending in the hierarchy of needs. The self-categorization theory developed by John Turner states that the self-concept consists of at least two "levels": a personal identity and a social one. In other words, one's self-evaluation relies on self-perceptions and how others perceive them. Self-concept can alternate rapidly between one's personal and social identity. Children and adolescents begin integrating social identity into their own self-concept in elementary school by assessing their position among peers. By age five, acceptance from peers significantly affects children's self-concept, affecting their behaviour and academic success. ==Model==

The self-concept is an internal model that uses self-assessments in order to define one's self-schemas. Changes in self-concept can be measured by spontaneous self-report, where a person is prompted by a question like "Who are you?". Often when measuring changes to the self-evaluation, whether a person has a positive or negative opinion of oneself, is measured instead of self-concept. ==Development==

Researchers debate over when self-concept development begins. Some assert that gender stereotypes and expectations set by parents for their children affect children's understanding of themselves by approximately age three. While this represents the beginnings of self-concept, others suggest that self-concept develops later, in middle childhood, alongside the development of self-control. At this point, children are developmentally prepared to interpret their own feelings and abilities, as well as receive and consider feedback from peers, teachers, and family. However, the development of self-concept during adolescence shows a U-shaped curve, in which general self-concept decreases in early adolescence, followed by an increase in later adolescence. Romantic relationships can affect people's self-concept throughout a relationship. Self-expansion describes the addition of information to an individual's concept of self. Self-expansion can occur during relationships. Expansion of self-concept can occur during relationships, during new challenging experiences. Despite differing opinions about the onset of self-concept development, researchers agree on the importance of one's self-concept, which influences people's behaviors and cognitive and emotional outcomes including (but not limited to) academic achievement, levels of happiness, anxiety, social integration, self-esteem, and life-satisfaction. Academic Academic self-concept refers to the personal beliefs about their academic abilities or skills. Adolescents experience significant changes in general physical self-concept at the onset of puberty, about eleven years old for girls and about 15 years old for boys. The body changes during puberty, in conjunction with the various psychological changes of this period, makes adolescence especially significant for the development of physical self-concept. An important factor of physical self-concept development is participation in physical activities. It has even been suggested that adolescent involvement in competitive sports increases physical self-concept. Gender identity A person's gender identity is a sense of one's own gender. These ideas typically form in young children. According to the International Encyclopedia of Marriage and Family, gender identity is developed at an early age when the child starts to communicate; by the age of eighteen months to two years is when the child begins to identify as a girl or a boy. After this stage, some consider gender identity already formed, although some consider non-gendered identities more salient during that young of an age. Kohlberg noted gender constancy occurs by the ages of five to six, a child becomes well-aware of their gender identity. Forms of gender stereotyping is also important to consider in clinical settings. For example, a study at Kuwait University with a small sample of 102 individuals with gender dysphoria examined self-concept, masculinity and femininity. Findings were that children who grew up on lower family bonds had lower self-concept. though not mutually exclusive, and can be different from romantic identity. Sexual identity may also refer to sexual orientation identity, which is when people identify or dis-identify with a sexual orientation or choose not to identify with a sexual orientation. Sexual identity and sexual behavior are closely related to sexual orientation, but they are distinguished, or to no one. == Measures ==

Since self-concept concerns one's awareness and perception of the external judgment from their social environment and the internal attributes of the self, self-reported questionnaires have been the most widely adopted measure for assessing self-concept. Many of the existing questionnaires in the academia do not differentiate between the assessment of self-concept and self-esteem. The most commonly used questionnaires include the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory for Adults, the Adolescent Coping Scale (ACS) by Frydenberg and Lewis, as well as the Harter’s Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents. The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale is a two-dimensional scale developed in 1965 by Morris Rosenberg, originally designed for measuring the self-esteem of adolescents, but has gained wider use in other populations, such as adults. This inventory comprises ten Likert scale items that assess one's level of self-confidence (or personal satisfaction) and self-contempt (or personal devaluation). The inventory comes in three forms: School Form (ages 8-15 years), Adult Form (ages 16 and above) and Short Form. Originally, the inventory was aimed at children in school (8-15 years) but later on, a revised version where 17 of the 58 items were rephrased to use with adults. The most commonly used version is the Adult Form. The inventory comprises 50 items and yields a total score alongside four separate scores which represent more specific aspects of self-esteem. The Adolescent Coping Scale (ACS) The Adolescent Coping Scale (ACS) is an 80-item questionnaire developed in 1997 by Erica Frydenberg and Ramon Lewis. The aim of the questionnaire is to measure adolescent coping strategies on a 5-point Likert scale. The ACS uses a self-report approach to subcategorize 79 items into 18 common coping mechanisms, which are then grouped into three broad coping styles: coping in relation to others, productive coping, and non-productive coping. The final item, question 80, is an open-ended question that qualitatively assesses other mechanisms adolescents use to cope during difficult circumstances. The Adolescent Coping Scale gives respondents insight into their self-concept by giving them an opportunity to engage in self-assessment and reflect on their behaviours and how they respond to a given situation. Harter's Self Perception Profile for Adolescents The Self Perception Profile for Adolescents was developed by Susan Harter in 1988, consisting of nine sub-scales that each have five items. The measure assesses adolescents' perception of the self from nine aspects of their life, as listed below: physical appearance, romantic appeal, close friendship, social competence, behavioural conduct, scholastic competence, job competence, athletic competence, global self-worth. During the administration of the test, adolescents will choose one sub-scale and indicate their perceived competence in the particular aspect. Each item in the sub-scale scores from 1 (low perceived competence) to 4 (high perceived competence). == Motivational properties ==

Self-concept can have motivational properties. There are four types of motives in particular that are most related to self-concept: • Self-assessment: desire to receive information about the self that is accurate • Self-enhancement: desire to receive feedback that informs the self of positive or desirable characteristics • Self-verification: desire to confirm what one already knows about the self • Self-improvement: desire to learn things that will help to improve the self Some of these motives may be more prominent depending on the situation. In Western societies, the most automatic is the self-enhancement motive, and may be dominant in some situations where motives contradict one another. which is consistent with the idea of the self-verification motive. In particular, if people perceive the self a certain way and receive feedback contrary to this perception, a tension is produced that motivates them to reestablish consistency between environmental feedback and self-concept. For example, if someone believes herself to be outgoing, but someone tells her she is shy, she may be motivated to avoid that person or the environment in which she met that person because it is inconsistent with her self-concept of being an outgoing person. Further, another major motivational property of self-concept comes from the desire to eliminate the discrepancy between one's current self-concept and his or her ideal possible self. This is parallel with the idea of the self-improvement motive. For example, if one's current self-concept is that she is a novice at piano playing, though she wants to become a concert pianist, this discrepancy will generate motivation to engage in behaviors (like practicing playing piano) that will bring her closer to her ideal possible self (being a concert pianist). ==Cultural differences==

Worldviews about one's self in relation to others differ across and within cultures. Western cultures place particular importance on personal independence and on the expression of one's own attributes Non-Western cultures favor an interdependent view of the self: Additionally, one's social norms and cultural identities have a large effect on self-concept and mental well-being. The social norm in a non-Western, interdependent culture has a larger focus on one's ability to be flexible and to change as the group and environment change. Anit Somech, an organizational psychologist and professor, conducted a small study in Israel which showed that the divide between independent and interdependent self-concepts exists within cultures as well. Researchers compared mid-level merchants in an urban community with those in a kibbutz (collective community). Typically, these would both be considered non-Western cultures, but the Swedish showed more independent traits, while the Japanese followed the expected interdependent traits. Steele and Aronson described the idea of stereotype threat in their study of how this socio‐psychological notion affected the intellectual performance of African Americans. Steele and Aronson tested a hypothesis by administering a diagnostic exam between two different groups: African American and White students. For one group a stereotype threat was introduced while the other served as a control. The findings were that academic performance of the African American students was significantly lower than their White counterparts when a stereotype threat was perceived after controlling for intellectual ability. Since the inception by Steele and Aronson of stereotype threat, other research has demonstrated the applicability of this idea to other groups. The presence of stereotype threat perpetuates a "hidden curriculum" that further marginalized minority groups. "Hidden curriculum" refers to a covert expression of prejudice where one standard is accepted as the "set and right way to do things". More specifically, the "hidden curriculum" is an unintended transmission of social constructs that operates in the social environment of an educational setting or classroom. In the United States' educational system, this caters to dominant culture groups in American society."A primary source of stereotyping is often the teachers education program itself. It is in these programs that teachers learn that poor students and students of color should be expected to achieve less than their 'mainstream' counterparts." These child-deficit assumptions are built into the program that instructs teachers and leads to inadvertently testing all students on a "mainstream" standard that is not necessarily academic and that does not account for the social values and norms of non-"mainstream" students. For example, the model of "teacher as the formal authority" is the orthodox teaching role that has been perpetuated for many years until the 21st-century teaching model landed on the scene. As part of the 5 main teaching styles proposed by Anthony Grasha, a cognitive and social psychologist until his death in 2003, the authoritarian style is described as believing that there are "correct, acceptable, and standard ways to do things". ==Gender issues==

Some say, girls tend to prefer one-on-one (dyadic) interaction, forming tight, intimate bonds, while boys prefer group activities. Some studies suggest self-concept of social behaviours are substantially similar with specific variations for girls and boys. For instance, girls are more likely than boys to wait their turn to speak, agree with others, and acknowledge the contributions of others. It seems boys see themselves as building larger group relationships based on shared interests, threaten, boast, and call names. In recent years, more women have been entering into the STEM field, working in predominantly mathematics, technology and science related careers. Many factors play a role in variations in gender effects on self-concept to accumulate as attitudes to mathematics and science; in particular, the impact other people's expectations rather than role-models on our self-concepts . ==Media==

A commonly-asked question is "why do people choose one form of media over another?" According to the Galileo Model, there are different forms of media spread throughout three-dimensional space. The closer one form of media is to another the more similar the source of media is to each other. The farther away from each form of media is in space, the least similar the source of media is. For example, mobile and cell phone are located closest in space where as newspaper and texting are farthest apart in space. The study further explained the relationship between self-concept and the use of different forms of media. The more hours per day an individual uses a form of media, the closer that form of media is to their self-concept. Self-concept is related to the form of media most used. If a person is included or excluded from a group, that can affect how they form their identities. Growing social media is a place for not only expressing an already formed identity, but to explore and experiment with developing identities. In the United Kingdom, a study about changing identities revealed that some people believe that partaking in online social media is the first time they have felt like themselves, and they have achieved their true identities. They also revealed that these online identities transferred to their offline identities. In this particular study, risk taking behavior was engaging with strangers. When it came to communication about personal views, half of the participants reported that it was easier to express these opinions online, because they felt an enhanced ability to be creative and meaningful. When it came to other's opinions, one subject reported finding out more about themselves, like openness to experience, because of receiving differing opinions on things such as relationships. ==See also==