Self-concept is your interior identity, or who you think you are. It is essentially what you see yourself as. Many people may use self-image in place of self-concept, but that would not be factually correct. Self-image only applies to how you view yourself in a particular situation. This is constantly changing, since you will act different in certain scenarios, and may sometimes not feel like you usually do.
In self concept, there are three important components, which are attitudes, beliefs, and values. Attitudes are learned predispositions to respond to a person, object, or idea in a favorable or unfavorable way. Beliefs are ways you structure your understanding of reality. Values are enduring concepts of good and bad or right and wrong. These concepts are so vital because they are composed of who you truly are.
The development of self-concept comes from answering four basic things:
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- communication with others, associations with groups, roles we assume, and self-labels. When you associate with others and have
- communication with them, you allow them to label you and can help you realize how you truly feel about yourself.
My results for the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory were that I had an average self-esteem compared to the rest of society. I do agree with this, because I definitely don’t have an above average self-esteem or below average self-esteem, since I don’t either feel overly confident in myself, or too under confident in myself. Although this is a very accurate score for me, it is also kind’ve depressing since I would like to have an above average self-esteem.
The strategies I will use to improve my self-esteem are engaging in positive self-talk, visualizing myself to to complete a certain goal or behaving in a certain way I would like to, reframing ideas, and developing honest relationships. When it comes to positive self-talk, I plan on implementing a more positive inner dialogue, which will in turn increase my capacity and confidence to perform how I see fit. With visualization, I “see” myself performing a task optimally, or elicit a behavior I would like to have. Visualization is different to positive self- talk, since instead of telling yourself that you can do it, you can actually imagine yourself do
In fact, research has shown that visualization reduces anxiety and increases positive self- talk. When reframing, you are taking a situation, and looking at it through a different point of view. This allows you to look at things objectively, rather than subjectively, so you can make the most optimal choice to benefit you. And finally, developing honest relationships allow you to surround yourself with honest, good people that only look out for your own interests and give you an objective look at things. They also support you in gaining self-esteem.
