Self Concept 101

Self Concept
by Saul McLeod
published 2008
The term self-concept is a general term used to refer to how someone thinks about,
evaluates or perceives themselves. To be aware of oneself is to have a concept of oneself.
Baumeister (1999) provides the following self concept definition: "the individual's belief
about himself or herself, including the person's attributes and who and what the self is".
Self Concept is an important term for both social psychology and humanism.
Lewis (1990) suggests that development of a concept of self has two aspects: (1) The Existential Self
This is the most basic part of the self-scheme or self-concept; the sense of being
separate and distinct from others and the awareness of the constancy of the self (Bee,
1992).
The child realizes that they exist as a separate entity from others and that they continue
to exist over time and space. According to Lewis awareness of the existential self begins
as young as two to three months old and arises in part due to the relation the child has
with the world. For example, the child smiles and someone smiles back, or the child
touches a mobile and sees it move.
(2) The Categorical Self
Having realized that he or she exists as a separate experiencing being, the child next
becomes aware that he or she is also an object in the world. Just as other objects
including people have properties that can be experienced (big, small, red, smooth and
so on) so the child is becoming aware of him or her self as an object which can be
experienced and which has properties. The self too can be put into categories such as
age, gender, size or skill. Two of the first categories to be applied are age (I am 3) and
gender (I am a girl).
In early childhood. the categories children apply to themselves are very concrete (e.g.
hair color, height and favorite things). Later, self-description also begins to include
reference to internal psychological traits, comparative evaluations and to how others see
them.
Self-Concept Theory
How Do You See Yourself?
Self-concept, strictly defined, is the totality of our beliefs, preferences,
opinions and attitudes organized in a systematic manner, towards our
personal existence. Simply put, it is how we think of ourselves and how we
should think, behave and act out our various life roles.
The self is perhaps the most complex unit to study in psychology. Each of us have different
personality, traits, abilities and preferences that sometimes we cannot understand what is really
going on inside of us. While we may not be able to exactly explain why we think this way, or why do
we behave in that manner, the self-concept theory is a good foundational knowledge on the
importance of our perceptions towards our personal existence.
History of the Self-Concept Theory

In order for us to study this theory, we need to know first the history of the development of selfconcept theory. The earliest milestone in the self-concept theory is that of Rene Descartes, who
proposed that a persons existence depended on how he perceives so. Sigmund Freud, one of the
most prominent psychologists, proposed many theories that talk about our internal mental
processes. His theory holds that we have 3 main aspects within us, the id (pleasure-oriented), ego
(balance between id and superego) and the superego (conscience-driven) which may influence the
way we think of ourselves.
Aspects of Self-Concept Theory

The self-concept theory holds many assumptions about our personal judgment towards our selves.
Here are some of them:
1. Self-concept is learned.
One of the very basic assumptions of this theory is that no person is born with a self-concept. Selfconcept is believed to develop as a person grows old. This means that our perceptions towards our
selves can be shaped and can be altered, and can also be affected by environmental factors. In this
sense, self-concept is actually a product of socialization and development. A person may have a
perception of himself different from what other people thinks of him. For example, an individual feels
that he is generous while others see him as a selfish person.
2. Self-Concept is organized.
A person may have numerous views of himself. He may think that he is kind, patient, loving and
caring, or selfish, cruel, rude and stubborn. No matter how many different perceptions you have on
yourself, still, there is one perception that facilitates all of these insights, causing one organized selfconcept. When a person believes something that is congruent to his self-concept, it is more likely
that he would resist changing that belief. He tends to stick to his present view of himself for quite a
long time, and changing this perception of his self may take too long, but change is feasible.
3. Lastly, self-concept is dynamic.

As a person faces different situations and new challenges in his life, his insight towards himself may
constantly change depending on the way he responds to such life changes. We see things
depending on our self-concept. We behave according to how we see ourselves in a situation.
Therefore, self-concept is a continuous development wherein we tend to let go of the things and
ideas that are not congruent to our self-concept, and we hold on to those that we think are helpful in
building a more favorable perception of our personal existence.
Self-concept is an organisation or patterning of attitudes, habits, knowledge, drives and the like and
cementing together of all these complex components.
Self Image
(what you see in yourself)
This does not necessarily have to reflect reality. Indeed a person with anorexia who is thin
may have a self image in which the person believes they are fat. A person's self image is
affected by many factors, such as parental influences, friends, the media etc.
Kuhn (1960) investigated the self-image by using The Twenty Statements Test.
He asked people to answer the question 'Who am I?' in 20 different ways. He found that the
responses could be divided into two major groups. These were social roles(external or
objective aspects of oneself such as son, teacher, friend) andpersonality traits (internal or
affective aspects of oneself such as gregarious, impatient, humorous).
The list of answers to the question Who Am I? probably include examples of each of the
following four types of responses:
1) Physical Description: Im tall, have blue eyes...etc.
2) Social Roles: We are all social beings whose behavior is shaped to some extent by
the roles we play. Such roles as student, housewife, or member of the football team not
only help others to recognize us but also help us to know what is expected of us in
various situations.
3) Personal Traits: These are a third dimension of our self-descriptions. Im
impulsive...Im generous...I tend to worry a lot...etc.
4) Existential Statements (abstract ones): These can range from "Im a child of the
universe" to "Im a human being" to "Im a spiritual being"...etc.
Typically young people describe themselves more in terms of personal traits, whereas older
people feel defined to a greater extent by their social roles.
Ideal Self
(what you'd like to be)
If there is a mismatch between how you see yourself (e.g. your self image) and what youd
like to be (e.g. your ideal self ) then this is likely to affect how much you value yourself.
Therefore, there is an intimate relationship between self-image, ego-ideal and self-esteem.
Humanistic psychologists study this using the Q-Sort Method.
A persons ideal self may not be consistent with what actually happens in life and
experiences of the person. Hence, a difference may exist between a persons ideal self and
actual experience. This is called incongruence.
Where a persons ideal self and actual experience are consistent or very similar, a state of
congruence exists. Rarely, if ever does a total state of congruence exist; all people
experience a certain amount of incongruence. The development of congruence is
dependent on unconditional positive regard. Rogers believed that for a person to achieve
self-actualization they must be in a state of congruence.
Michael Argyle (2008) says there are four major factors which influence its development:
The ways in which others (particularly significant others) react to us.

How we think we compare to others
Our social roles
The extent to which we identify with other people

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Self Concept

History of the Self-Concept Theory

Aspects of Self-Concept Theory

3. Lastly, self-concept is dynamic.

The ways in which others (particularly significant others) react to us.

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