Self and Relationship

Thingbaijam Boris
M.Phil. – Ist Year
CONTENTS
• What is the self?
• Components of the self
• Carl Rogers and the Self Concept Theory
• Learned Helplessness and Mental Health
• Attribution Theory and Mental Health
• Resilience, Coping, and Social Support
• The Self and its relation with mental health/illness
• Highlights
• References
WHAT IS THE SELF?
• Individual's sense of identity.
• Encompasses one's thoughts, beliefs, emotions, values,
memories, and behaviors.
• Dynamic and ever-evolving construct shaped by internal
and external factors, cultural and societal influences.
• Help Individuals perceive and navigate the world around
them
• Influences their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors.
COMPONENTS OF THE SELF
• The concept of the self is complex and multifaceted,
and there are many different theoretical frameworks
that attempt to explain its components. Some of the
more commonly recognized components include
• Self Concept
• Self Esteem
• Self Efficacy
• Self regulation
SELF-CONCEPT
• How individuals perceive and define themselves.
• It involves a collection of beliefs and attitudes about one's personal
characteristics, abilities, and values
• Individuals form a mental model of themselves based on their
experiences, beliefs, and social interactions
• Studies -
• Markus and Wurf (1987) found that individuals tend to remember information that is consistent
with their self-concept better than information that is inconsistent.
• Kuhn and McPartland (1954) studied the development of the self-concept in children, finding that
children initially describe themselves in terms of concrete features (e.g. "I have brown hair"), but as
they get older they begin to describe themselves in more abstract and psychological terms (e.g. "I am
kind").
SELF-ESTEEM
•The degree to which the qualities and characteristics contained in
one’s self-concept are perceived to be positive.
•Influenced by their sense of self-worth, accomplishments, and
social comparisons.
•Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (1996) – a widely used measure of
self esteem
•Studies –
• Jennifer Crocker and her colleagues (1987) found that individuals with high levels of contingent self-
esteem tended to have lower levels of psychological well-being compared to those with high levels of
non-contingent self-esteem.
• Crocker and Park (2004) found that individuals who practice self-compassion have higher levels of
self-esteem and are less likely to experience negative emotions.
SELF-EFFICACY
• Central Component of social cognitive theory of Bandura
• Individual’s belief in their ability to successfully perform a
task.
• Related to a sense of personal competence influencing
behaviour, motivation, and achievement.
• Influenced by a variety of factors such as past experiences,
feedback, emotional states, etc.
• High self efficacy vs low self efficacy.
SELF-REGUALTION
• Process where individuals monitor and control their own thoughts,
emotion, and behaviours in order to achieve desired outcomes.
• Involves the ability to manage one’s impulses, control one’s
emotion, and adjusts one’s behaviour in response to changing
situations.
• The Marshmallow Test-
• Walter Mischel and his colleagues (1960s) conducted a series of studies in which young children were
offered a marshmallow and told they could either eat it immediately or wait for a period of time and
receive a second marshmallow as a reward.
• The study showed that children who were able to delay gratification and wait for the second
marshmallow tended to have better life outcomes, such as higher academic achievement and better social
skills.
CARL ROGERS and SELF CONCEPT
THEORY
• People want to feel, experience and behave in ways which
are consistent with their own self-image, which in turn
reflects what we would like to be (ideal-self).
• The closer the self-image and ideal-self, the more
consistent/congruent we are – leads to a higher sense of self-
worth.
• A state of incongruence occurs if some of the totality of their
experience is unacceptable, is denied or distorted.
LEARNED HELPLESSNESS AND
MENTAL HEALTH
• Concept discovered by Martin Seligman
• Repeated exposure to uncontrollable stressors results in individuals
failing to use any control options that may later become available.
• People repeatedly exposed to stressful situations beyond their control
develop an inability to make decisions or engage effectively in
purposeful behavior.
• Treatment typically involves cognitive-behavioral therapy, which aims
to help individuals identify and challenge negative thought patterns
and learn new coping strategies to improve their sense of control and
self-efficacy.
ATTRIBUTION THEORY AND MENTAL
HEALTH
• Deals with the processes by which people assign motives to
their own or other’s behavior.
• Internal Attribution vs External Attribution.
• Attribution theories suggest that individuals with mental health
problems may attribute negative events to internal, stable, and
global factors, leading to feelings of hopelessness and
helplessness.
• Attribution retraining, which involves helping individuals
reframe negative events in a more positive light.
RESILIENCE, COPING AND SOCIAL
SUPPORT
• Resilience refers to an individual's ability to adapt to adversity and
maintain mental health despite challenges.
• Coping refers to an individual's strategies for managing stress and
adversity.
• Social support refers to the availability of supportive relationships and
resources
• These factors are important for mental health and can buffer against
the negative effects of stress and adversity.
THE SELF AND ITS RELATION WITH
MENTAL HEALTH AND ILLNESS
• Brown and Marshall (2006) found that individuals with high levels of self-concept clarity
reported fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety, and greater life satisfaction compared to those
with lower levels of self-concept clarity.
• Sowislo and Orth (2013) in a meta-analysis study found that low self-esteem was significantly
associated with increased risk for depression, anxiety, and other mental health problems.
• Blascovich and Tomaka (1991) found that self-esteem had a significant impact on physiological
and emotional responses to stress, suggesting that low self-esteem may be a risk factor for stress-
related disorders.
• Benight and Bandura (2004) found that individuals who were trained in coping skills and high
self-efficacy for coping with traumatic events showed lower levels of post-traumatic stress disorder
(PTSD) symptoms compared to those with low self-efficacy.
• Tangney and colleagues (2004) found that individuals who reported greater self-control were less
likely to engage in impulsive or risky behaviour and were less likely to report symptoms of
depression or anxiety.
AARON BECK and CBT
DEVELOPMENT
• Beck began to notice his patients with depression had negative
thought patterns and beliefs about themselves, the world and the
future.
• He believed these negative beliefs to be the contributing factor.
• Series of studies done where his clients were asked to complete a
thought record.
• He would then challenge the negative beliefs with alternative
perspectives and evidence – led to improvements.
• Developed Cognitive Therapy based on his findings
HIGHLIGHTS
• The self is an individual’s sense of identity and subjective
experience of being a unique person
• It plays a crucial role in how individuals perceive and navigate
the world around them (influence thoughts, emotions, and
behaviours).
• Cultural and societal influences shape the self.
• Changes over time from childhood to adulthood
• A proper understanding of the self is linked with better mental
health outcomes.
“The mind is everything.
What you think you
become”.
– The Buddha
References
• Markus, H., & Wurf, E. (1987). The dynamic self-concept: A social psychological
perspective. Annual Review of Psychology, 38, 299-337.
• Kuhn, M. H., & McPartland, T. S. (1954). An empirical investigation of self-
attitudes. American Sociological Review, 19(1), 68-76.
• Crocker, J., Cornwell, B., & Major, B. (1987). The stigma of overweight: affective
consequences of attributional ambiguity. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 52(2), 218-216.
• Crocker, J., & Park, L. E. (2004). The costly pursuit of self-esteem. Psychological
Bulletin, 130(3), 392-414.
• Mischel, W., Shoda, Y., & Rodriguez, M. I. (1989). Delay of gratification in children.
Science, 244(4907), 933-938.
References (Contd.)
• Brown, K. W., & Ryan, R. M. (2003). The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its
role in psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(4),
822-848.
• Sowislo, J. F., & Orth, U. (2013). Does low self-esteem predict depression and anxiety? A
meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Psychological Bulletin, 139(1), 213-240.
• Blascovich, J., & Tomaka, J. (1991). Measures of self-esteem. In Measures of Personality
and Social Psychological Attitudes (pp. 115-160). Academic Press.
• Benight, C. C., & Bandura, A. (2004). Social cognitive theory of posttraumatic recovery:
The role of perceived self-efficacy. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 42(10), 1129-1148.
• Tangney, J. P., Baumeister, R. F., & Boone, A. L. (2004). High self-control predicts good
adjustment, less pathology, better grades, and interpersonal success. Journal of
Personality, 72(2), 271-322.
THANK YOU!!