UNDERSTANDING THE SELF

Chapter 1:

SELF-CONCEPT AND FACTORS OF INFLUENCE

a. Meaning of Self-concept
b. Difference between self-concept and self-
esteem
c. Factors of influence

INTRODUCTION

Self-concept is usually defined, in a generic sense, as the set of images,

thoughts and feelings that an individual has of himself/herself. Most authors
interpret self-concept as a series of attitudes towards the self, globally integrated
by three factors: cognitive, behavioral and affective.

Self-concept includes assessments of all parameters that are relevant to an

individual’s development: from physical appearance to social and intellectual
capacities.

SELF-CONCEPT AND FACTORS OF INFLUENCE

Robert B. Burns (1979) interprets self-concept as a conceptualization that

the individual made of her/his own self, being elaborated by powerful emotional
and evaluative connotations. Moreover, the subjective beliefs and factual
knowledge that the individual attributes to himself/herself are highly personal
and intense, varying thereby in degrees to its unique identity.

With regard to self-esteem, Burns describe it as the process by which the

individual examines his actions, skills and attributes compared to criteria and
values that are internalized from society and significant others. However, self-
esteem and self-concept are usually considered as interchangeable notions
(Byrne, 1996; Harter, 1999).

In general terms, it can be distinguished three main characteristic of an

individual’s self concept (Bracken, 1996):
1. It is not innate: The individual’s self concept is constantly being formed by
experience. Moreover, it also depends on the symbolic language.
2. It is an organized whole: The individual tend to ignore perceived variables
that are not adjusted to his/her conceptual whole, conforming thereby
his/her own hierarchy of assessments.
3. It is dynamic: It can be modified by a reinterpretation of the own
personality or external judgments.

Self-concept includes all the parameters that are considered relevant by an

individual: from physical appearance to sexual capacities, social and intellectual
abilities, age, media, culture, appliance, education, gender, income, environment,
etc. Outline of factors that can influence the development of an individual’s self
concept
As a dynamic attribute, an individual’s self concept is characterized by being
in a constant feedback (positive or negative) with the social environment, in
which the opinions and assessments of the persons we establish intimate
relations with (family, couple, friends), are determinant factors.

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FACTOR OF INFLUENCE

From the various factors that influence an individual’s self-concept, the

focus will be directed towards the following:
1. Age: Self-concept changes during the individual’s life span, being its
maximum peak of permeability from seven to twelve years old. It then
begins to be formed during childhood and starts to decrease at
adolescence.

2. Gender: Although it exists considerable studies about gender differences in

self-concept, it seems that there are no conclusive results regarding this
issue. Overall, the study of gender differences in self-concept in
adolescence has generated considerable interest in recent decades. Despite
the fact that the results of these studies are varied, most of them conclude
that there are clear gender differences in self-concept, so that girls,
particularly after the age of twelve, tend to have worse self-concept than
boys. Thus, according to research, age acts as a moderating variable of the
differences between girls and boys (Orenstein, 1995).

3. Education: Education is a vital feature for interpersonal development.

Academic achievements in the school as well as parental guiding and
social interaction, are factors conforming the individual’s self-concept.

4. Media: In contemporary society, the media is a vital factor of influence in

the development of individual’s self-concept. Perhaps the most relevant of
its effects is on the conception of the body image. In this respect,
advertising and marketing has been producing and reproducing a
dissociation between ‘ideal body image’ and ‘real body image’. Such
dissociation might have pathological effects on individuals (i.e; from eating
disorders to anxiety and depression).

5. Culture: Majority of the studies focus on the divergence between Western

culture, characterized by a more dependent auto-conception of the self,
and Asian culture, in which interdependence stands as the fundamental
factor in the development of self-concept.

Description of the factors that can influence the development of an

individual’s self-concept:

1. AGE - The definition of oneself from 5-6 to 7-8 years provides an ability to
discriminate between different domains of experience. Between 7-8 years
and 11-12, there are significant changes in regard to intellectual abilities
and social environment, having remarkable implications for both self-
concept and self-esteem. During this range of age, children have the ability
to compare themselves to others, but the information extracted from such
comparisons is just in service of self-evaluation (Byrne, 1996).
At the end of childhood, there is an increase in the permeability to
social values, so the prototypes of each culture become another valuable
source of comparison, which, in most cases, contribute to the discrepancy
between the ‘real self’ and ‘ideal self’ (Harter, 1999).

2. GENDER - According to current research, age acts as a moderating

variable of the differences in girls and boys. In this respect, there are
empirical evidence showing that girls have a positive perception of
themselves during primary education and yet around twelve, it is produced
a decrease in self-confidence and acceptance of body image (Orenstein,
1995).
The role of women in society may be among the factors behind this
decline in female self-esteem. Thus, the observation of what happens in

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their surroundings, take the girls to infer that their social role is secondary
to that played by men.
By contrast, Crain (1996) insists that it is indispensable to
remember that the gap between boys and girls about the different facets of
self-concept is not exceedingly large, and thus such theories have a limited
clinical and educational significance. Girls and boys are more alike than
different, and the divergence between male and female are fairly consistent
with gender stereotypes.

3. EDUCATION - Fundamentally within the field of Educational Psychology,

there has been a constant preoccupation regarding the links between self-
concept and academic performance. However, there is a lack of evidence
indicating the precise nature of the relationship between both variables
(Marsh and Seeshing, 1997).
What it is clear about the role of education in the development of an
individual’s self-concept is that it not only intervenes the relationship
teacher-pupil, but also the rest of professionals within the educational
system. Importantly, since education does not end in the school, family is
key for a positive development of self-concept.

4. MEDIA - The media has been played a fundamental role in how individuals
perceive themselves. Importantly, marketing and advertising have been
contributed to a general attitude of compulsive consumption as well as to
the creation of an ideal body image as a way to personal and professional
success.
Such strong pressure from the media about unattainable aesthetic
models has as its immediate result an increase of personal dissatisfaction
along with a rise in metal pathologies, such as depression, anxiety or
eating disorders (Cash, 2011).
However, research shows that subjects with a positive self-concept
are less vulnerable to the influence of the media than those with a lower
self-esteem.

5. CULTURE - Majority of research on cultural differences in self-concept is

focused on the comparison between Asian and Western culture. The
former, collectivistic and vertical societies (high power distance), report
higher belief in cognitive-behavioral consistency, share more belief related
to dependent affiliation, but also agree more with belief related to
achievement, self-direction and distinctiveness motivation (Smith and
Bond, 1998).
By contrast, subjects from Western culture, vertical individualistic
societies, report higher agreement with need for uniqueness and higher
level of behavioral flexibility. Some authors state that such characteristics
of individuals from Western culture are due to a higher importance of
positive self-representation (Worchel et al, 1998)

CONCLUSION

An individual’s self-concept undergoes notable changes during

development, evolving from a structure in which diverse dominions of experience
are distinguished to another stage in which the fundamental aspects are
integration and high-level abstractions.

In summary, the development of the self-concept during the life span of an

individual is subjected to multiple factors of influence.

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Reference:

1. Ashmore, R., y Jussim, L. (1997). Self and identity. Fundamental issues.

New York: Oxford University.
2. Bracken, B. (1996). Handbook of self-concept. New York: John Wiley y
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3. Burns, R. B. (1979). The self-concept: Theory, measurement, development
and behavior. New York: Logman.
4. Byrne, B. M. (1996). Measuring self-concept across the life span: Issues
and instrumentation. Washington, DC: American Psychologist Association.
5. Cash, T. F. (Ed.). (2011). Body image: A handbook of science, practice and
prevention. New York: The Guilford Press.
6. Crain, M. (1996). The influence of age, race and gender on child and
adolescent self-concept. In B. A. Bracken (Ed.), Handbook of self-concept.
(pp. 395-420). New York: Wiley.
7. Harter, S. (1999). The construction of the self: A developmental
perspective. New York: The Guilford Press.
8. Marsh, H. W., & Seeshing, A. (1997). Causal effects of academic self-
concept on academic achievement: Structural equation of longitudinal
data. Journal of Educational Psychology, 86, 439-456.
9. Orenstein, P. (1995). School girls: Young women, self-esteem and the
confidence gap. New York: Anchor.
10.Smith, P. B. & Bond, M. H. (1998). Social Psychology across cultures (2nd
ed.). London: Prentice Hall Europe.
11.Worchel, S. Morales, J.F., Páez, D. & Deschamps, J-C. (1998). Social
identity. International perspectives. London: Sage.

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