SELF-CONCEPT: DEVELOPMENT AND RELATIONSHIP WITH SELF-ESTEEM - GEOGRAFÍA - 2025

Self- concept or self-perception is the image that a person has about himself. It includes all beliefs about how you are, how others perceive you, and all your characteristics. Although it does not include value judgments but only neutral information, it has a very close relationship with self-esteem.

Self-concept helps us to understand ourselves, define ourselves and place ourselves within a specific environment. Its main function is to help us compare our beliefs, thoughts, actions and emotions with those of others. In this way, we can check if what we are doing is adaptive or not.

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Self-concept is made up of many different dimensions. Each person values ​​some aspects of himself more than others; and depending on how you see yourself in each of them, your self-esteem will be more or less low. However, all facets of our personality, behavior and internal state are represented in self-perception.

The concept of self-concept is one of the most important in social and humanistic psychology. Having a healthy self-concept is key to enjoying good mental health, to being satisfied with oneself, and to being able to improve and solve our problems. In this article we will tell you everything about this topic.

What is self-concept?

Self-concept is the way we see ourselves. It is about the way in which we represent aspects of our way of being such as our behavior, our emotions, our thoughts, our physical appearance or our social status.

The difference between self-concept and self-esteem can be difficult to understand, since both aspects of ourselves are closely related. In fact, they affect each other, making it impossible to understand one without the other. However, these are two different psychological phenomena.

Thus, self-concept is only the collection of the data we have about ourselves. Self-esteem goes one step further, valuing the information that the self-concept provides and rewarding or punishing us based on it.

characteristics

According to research in this regard, self-concept has four main characteristics. It is an acquired, dynamic, unconscious and organized psychological phenomenon. Below you will find the explanation of what each of them consists of.

The first characteristic of the self-concept is that it is acquired. This means that, when we are born, we still do not have a clear notion about what we are like. Over the years, based on our experiences and the feedback we receive from the rest, it develops little by little.

In fact, the second characteristic refers precisely to this formation process. The self-concept is dynamic; in other words, at all times the data we receive from our environment and from within can modify what we think about ourselves.

On the other hand, most of the processes that have to do with self-concept and its formation are not accessible to our consciousness. Instead, our subconscious mind is the one that takes care of them, and therefore it is not easy to modify them at will.

Finally, our self-concept is organized; that is, our subconscious mind tries to give a unique meaning to all the information that we have about ourselves.

As a consequence, anything that does not fit this general idea is often discarded, making radical changes in it difficult.

How does it develop?

The most accepted theory about self-concept defends that this part of our psyche has two main components, one personal and the other social. Each of them is generated slightly differently, although the mechanisms used by both are quite similar.

Personal self-concept

The first component of our self-concept is the one that has to do with how we see ourselves, without influence of any kind from our environment. Thus, this is formed based on the experiences that we have in different areas of our life.

For example, our self-concept in the field of education will develop according to what we go through during our school life. If we have good experiences, our self-concept will be that of someone who is good at school, and vice versa. This happens in all areas of our existence.

A large part of our self-concept is formed during our early years, and it is usually quite difficult to change once we are beyond adolescence. However, if we have enough new experiences that contradict our beliefs about ourselves, it is possible to change it.

Social self-concept

The other component of self-concept does not have to do with how we think we are ourselves, but with how we think others perceive us.

This second component is formed according to the messages we receive from other people throughout our lives, especially during childhood and adolescence.

Both components of the self-concept constantly provide feedback. However, depending on each person and the vital moment in which they are, the personal or social will become more important.

In general, the opinion that others have of us is very important, but it does not have to determine how we perceive ourselves.

Relationship with self-esteem and creativity

Self-esteem and self-concept are two psychological phenomena that are closely related. The more positive the idea we have of ourselves, and the more competent we perceive ourselves in the areas that are important to each of us, the greater our self-esteem. The same is also true on the contrary.

The most accepted theory on this topic is that self-esteem occurs when our subconscious mind compares our self-concept with an "ideal self" that we would like to achieve. The more we think we are like him, the better we feel about ourselves.

On the other hand, some research suggests that creativity is also closely related to our self-concept. When a person is perceived as creative, regardless of whether they really are or not, a psychological phenomenon occurs that allows them to innovate and create more easily.

Because of this, modifying your self-concept can be a very useful process for people who have self-esteem or creativity problems.

There are several methods to achieve this, the main ones being psychological therapy and the living of new experiences that challenge the idea that an individual has of himself.

References

1. "Self-concept: what is it and how is it formed?" in: Psychology and Mind. Retrieved on: January 24, 2019 from Psychology and Mind: psicologiaymente.com.
2. "What is self-concept and how is it formed?" in: Psychopedia. Retrieved on: January 24, 2019 from Psicopedia: psicopedia.org.
3. "What is self-concept?" in: Positive Psychology. Retrieved on: January 24, 2019 from Positive Psychology: antonimartinezpiscologo.com.
4. "Self-concept: dimensions, origin, functions, inconsistencies, changes and consistency" in: Psychiatry. Retrieved on: January 24, 2019 from Psychiatry: psiquiatria.com.
5. "Self-concept" in: Wikipedia. Retrieved on: January 24, 2019 from Wikipedia: es.wikipedia.org.