SELF: CONCEPT, FORMATION AND

DIMENSION AND COMPONENTS

SKILL DEVELOPMENT-II
M.A HRM (IV SEMESTER)
Who are you? What makes you “you?”
 You might answer with “I’m a mother,” or, “I’m a therapist,” or maybe,
“I’m a believer,” “I’m a good friend,” “I’m a brother.”

Maybe you answer with, “I am excellent at my job,” “I’m an accomplished

musician,” or “I’m a successful athlete.”

Other responses might fall into the category of traits: “I’m a kind-hearted
person,” “I’m intelligent and hard-working,” or “I’m laid-back and easy-
going.”

These responses come from your internal sense of who you are. This
sense is developed early in life, but it goes through constant evaluation and
adjustment throughout the lifespan.

This sense of self has a specific term: self-concept.

 CONCEPT

Self-concept is an broad idea we have about who we

are—physically, emotionally, socially, spiritually,
and in terms of any other aspects that make up who
we are. We form and regulate our self-concept as we
grow, based on the knowledge we have about
ourselves. It is multidimensional, and can be broken
down into these individual aspects.
For example, you may have a very different idea of who
you are in terms of your physical body, and who you are in
terms of your spirit or soul.
CONT…
The most important part of a mans personality is the
Self Image. Self image is awareness of how one
consciously perceives oneself. Self concept is that part
of self about which one is aware. It includes the
perception one has of ones own characteristics,
feelings, attitudes, values and abilities. It is a picture
the person has of himself. The self concept may change
or develop over a period of time. This happens because
of environmental influences and life experiences.
CONT…

A simple test of self-awareness is the ability to

recognize oneself in a mirror. Humans and
chimpanzees can pass the test; dogs, cat, monkey
never do.
CONT…
Animals like chimpanzees and perhaps dolphins, have at least a
primitive sense of self , we know this because of some interesting
experiments that have been done with animals.
In one study (Gallup, 1970), researchers painted a red dot on the
forehead of anesthetized chimpanzees and then placed the animals
in a cage with a mirror. When the chimps woke up and looked in
the mirror, they touched the dot on their faces, not the dot on the
faces in the mirror. This action suggests that the chimps
understood that they were looking at themselves and not at other
animals, and thus we can assume that they are able to realize that
they exist as individuals. Most other animals, including dogs, cats,
and monkeys, never realize that it is themselves they see in a
mirror.
CONT…
Infants who have similar red dots painted on their foreheads recognize
themselves in a mirror in the same way that chimps do, and they do this by about
18 months of age (Asendorpf, Warkentin, & Baudonnière, 1996; Povinelli,
Landau, & Perilloux, 1996). 

The child’s knowledge about the self continues to develop as the child grows. By
two years of age, the infant becomes aware of his or her gender as a boy or a girl.
At age four, the child’s self-descriptions are likely to be based on physical
features, such as hair color, and by about age six, the child is able to understand
basic emotions and the concepts of traits, being able to make statements such as
“I am a nice person” (Harter, 1998).

By the time children are in grade school, they have learned that they are unique
individuals, and they can think about and analyze their own behavior. They also
begin to show awareness of the social situation—they understand that other
people are looking at and judging them the same way that they are looking at and
judging others (Doherty, 2009).
FACTORS AFFECTING SELF CONCEPT…
 Overview Self (body image)
Self-image is a person's attitude toward his body
consciously and unconsciously. This attitude
includes perceptions and feelings about the size,
shape, and appearance of the body. Self-
CONT…
 Ideal Self
Ideal self is the individual's perception of how
one should behave based on set standard of
aspirations or objectives . Ideal themselves began
to grow in childhood are influenced by people
who are important to her that provide expectations
in adolescence, while the ideal self is to be formed
through a process of identification of the parents,
teachers, and other people close.
CONT…
 Self-esteem
Self-esteem is a personal assessment of the results
achieved by analyzing how far behavior can
fulfill the ideal self. Self-esteem refers to the way
we see and think about ourselves, confidence in
one's own worth or abilities
CHARACTERISTICS OF HIGH SELF ESTEEM
 Able to accept and learn from their own mistakes.
 Being Confident.
 Not devastated by criticism.
 Not overly defensive when questioned.
 Not easily defeated by setbacks and obstacles.
 Open and assertive in communicating their needs.
 Not overly worried about failing or looking
foolish.
CHARACTERISTICS OF LOW SELF ESTEEM
 Self criticism
 Constant Guilt& worry
 physical manifestations
 postponing decision
 Denying one's self pleasure
 Disturbed relationship
 Set unrealistic goals
BUILD YOUR SELF ESTEEM
 Stop worrying about the things you can’t change.
 Be more accepting of others and the things they can’t
change.
 Your self- worth SHOULD NOT be based upon what others
think of you, but how you feel about yourself.
 Try not to compare with others, It’s unfair. You may
compare their strengths with your weaknesses.
 Judge yourself in terms of your own growth.
 Remember that there are things about yourself you can't
change.
 Reward yourself when you succeed.
CONT…
 Role
Roles are attitudes, behavior values and goals
expected of a person based on their position in
the community. Roles can be something in
which a person has no choice, whereas other
can be elected or selected individuals.
SELF-CONCEPT ESSENTIALLY INCLUDES FOUR BASIC ASPECTS
THAT CONSISTS OF:

1. How do people observe themselves

2. How do people think about themselves
3. How do people rate themselves
4. How do people tried in various ways to enhance
and sustain themselves.
TYPES OF SELF CONCEPT…
Positive self concept
 Have confidence that he was able to overcome the problem

 Feel equal with others

 Receiving a compliment without feeling shame or guilt

 Recognizing that every human being has desires, feelings

and behaviors that are not necessarily fully approved by

society
 Knowing and realizing the deficiencies that exist within

him and tried to fix it.

CONT…

Negative self concept

 Sensitive to criticism. Almost always cannot

stand the criticism. They see it as the efforts of

others to drop his price, so sometimes he looks
stubborn and trying to maintain his opinion using
a variety of justifications and false logic.
CONT…

 The response to the praise, though he seemed not

to care and avoid the compliment but still seemed
enthusiastic.
 Have a tendency to feel unwelcome others.
 His reaction to see each other as enemies even the
ones who care.
 Even so he will feel that he is the victim of a
social system that is not right.
ASPECTS OF SELF CONCEPT…

Physical self-concept
This concept means the views, thoughts, and
assessment of people to its own. Individuals
known to have a physical self-concept when he
looked positively his appearance, health, skin,
good looks, as well as the ideal body size.
Individuals considered to have a negative self-
concept when looking at those things negatively.
CONT…
Personal self-concept.
This concept means the views, thoughts, and feelings of
people to oneself. Someone classified as having a
positive self-concept when looking at himself as a
happy, optimistic, and able to control themselves, and
have a variety of abilities. Conversely considered to
have a negative self-concept when looking at
themselves as unhappy, pessimistic, and unable to
control themselves, and have a wide variety of shortage.
CONT…
Social self-concept
This concept means the views, thoughts, judgments, feelings
for people around. It relates to the ability of touch with the
world , feeling capable and valuable within the scope of
social interaction. Someone classified as having a positive
social self-concept if it sees itself as the people who are
interested in others, understand others, find it easy along with
other people, caring, keeping the feelings of others, and is
active in the social activities. Instead, someone is said to have
a negative social self-concept if sees himself as a person who
is indifferent to others, feels difficult to go along with other
people, do not pay attention to others, and not active in social
activities.
CONT…
Moral self-concept. (standards of behavior; principles of right and wrong.)
This concept means the views, thoughts, feelings, and
judgments about the morality of people themselves. This
concept relates to the values and principles that gives
meaning and direction of one's life. Someone classified
as having a positive moral self-concept who sees himself
as a person who cling to the values, ethics and principal.
Instead classified as having negative moral self-concept
who sees himself as the one who deviates from the
standard of moral value that should be followed.
The family self-concept.
This concept means the views, thoughts, and judgments
people have for there own family. Someone classified as
having a positive family self-concept will be the one who
is proud of having his own people. His entire strength is
derived by his family. whereas if classified as having a
negative family self-concept the person sees himself as
someone who is not comfortable with his own family and
never get along with them.
SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF POSITIVE SELF-CONCEPTS
INCLUDE:

 He sees himself as an intelligent person;

 He perceives himself as an important member of his
community;
 A person sees himself as an excellent spouse and
friend;
 A person thinks of himself as a nurturing and caring
person;
 A person views himself as a hard-working and
competent employee.
ON THE FLIP SIDE, THESE PEOPLE COULD HAVE NEGATIVE
SELF-CONCEPTS LIKE:

 A person sees himself as stupid and slow;

 A man perceives himself as a burden on his
community;
 A person sees herself as a terrible spouse and friend;
 A person thinks of himself as a cold and
unapproachable person;
 A person views himself as a lazy and incompetent
employee.
CONT….
“Self-concept is based on belief rather than on fact. Your
self-concept does not necessarily correspond with
external reality – others may “see” you differently. What
you believe about yourself is true for you. It will be a
powerful factor in determining your behavior. For
example, if you believe you are inferior to others, you will
probably act in a self-defeating fashion. If you believe you
are strong , you will likely succeed, even against great
odds. Your self-concept can help or hinder you.” it relates
to the perception of individual strengths and weaknesses.
 ACTIVITY- ALL ABOUT ME….
 I feel good about…
 I feel successful when…
 My favorite person is…
 My favorite activity is…
 I wish I could…
 I want to…
 If I could have three wishes, they would be:
a.
b.
c.
 I feel depressed when…
 A character trait I need to improve is…
 I am good at…
 I wish I did not…
 My family is…
 I would like to be…
 The most important thing to me is…
 The thing I like best about myself…
ACTIVITY…..
 Make a two or three-minute commercial on why
you should hire them.
 The commercial should focus on special skills,
talents, and positive qualities. It should highlight
what is great about you and what you would
bring to the fictional position you are auditioning
for.
ACTIVITY…

Pair with someone you don’t know very well.

Take 10 minutes to interview each other (5
minutes per interview). You can even add fun
questions like “would you rather live on a boat or
on an island?” or “what is your favorite subject at
this school?”.
Introduce YOUR partner to the other children.
“We have the ability to change how we think about
ourselves by working to become more like our
ideal selves”.