Self Self Concept

Self-concept Self-concept or self identity refers to the global understanding a sentient being has of him or herself. It presupposes but can be distinguished from self-consciousness, which is simply an awareness of one's self. It is also more general than self-esteem, which is the purely evaluative element of the selfconcept.[1] The self-concept is composed of relatively permanent self-assessments, such as personality attributes, knowledge of one's skills and abilities, one's occupation and hobbies, and awareness of one's physical attributes. For example, the statement, "I am lazy" is a self-assessment that contributes to the self-concept. In contrast, the statement "I am tired" would not normally be considered part of someone's self-concept, since being tired is a temporary state. Nevertheless, a person's self-concept may change with time, possibly going through turbulent periods of identity crisis and reassessment. The self-concept is not restricted to the present. It includes past selves and future selves. Future selves or "possible selves" represent individuals' ideas of what they might become, what they would like to become, and what they are afraid of becoming. They correspond to hopes, fears, standards, goals, and threats. Possible selves may function as incentives for future behavior and they also provide an evaluative and interpretive context for the current view of self.

Self & Self-Concept

In stating that the goal for Gestalt therapy work is self support, we put the unblocking of a positive sense of self at the heart of the maturation process. In an earlier paper (Korb, 1984) I described one of the reasons for the slowness of the maturation process: the necessary change of the "core" self concept from the (to some extent) negative and shameful (Yontef, 1993) sense of self that is learned in childhood and reinforced by personal experiences throughout life. The mature "core" self is basically acceptable; the sense of personal identity is positive.

Negative beliefs about the self are built up in early years of life (perhaps before age 6) as a reaction to the input from significant others. Often this self-concept, or sense of personal identity, is a response to the lack of validation or the negativity and criticism (as experienced by the child) that are addressed to him/her. Although there may be praise also, these criticisms are built into a set of beliefs about the self that is based on the

perceived truth of the criticisms. The person will behave then in a way that reinforces the negative concept. If I have been convinced that I am stupid, I will behave in stupid ways—although in fact I may be quite intelligent. If I believe that I will never amount to anything, I will sabotage any way in which I might be successful. However, in keeping with the Gestalt belief in the wholeness of each person, in the possibilities that are present in the "core" self, there is also an inner knowing of the truth, a knowing that I am not stupid or that I can be whatever is in me to be, that it is wonderfully unavoidable being one's self and making one's own decisions—that I am important and want to do important work. This knowing is the foundation for interacting appropriately with the natural and personal environmental field.

Self-esteem In psychology, self-esteem reflects a person's overall evaluation or appraisal of her or his own worth. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs (for example, "I am competent/incompetent") and emotions (for example, triumph/despair, pride/shame). Behavior may reflect self-esteem (for example, assertiveness/timorousness, confidence/caution). Psychologists usually regard self-esteem as an enduring personality characteristic (trait self-esteem), though normal, short-term variations (state self-esteem) occur. Self-esteem can apply specifically to a particular dimension (for example, "I believe I am a good writer, and feel proud of that in particular") or have global extent (for example, "I believe I am a good person, and feel proud of myself in general"). Synonyms or near-synonyms of self-esteem include: self-worth[1], selfregard[2], self-respect[3], [4], self-love (which can express overtones of selfpromotion)[5], self-integrity. Self-esteem is distinct from self-confidence and self-efficacy, which involve beliefs about ability and future performance.

Self monitoring Self-monitoring t is a contribution to the psychology of personality, proposed by Mark Snyder in 1974. The theory refers to the process through

which people regulate their own behavior in order to "look good" so that they will be perceived by others in a favorable manner. It distinguishes between high self-monitors, who monitor their behaviour to fit different situations, and low self-monitors, who are more cross-situationally consistent. Snyder designed a questionnaire to assess self-monitoring called the Self-Monitoring Scale, based on the assumption that high self-monitoring could be defined as consisting of: 1. High concern with the social appropriateness of one's actions; 2. Use of social comparison information; 3. Ability to monitor one's behaviour to fit different situations; 4. Ability to do this in specific situations; 5. Trait variability

On his original version of the Self-Monitoring Scale, he found that Stanford University students scored significantly higher than psychiatric inpatients, but significantly lower than people in the acting profession. The theory is of interest in that it makes an original contribution to the debate on traits versus situationism. It effectively says that trait consistency can be found in low self-monitors, whereas a situationist framework is more appropriate for high self-monitors. Subsequent research using the self-monitoring scale, in which it has been analysed using factor analysis, has questioned whether the scale really - as Snyder believed - measures a homogeneous concept.