SELF-CONCEPT AND IDENTITY FORMATION FEM4105 Psychology of Personality & Human Dynamics

BS(PM)-PJJ Week 5-7 INSTRUCTOR: SITI NOR BINTI YAACOB, PhD.

[email protected]/012-2841844

What is self?

• The conscious reflection of one’s own being or identity, as object separate from other or from the environment.

• 2 distinct meaning: • • Self as an object  Self as a process  self-concept self-esteem 2

Self-concept

• A picture of the way we look, behave, and the impact that we make on others.

• Own traits, abilities, weakness, strength • Feelings, perceptions and evaluations of who we are actually • The collection of beliefs that we hold about ourselves.

• Relate to self-esteem as if more understand own, then can control behavior; if know abilities, can maximizes efforts, hence increase self-esteem

Types of self-concept

• Shavelson, Hubner, and Stanton (1976):

1.

Personal self-concept: opinion about own self • “I am strong”

2.

Social self-concept: our perception of how others think about us • “My mother think I am clever”

3.

Self-ideals: how or what we want to be • “I want to be an astronaut”

Self-esteem

• • • • • Self-evaluation, by the value that we place on ourselves, i.e. whether we are good or bad Sense of judgement or value of our own worth and the associated feelings. (Blascovich & Tomaka, 1991) High self-esteem: clear sense of personal qualities, think well of self, set appropriate goals and cope successfully with difficult situations Low self-esteem: not confident, negative perception Measures of self-esteem: Rosernberg Self-esteem Scale(1965), Coopersmith Self-esteem Inventory (1971/1981)

Factors that can influences adolescent self-esteem

•

Pubertal development

• Drug use • Academic •

Gender differences

• Girls more worry, score low •

Feedback from peers and adults

• Always in wrong •

Socio-economic status and ethnic group

6

Body Image(BI) Dissatisfaction

• • • An individual’s experience of his/her body.

Mental picture a person has about his/her body.

HBI – when a person ’ s mental picture of her body is accurate and her feelings, assessment and relationship towards her body are positive, confident and self-caring • • • Distortion of body image (clinical related problem): Anorexia Nervosa: Extreme dieting or starvation Bulimia Nervosa: Binge eating and self-induce vomit 7

Identity

• Identity - The distinct personality of an individual • In philosophy, identity, from Latin:

identitas

(“sameness”), is the relation each thing bears just to itself.

• The concept of sameness has given rise to the general concept of identity, personal identity and social identity.

as in

Identity Formation

• Eric Erikson, a prominent researcher on adolescence, described the task of identity formation as one of making choices by exploring alternatives and committing to roles.

• As one moves through adolescence, if these values, beliefs, goals, and practices are no longer appropriate, the individual can engage in a task of identity redefinition and refinement.

• Self-identity is clearly not stable, but is instead an ongoing process of self-reflection and change as one move through life.

Self-Concept

• Self-concept is a multi-dimensional construct that refers to an individual's perception of "self" in relation to any number of characteristics, such as academics ,gender roles and sexuality, racial identity, and many others.

Self-Assessment

• Self-assessment is the first step of the career planning process. It is the process of gathering information about yourself in order to make an informed career decision.

• A self-assessment should include a look at the following: values, interests, personality, and skills.

Self-Confidence

• Self-confidence is the expected probability that a person will achieve a goal in a certain situation.

• Self-confidence is the difference between feeling unstoppable and feeling scared out of your wits.

Your perception of yourself has an enormous impact on how others perceive you.

• Perception is reality - the more self-confidence you have, the more likely it is you’ll succeed.

Belief Regarding Basic Nature

• Resulting from a biological basis & neuro-psychological functioning within the environment.

Methods in Assessing Personality

• Interviews • Projection Tests • Situational Tests • Self Reports • Reputational Reports