What is Self-Concept

What is Self-Concept?

What is self-concept?  It is the totality of the individual’s thoughts and feelings having reference to himself or herself as an object.  Our confidence to engage others is largely dependent upon our self-concept.  When we are formulating our self-concept we should look at it with regard to our social identity – that is how we choose to identify ourselves in a social context. It is intertwined with our self-concept and developed through socialization.  A person typically identifies with several social groups simultaneously but, will behave according to whichever group is the most salient at the time.

We suggest that when trying to understand self-concept that the reader us a Global Positioning System (GPS) analogy.  Imagine that our self-concept is the display on a GPS and the clarity of the image is dependent upon the quality and number of connection between the satellite and receiver.  If a GPS has no connection, it can still provide a very clear picture of where we think we are.  But as it begins to acquire a more accurate location the bubble narrows and our position relative to the terrain becomes more accurate.