• Shapping Our Self Concept

What shapes the self concept ?

             

Shapping Our Self Concept

 It might be biological roots . It could be personality traits . It could also be perspectives based on our social concepts . How others view us is often a way that our self concept can be shaped , how we become aware of some of those characteristics that help us to identify who we are , 

how we label ourselves , and maybe why . One of the ways in which social experiences can shape our self-awareness and our self concept is through what's called reflective appraisal .

Reflective appraisal is a situation in which we develop our self concept that reflects the way that we believe other people see us . So we reflect our appraisal of ourselves based on that which others admit to us . So , for example , we might have a significant other in our life . And when we define someone as a significant other , it does not necessarily mean that they are a romantic partner of ours . Instead , it is the opinion of someone we especially value , and those significant others significantly impact how we see ourselves through reflective appraisal and social comparison , which is our next idea of social impact on self-awareness .

We come to label ourselves in certain ways . Whereas reflective appraisal is a specific reflection of our labels of ourselves based on what we are seeing from other people . Social comparison is not necessarily how we believe others see us , but how we feel we compare to others . So we evaluate ourselves in terms of how we compare to a group or culture or our general family . That kind of thing . So do we see ourselves as superior or inferior to a group , or are we the same or different compared to a set of people ?

If you think about it , how do you determine whether or not you are , quote , pretty or , quote , intelligent or tall or short ? How do you determine whether or not you are those labels ? You determine them by social comparison . You determine that you are tall based on those around you . When you say that you are intelligent in one situation , you will compare yourself to those around you who maybe don't have quite the intellect you do . And in a completely different situation , you may see yourself as not intelligent or equal to those around you because of that group of people .

So you are comparing yourself to others based on those experiences . Now , look back at some of the traits you might use to label yourself . Do you see anything that might have come from reflective appraisal or social comparison ?

You might want to answer questions like who or what influenced this . So maybe you labeled yourself as pretty or maybe you labeled yourself as outgoing . Who or what influenced you to see yourself in that way ? Who influenced you or what influenced you to determine that you were considered outgoing ? Or maybe it's a personality trait like introverted or extroverted . Which situation ? What circumstance or what group of people made you determine that you were that way ? Was it through reflective appraisal or social comparison ?

And if so , 

are you happy with that ? 

Are you okay with labeling yourself in that way ? 

Why or why not ? 

Are you happy with that ? What impacts you in that manner ?

 This is something that you have to keep in mind when you are deciding how you are going to interpret the self concept labels that you've created . We also have what is called the perceived self and the presenting self . The perceived self is the definition you have of who you are based on your own perceptions .

You perceive yourself to be a certain way . You perceive yourself as all of these things . So when you maybe create a list of labels for yourself , that is your perceived self . Sometimes they're positive , sometimes they're negative . It depends on your perceptions , your perceived self is that in which you perceive yourself to be based on your own experiences and perceptions . That being said , we also have what's called presenting self . In some situations , we will present ourselves to be a certain way based on our audience .

If you've ever thought of something like social media , Facebook , Twitter and the like . Oftentimes you see a one line of a perception , one direction , one personality , whereas you might be more , more , more multifaceted . Maybe you see only positive traits represented in a social media account . Maybe you see only negative traits because you're try that person is trying to get sympathy . That is a presenting self , how you present yourself to your audience . Maybe you have always said to yourself , I'm one way at school or at work , but I'm a completely different way at home with my family and friends .

That would be considered presenting self . That is a part of self-awareness and self concept . It's how we shape who we are and how we see ourselves .