User:Nathalya Cubas/sandbox

One's self-concept (also called self-construction, self-identity or self-perspective) is a collection of beliefs about oneself that includes elements such as academic performance,     gender roles and sexuality,   racial identity, and many others. Generally, self-concept embodies the answers to "Who am I?"

Self-concept is distinguishable from self-awareness, which "refers to the extent to which self-knowledge is clearly defined, consistent and currently applicable to one's attitudes and dispositions. Self-concept is made up of one's self-schemas. Additionally, self-concept interacts with self-esteem, self-knowledge, and social self to form The Self. Self-esteem refers to the evaluation or comparison of one's self-concept and self-schemas to form one's overall self-worth.

The self-concept includes past, present and future selves. Future or possible selves represent individuals' ideas of what they might become, what they would like to become, or what they are afraid of becoming. These different selves correspond to one's hopes, fears, standards, goals, and threats for their present selves. Possible selves may function as incentives for future behavior and also provide an evaluative and interpretive context for the current view of self that is used when one self-evaluates, contributing to one's self-esteem. Self-esteem and self-concept cannot be used interchangeably. Self-esteem focuses on an evaluative and opinionated aspect to one's self (e.g., I feel good about the fact that I am a fast runner), whereas self-concept is more of a cognitive or descriptive component to one's self (e.g., I am a fast runner). This distinction is important to note, as self-concept and self-esteem closely interact to form an overall view of the self.

The perception which people have about their past or future selves is related to the perception of their current self. The temporal self-appraisal theory argues that people have a tendency to maintain a positive evaluation of the current self by distancing their self-concepts from their negative selves and paying more attention to their positive selves. In addition, people have a tendency to perceive the past self less favorably (e.g., I'm better than I used to be) and the future self more positively (e.g., I will be better than I am now).

Model of Self-Concept
The self-concept is an internal model that uses self-assessments in order to define one's self-schemas. Features such as personality, skills and abilities, occupation(s) and hobbies, physical characteristics, etc. are assessed and applied to self-schemas, which are ideas one has of oneself in a particular dimension (e.g., someone that considers themselves a geek will associate geek-like qualities and be an expert on those qualities). A collection of self-schemas make up one's overall self-concept. For example, the statement "I am lazy" is a self-assessment that contributes to the self-concept. It is important to note that statements such as "I am tired" would not be part of someone's self-concept, since being tired is a temporary emotional state and therefore cannot become a part of a self-schema. A person's self-concept may change with time as reassessment occurs, which in extreme cases can lead to identity crises.

Academic self-schema
Academic Self-Concept (ASC) refers to the personal beliefs someone develops about their academic abilities or skills. A person's ASC develops and evolves as they age. Some research suggests that ASC begins developing in early childhood, from age 3 to 5, due to parental/family and early educators’ influences, While other research contends that ASC does not develop until age 7 or 8, when children begin evaluating their own academic abilities based on the feedback they receive from parents, teachers and their peers. By age 10 or 11, children view their academic abilities by comparing themselves to their peers. These Social comparisons are also referred to as Self-estimates. Self-estimates are frequently utilized to help one form an idea of oneself. Research shows that self-estimates of cognitive ability were most accurate when numerical ability was estimated. Furthermore, research shows that self-estimates were more likely to be poor in other areas of cognitive ability such as reasoning speed that are considered less frequently.

Due to the variety of social factors that influence one’s ASC, developing a positive ASC has been related to people’s behaviours and emotions in other domains of their life, influencing happiness, self-esteem, and anxiety levels to name a few. Due to the significant impact ASC has on a person’s life, it has been argued that educational systems should foster positive self-concept development in children. These research findings are important because they have practical implications for parents and teachers. Research indicates that parents and teachers need to provide children with specific feedback that focuses on their particular skills or expressed abilities in order to increase ASC. Other research suggests that learning opportunities should be conducted in a variety of mixed-ability and like-ability groupings that down-play social comparison because too much of either type of grouping can have adverse effects on children’s ASC in the way they view themselves in relation to their peers.

Cultural differences
Worldviews about the self in relation to others differs across and within cultures. In Western cultures, an individualistic and independent approach is adopted where society places particular importance on becoming independent and to express one's own attributes. Relationships, memberships, groups, and their needs and goals, tend to be secondary to the self. [Self-assessment]] of one's self-concept also includes Social comparisons. The Social comparison theory states that people strive to accurately define themselves and therefore utilize Social comparisons to accurately define the self during the self-evaluative process. Within these Social comparisons, one will find upward (e.g., positive) and downward (e.g., negative) comparisons that can either enhance or threaten our self-concept and self-esteem. In such cases where we feel threatened, it is not uncommon to make explanations for why we are not performing to the same degree as others, thereby preserving our self-concept and self-esteem. In Asian cultures, an interdependent view of the self is more prevalent and these cultures often experience identity fusion more frequently. Interpersonal relationships are more central than one’s individual accomplishments, as individuals experience a sense of oneness with the group. Great emphasis is placed on these relationships, and the self is seen primarily as an integral part of society. Research has shown that this identity fusion can have positive and negative consequences. The positive impact that identity fusion can have on people is that they feel that their existence is meaningful (e.g., Japanese nuclear plant workers expose themselves to radiation to help fix the plant after a tsunami) and this type of mindset is associated with a high quality of life. On the other hand, such strong interdependence can lead to catastrophic events (e.g., acts of terrorism).

A study published in the International Journal of Intercultural Relations gives another division of the independent and interdependent selves based on subcultures. A small study done in Israel shows the different characteristics most prevalent of mid-level merchants in an urban community versus those in a communal settlement, called the kibbutz. Similar to the Western v. non-Western perspectives, the collectivist members valued the interdependent self more that the urban members. Likewise, the urban samples held more value to independent traits than the kibbutz. Both answered with more independent traits than interdependent. The study divided the independent and interdependent traits into subcategories to further define what are the most valued by the two subcultures. On the independent scale, personal traits showed the greatest prevalence for the individualists, while hobbies and preferences were greater for the collectivists. Work and school were the most frequently described interdependent responses for the urban sector, while residence was most often referred to by the kibbutz. Overall, the study intensifies the knowledge that self-concept depends on inner attributes, abilities, and opinions from the community based on collective ideology. Further studies on other subcultures would be needed to create a generalization on a wider scale.

Gender differences
Gender has also been shown to be an important factor in the formation of self-concept. Early research inspired by the differences in self-concept across culture suggested that men tend to be more independent while women tend to be more interdependent. Independent self-construct refers to the fact that representations of others are separate from the self. Interdependent self-construct refers to the fact that representations of others are considered as part of the self. However, more recent research has shown that, while men and women do not differ between independence and interdependence generally, they do differ in the distinction between relational and collective interdependence. Men utilize collective interdependence while women utilize relational interdependence. In other words, women identify more with dyadic (one-on-one) relationships or small cliques, whereas men define themselves more often within the context of larger groups. Research also shows that as gender roles become blurred in Western society (e.g., more men are staying at home and women are being empowered in the workplace), these differences may change.

Women have often been stereotyped as being more emotional than men. This area of gender differences is important to research, as self-concepts that encompass gender may also encompass the self-conscious emotions or tendencies associated with gender. Women, for example, allegedly show more guilt, shame and embarrassment whereas men show more pride. Research shows that women in fact do show more guilt, shame and embarrassment than men but that men and women show the same amount of pride. Furthermore, gender differences in self-conscious emotions are different between ethnicities and are greatest within white populations when compared to Black or African, Asian, and Latin American samples. More research in this area is needed to extrapolate the gender differences across different cultures and ethnicities, as most of the samples used in gender studies are White samples. This reliance on a specific sample can lead researchers to overestimate the magnitude of gender differences in terms of emotions of women in comparison to men.

Nathalya Cubas (talk) 04:47, 26 April 2013 (UTC)