Self

The essentials

The self is the totality of a person's conscious experiences, ideas, thoughts and feelings about himself or herself. Personal identity refers to attributes that make a person different from others (name, traits, abilities). Social identity refers to aspects that link a person to a social or cultural group (religion, region, nationality). The self is described as subject (the knower who acts) and object (what is known).

Key points

• Personal self: focus on oneself, personal freedom and achievements.
• Social self (familial or relational self): emphasises cooperation, unity, affiliation and sacrifice for others.
• Self-concept: the way we perceive ourselves and the ideas we hold about our competencies.
• Self-esteem: the value judgement a person makes about himself or herself. By about 6–7 years children judge themselves in four areas: academic competence, social competence, physical or athletic competence and physical appearance.
• High self-esteem is linked to better school performance and social adjustment; low self-esteem is linked to anxiety, depression and antisocial behaviour.
• Self-efficacy (Albert Bandura): the belief that one can control outcomes and succeed in a task. It can be built through positive models and experiences.
• Self-regulation: the ability to organise and monitor one's own behaviour, including delay of gratification.
• Self-control techniques: observing one's own behaviour, self-instruction and self-reinforcement.
• Culture and self: in the Indian view the boundary between self and others is flexible, expanding to include family or community; the Western view keeps a relatively clear boundary. Western cultures are described as more individualistic and Asian cultures as more collectivistic.

Exam tips

• Distinguish self-esteem (how I value myself) from self-efficacy (whether I believe I can do a specific task).

Common mistakes

• Treating social identity as the same as personality traits; social identity comes from group membership.