social approach- Influence on others on the self Flashcards
Self-concept =
how a person perceives and thinks about themselves, this is influenced by others
what is self concept made up of ?
1) self image
2) self esteem
3) Self-efficacy
SELF ESTEEM=
how much we accept and like who we are
High self-esteem=
positive self-image and psychological welfare
What affects our self esteem ?
- How others react to us=
making positive or negative comments
- How we compare to others=
are these people wealthier, successful, beautiful ext. However, if we are comparing ourselves to individuals we deem as being less desirable this will boost our self-esteem.
- The social roles we play=
some social roles are associated with high self-esteem (politicians) while other roles are associated with low self-esteem such as drug user, prisoner
SELF IMAGE=
Your awareness of your mental and physical characteristics
Positive self-image=
.happy with your characteristics
may be satisfied with their body shape or their size and see themselves as helpful and kind ext.
How do we develop positive self-image ?
Develops from positive feedback
examples= “you are so pretty!”, “you are an amazing person”
or
“ your hair is ugly”, “why are you so annoying”
negative self image =
unhappy with your characteristics, that you are aware off.
SELF EFFICACY=
. a person’s confidence in their ability to achieve success
.This attitude makes you feel good about yourself boosting self-esteem and self-image.
Example=
“I’m going to get a high mark in my exam”
Self-efficacy- supporting research ?
Bandura
what did Bandura find ?
. Found that when you see someone achieving success on a task, it increases your belief that you can do it to. But if you see someone fail at a task it lowers self-efficacy.
. found that positive feedback can increase self-efficacy while discouragement lowers self-efficacy.
evaluating these concepts
. strength=
Practical applications = understanding self-concept can lead to positive practical outcomes.
Denis Lawrence ran workshops with children who were under-performing academically. He found a key factor in improving academic achievement and reducing behavioural issues was increasing self-esteem.
This suggests that self-esteem is an important factor in well-being and academic achievement.
evaluating these concepts
Weakness=
vague concept= some psychologists define self-concept as “beliefs” about the self-whereas others include “feelings”.
Many concepts also overlap with each other for example self-esteem and self-image are closely correlated, they may be the same thing.
This vagueness limits our understanding of ideas such as self-efficacy and self-esteem and the practical benefits we can derive from them.
