Self-Concept

Definition

Self-concept refers to people's characteristic ideas about who they are and what they are like. Although psychologists often talk about the self-concept, a person's self-concept typically consists of a loose collection of ideas rather than a single unified conception of the self. The self-concept is grounded in subjective experience. This means that a person's self-concept may be different from what he or she is actually like.

History

One of the first psychologists who wrote about the self-concept was William James, a psychologist in the late 19th century. James distinguished between the I and the ME. The I is the part of the self that is actively perceiving and thinking. The ME is the part of the self that becomes an object of the person's thoughts and perceptions. The self-concept relates primarily to the ME.

Adaptive Functions of the Self-Concept

Having a self-concept is a uniquely human trait. The capacity to form a self-concept presumably evolved because it promoted survival and reproduction among early humans. Because people have a self-concept, they can consider themselves in alternative times and circumstances. Thus, one adaptive function of the self-concept lies in helping people plan for the future. Goals, particularly ideals and obligations, are indeed central to people's self-concepts. When a person's current self differs from his or her desired self, this motivates the person to take action to move closer to the desired self. Another adaptive function of the selfconcept is to facilitate social behavior. When people view themselves similarly as their interaction partners, this helps people predict how others will behave toward them. A shared cultural background may lead people to construe their self-concepts in a similar manner. For instance, people living in Western cultures like the United States or France tend to regard themselves as more independent from others. By contrast, people living in Eastern cultures such as Japan or India tend to think of themselves as more mutually dependent. When people have similar self-concepts, they may understand each other better.

Structure of the Self-Concept

Self-concepts have a certain structure. One important aspect of the structure of the self-concept is selfcomplexity. Individuals with a complex self-concept distinguish between many distinct aspects or dimensions of themselves. Individuals with a simple selfconcept view themselves in terms of only a few broad [Page 798]aspects or dimensions. Individuals with a simple self-concept are more vulnerable to stress than are individuals with a complex self-concept. This is because individuals with a complex self-concept can overcome negative feedback in one self-domain (e.g., getting fired from one's job) by turning their attention to other selfdomains (e.g., one's family life, religion). Individuals with a simple self-concept cannot follow this strategy.

Another important aspect of the structure of the self-concept is whether self-views are implicit or explicit. Explicit self-views are ideas about the self of which people are consciously aware. Implicit selfviews are ideas about the self that are unconsciously held. Self-views may become unconscious when people use them over and over again, so that these ideas become like automatic mental habits. Explicit self-views are easier to observe than implicit selfviews are. This is mainly because people themselves do not know about their implicit self-views. Nevertheless, implicit self-views can be observed indirectly because they influence how people respond to selfRelevant objects or situations. Implicit self-views are especially likely to guide people's behavior when people rely on their immediate intuitions, for instance, when people are responding very quickly or when they are distracted.

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