The Social Self
Individuals have complex and well-developed self-concepts that they view and judge themselves through. These self-concepts may be influenced by the cognitive and affective aspects of the individual. However, an individual’s self-concept is also influenced by the social forces, contexts, and situations that surround him or her. Some of these forces and settings include feedback that the individual gets from others, as well as the socio-cultural background that they live in. The self does not exist in a vacuum, and many times, self-concept, self-esteem, self-presentation, and self-efficacy are usually determined by the interactions and observations people have with other members of their social circles. With the help of a personal story, this essay explores, relates and interprets the issues of self-concept, self-esteem, self-presentation, and self-efficacy, and explains how these self-system concepts explain behavior, thoughts, and feelings of individuals and groups.
Growing up, I had a constant struggle with confidence and esteem. I always doubted that I deserved any of my relationships or accomplishments. It all started in my early school days when I was s overweight and had very few friends at school. Many pupils made fun of me and my persona, incidences that imparted a lot of self-doubt in me. In high school, I was very reserved and in constant fear of judgment. This lack of esteem and confidence translated into poor academic performance. I sought to be transferred on several occasions because of my situation at school, but my mother encouraged me to finish. In the end, I applied for an independent study and ended up finishing my high school studies from home. In truth, I felt it was a better way to improve my schoolwork. After high school, I met a friend who understood my struggles. Despite my paranoia and distrust of personal relationships, we have a very healthy friendship. He even advised me to go for some counseling sessions, which I must say improved my confidence massively. I am now capable of acting more assertively, and I do not spend too much time dwelling on the past. I recently received the employee of the month accolade at my workplace, an achievement that I never thought was possible for me.
As Swann and others (2007) explain, self-concept is the idea of the self, built from the beliefs an individual holds about his or herself, and from the interactions of other people. While self-concept is cognitive, self-esteem is the emotive aspect, while self-presentation is the behavioral aspect (Kling et al., 1999; Twenge & Crocker, 2002). In the personal story, I thought of myself to have low and negative skills and habits. I thought of myself as different and of lower value than my fellow students and friends. As a result, this thinking meant that I could not maintain or make any meaningful friendships and relationships in my life. However, I adopted a more positive self-concept when I met my friend after high school and attended various counseling sessions. Related to self-concept is the aspect of self-esteem. As illustrated in the story, I had low self-esteem, in the sense that I evaluated my value to be low. In fact, my low self-esteem meant that I disliked my appearance to the extent that I rarely looked forward to going to school. I ended up seeking an independent study program because of the attitude I had towards myself. I felt that I could not cope with both social and academic spheres with my friends. This notion, however, late changed, and despite having a long way to go, I feel better about who I am.
Concerning self-presentation, this is the behavioral component of the self that determines how one presents himself or herself to other people. In the narration, due to my low self-esteem and self-concept, I also had, on many occasions, negative self-presentation. I behaved in a way that further undermined my sense of self-worth, both to me and others. I was reserved and avoided social interactions. This behavior directly impacted other spheres of my life, such as friendships and academic performance. However, later in life, this notion changed, and I started eliciting better behavior and representing myself better among people. On the other hand, self-efficacy reveals a person’s “confidence” in their capacity to govern their conduct and inspirations for “personal accomplishments” (Grusec, 1994). I had little belief in my ability to make social relationships or compete academically. As a result, my performance plummeted alongside the quality and frequency of my social interactions. In a meta-analytic study, Panadero, Jonsson, and Botella (2017) found out that low self-efficacy negatively impacts performance as it translates into an inability to exert control over an individual’s motivation or conduct. In this regard, as a student, I performed poorly because I lacked confidence and motivation to learn new information and face new challenges.
Self-concept, self-esteem, self-efficacy and self-presentation are all components of the complex notion of the social self. These aspects of an individual’s identity influence interpersonal relationships and translate into one’s social identity and public-self. In the narration, low self-esteem, self-efficacy, self-concept, and self-presentation meant that I performed poorly in school and had little and negative social interactions with my peers. These negatives, in turn, affected my social self. In this regard, these self-system concepts explain behavior, thoughts, and feelings of individuals and groups.
References
Grusec, J. E. (1994). Social learning theory and developmental psychology: The legacies of Robert R. Sears and Albert Bandura.
Kling, K. C., Hyde, J. S., Showers, C. J., & Buswell, B. N. (1999). Gender differences in self- esteem: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 125(4), 470–500.
Panadero, E., Jonsson, A., & Botella, J. (2017). Effects of self-assessment on self-regulated learning and self-efficacy: Four meta-analyses. Educational Research Review, 22, 74-98.
Swann Jr, W. B., Chang-Schneider, C., & Larsen McClarty, K. (2007). Do people’s self-views matter? Self-concept and self-esteem in everyday life. American psychologist, 62(2), 84.
Twenge, J. M., & Crocker, J. (2002). Race and self-esteem: Meta-analyses comparing whites, blacks, Hispanics, Asians, and American Indians. Psychological Bulletin, 128(3), 371– 408.