Self-Concept

If self-awareness asks the question, “Who am I?” self-concept is the answer—that is, your overall assessment of who you are (“I’m a _____ person”). Your self-concept is based on the beliefs, attitudes, and values you have about yourself. Beliefs are convictions that certain things are true (“I’m a caring person”). Attitudes are evaluations (“I’m satisfied with my fitness level”). Values are enduring principles that guide your behaviors (“I think it’s morally wrong to lie”). Your beliefs, attitudes, and values are often intertwined. For example, if you think that communicating honestly is important (value), you likely also view yourself as an honest person (belief) and evaluate your honest communication positively (attitude). Understanding your beliefs, attitudes, and values and how they may differ from those of others helps you adapt your communication to anyone with whom you are interacting.

Early in life, the people who matter most to you—parents, siblings, teachers—help define your self-concept. Their reactions to you serve as a type of mirror in which you begin to see yourself as others see you (Cooley, 1902). For example, when Steve was young, his folks routinely emphasized his musical ability, leading him to think of himself as a musician. In contrast, Joe’s parents constantly praised his academic achievements, causing him to see himself as a scholar.

As you age, the range of people who help shape and maintain your self-concept broadens to include friends, lovers, and coworkers. In fact, according to Self-Verification Theory (Swann, Chang-Schneider, & Angulo, 2007), you often choose your relational partners based on how well they support your self-concept. If you see yourself as an aspiring anime artist, you’ll probably choose friends, dating partners, and even roommates who support and reinforce this view—for instance, by praising your work (Swann & Pelham, 2002). This holds true even for negative self-concepts: if you think you’re shallow or obsessive, you’ll likely be drawn to people who support this view (Swann, Hixon, & De La Ronde, 1992).

Your self-concept often leads to self-fulfilling prophecies, predictions you make about interactions that cause you to communicate in ways that make those predictions come true. Say your boss assigns you to a new team whose members strike you as especially creative and intelligent. If you think you’re not as talented as they are, you may predict that they’ll ignore your contributions to group discussions. As a result of this prediction, you remain quiet during the first team meeting. The other group members interpret your silence as a desire not to contribute and begin excluding you from the discussion. Later, you tell yourself, “See! I knew they wouldn’t want my input!” But if you saw yourself as creative and smart, you might predict that the team would welcome your contributions. You would then offer your ideas confidently, and the others would likely make a point of including you in the discussions. (See Figure 2.1.)