Self-Concept: A Social Construct - Essay Sample

Introduction

Human beings have well-developed and complex self-concepts in which they view themselves positively. The more practical and cognitive aspects of the self-concept of individuals do not occur in a vacuum. Still, they are influenced to a greater extent by social forces like in the self-verification theory, feedback from other people affect esteem and self-concept. The aspect of self is not created in isolation; instead, it is determined by individual observations through interaction with other people via relationships. The theoretical work in psychology accords the self-concept a crucial role in organizing behaviors that have passed and directs future behavior (Rosenberg, 2017, p. 598). It is viewed as a meeting ground of both individuals and society, and it represents the exclusive efforts of individuals to find personal understanding and meaning. The self-concept has been studied concerning behavior such as competence, occupational choice, friendship patterns, moral behavior, family relations, cognitive ability, and deviance and delinquency (Parise et al., 2019, p. 363). The self-concept regulates and mediates the stimuli that are provided by the environment surrounding individuals, and it is the central psychological structure that guides behavior. The clarity of self-concept may foster an individual's well-being by facilitating goal pursuit and successful self-regulation. Sometimes, the outcomes of self-concept and regulation and relationships are, to some extent, influenced by factors such as economics, personality, genetics, and physical health of individuals (Turner, 2010, p. 24). The concept of self can be academic, which is a personal belief of skills and abilities in one's academic notion. It can be a physical self-concept that relates to one's appearance and physical ability, and the other self-concept centers on one's gender identity. The paper explores the social aspects of the self by focusing on various ways that social situations influence self-concept and esteem.

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The Link Between the Self-Concept and Social Relationships

The self has meaning within the social context only, and the social situation defines it. The influence of appraisals of other individuals affects others' self-concept, and it is substantial that individuals end up internalizing them. Social comparison is part of establishing self-concept to form conclusions concerning people's abilities, opinions, and attitudes. When individuals compare themselves with others, they usually feel better, but if the results of the comparison are such that the other individuals are better off, then self-concept and esteem will serve. The concept of self tends to change with changes in the kind of relationship people engage in, depending on the outcome of comparison in such relationships. The processes of individuals occur in the heads of people with the individuals participating in such relationships, having both shared and their idiosyncratic views (Lewandowski et al., 2010, p. 417). The self-concepts are affected by relationships, and the influence is critical in understanding the dynamics and properties of the relationships. Both upward and downward comparisons have a considerable effect on people's attempts to do better, on their feelings, and on whether they will continue doing a particular activity. Self-concept is drawn from the relationships people hold and the social groups they hold.

Theorists have assumed for long that an individual's self-concept and social relationships influence each other. A long-standing psychology assumption is that self-concept plays a crucial role in shaping social relationships. The transition of relationships in young adulthood and adolescence is affected by the concept of self. The impact is derived from the individual perception of the kind of relationship in question, and the characteristics of the relationships are shaped by the self-concept (Turner, 2010, p. 32). For people in love relationships, the self-concept through internal beliefs can cause one of the partners to perceive the worthiness of the love that exists between them, and such inner beliefs are sometimes projected to the overall belief of the relationship in general. Through the means of perceived regard of a particular relationship partner, the presence of self-evaluation can affect the outcomes of the relationship, such as trust, intimacy, and satisfaction.

Through the relationship behaviors perspective, it has been explained that the self-concept affects certain behaviors, which includes withdrawal and disengagement, which have a broad impact on how social relationships work. The self-concept is regulated by forces of the social system and sometimes regulated by themselves (Ahmed et al., 2012, p. 385). The dependence of such self-concepts creates relationships with other people as the social system induces ever more significant constraints and demands on some behaviors that regulate self-concept. The dynamics and properties of relationships are integrated and affected by self-concept because relationships are born by social interactions, and the social interactions are determined by social systems that shape individual behaviors shaping their self-concept.

The self-concept affects relationships by inducing individuals to attract negative people into their lives and bad relations with others when low self-esteem is present. Low self-esteem leads to reduced confidence in social situations. Relationships link individuals, and creating a relationship with someone else occurs inside an individual where the other relationship partners possess their views. An increase in self-concept clarity often leads to positive outcomes of relationships including quality such as commitment and satisfaction, relationship investment, and other self-correspondence which enhances the functioning of a relationship (Ahmed et al., 2012, p. 389). The self-concept and relationship are mediated by some variables, which consist of prototype matching, psychological well-being, and identity construction. Self-concept plays a critical moderating role in romantic relationships through self-expansion, which is a relationship-induced change in self-concept. Self-concept directs people to form close relationships with others and not some other individuals. The same notion is used in choosing media by individuals is used to select relationships. The self-concept is related to the kind relationships that an individual mostly enters. If a person considers belonging to a particular group, then the relationship formed will be with the members of such a group.

Theories Explaining the Concept of Self and Relationships

The Self-Concept Theory

The self-concept through self-esteem has a considerable role in social influence. The self-being a degree of correspondence between a person's ideal and actual concept of oneself exact influence on social groups in different ways concerning the degree of self-esteem. Individuals with high self-esteem are perceived to exert more influence on groupmates compared to those of low self-esteem. Those people of high-self-esteem seem to protect their themselves in a better way against evaluations that are unfavorable by becoming more unresponsive to some expectations that are communicated by their group, especially when an unfavorable comparison with other mates would be likely to happen (Ahmed et al., 2012, p. 391). Also, individuals of high self-esteem are majorly characterized by ego-defenses preferences, and they appear less responsive to influence from outside, which enables them to deny, ignore, or repress conflicting and challenging impulses. On the other hand, low self-esteem individuals are more dependent upon events and situations as they are more open to outside influence, and they show a preference for high expressive defenses, regression, or projection.

The Self-Verification Theory

The theory supports the idea that perceived regard in individuals plays a significant role in the association between self-concept and relationship factors. People are most likely to disengage from relationships where their partners maintain reflected appraisals, which are seen to be inconsistent with self-evaluation targets (Parise et al., 2019, p. 364). More so, people with low self-concept mostly withdraw from relationships where they view their partners to be more positive than themselves. Most often, people display observable cues, which broadcast their internal self-evaluations to other individuals that, in turn, shape how social relationships function. Consistent avoidance of relevant delegation and tasks to others are caused by the act where individuals see themselves to be of low self-competence.

The Sociometer Theory

According to this particular theory, when the other partner detects cues from one of the relationship partners through interpersonal monitor relating to social acceptance and a potential rejection or threat is signaled; the result is negative affect which motivates an individual to some behaviors that are notable in solving relationship conflicts and reduce the establishment of patterns of dysfunctional relationship or patterns of disapproving a relationship partner (Beasley and Garn, 2013, p. 238). Positive affect is mostly displayed by individuals who are high in agreeableness and low in neuroticism, especially during affectionate expression, and relationship conflicts.

Conclusion

The concept of self in general influences whether an individual is successful in starting and maintaining a relationship with friends, co-workers, and partners and whether in such relationships they have weak or strong social support as backed by the self-concept theory, sociometer theory, and self-verification theory. The relationship behavior perspective and the theories all centers in the evidence that individual's levels of self-concept have outcomes for their social relationships. Generally, self-esteem being an element of self-concept, has a direct effect on relationships. People with low self-esteem experience a distorted perception of their relationship partners, and anxiety about a relationship is increased by low self-esteem.

References

Ahmed, W., Minnaert, A., Kuyper, H., and van der Werf, G., 2012. Reciprocal relationships between math self-concept and math anxiety. Learning and individual differences, 22(3), pp.385-389. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2011.12.004

Beasley, E.K., and Garn, A.C., 2013. An investigation of adolescent girls' global self-concept, physical self-concept, identified regulation, and leisure-time physical activity in physical education. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, 32(3), pp.237-252. https://journals.humankinetics.com/view/journals/jtpe/32/3/article-p237.xml

Lewandowski Jr, G.W., Nardone, N. and Raines, A.J., 2010. The role of self-concept clarity in relationship quality. Self and Identity, 9(4), pp.416-433. https://doi.org/10.1080/15298860903332191

Parise, M., Canzi, E., Olivari, M.G., and Ferrari, L., 2019. Self-concept clarity and psychological adjustment in adolescence: The mediating role of emotion regulation. Personality and Individual Differences, 138, pp.363-365. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2018.10.023

Rosenberg, M., 2017. The self-concept: Social product and social force. Social psychology (pp. 593-624). Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781315129723/chapters/10.4324/9781315129723-19

Turner, J.C., 2010. Social categorization and the self-concept: A social cognitive theory of group behavior. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2010-11535-012