The self-concept develops from the ideas that a subject has about himself.
Self-concept is understood as the opinion that an individual forms about himself . That sentence carries a certain value judgment.
The self-concept is formed with the beliefs and ideas that the person has about themselves. The assessment of self-concept gives rise to self-esteem : the result of self-evaluation.
If the subject values his or her self-concept as positive , he or she achieves high self-esteem . This means that you feel comfortable with your personality and your behavior. On the other hand, if you judge your self-concept negatively , you suffer from low self-esteem and are not satisfied with the way you are.
Self-concept variations
It is important to keep in mind that the self-concept, although it tends to maintain a stable essence, is dynamic . The environment affects how each person thinks about themselves, which generates feedback that can modify or ratify the self-concept.
Experience , in this framework, plays a very important role. Self-concept depends on the results of actions and the analysis made of them. The human being, in any case, prioritizes the attributes and can leave aside the variables that do not coincide with the set.
It can be said that self-concept is the image that each person has of themselves. Of course, it goes beyond the “visual” image, since it contemplates multiple thoughts related to the construction of the self.
Self-esteem arises from the assessment made of self-concept.
Its importance for mental and emotional development
Achieving a positive self-concept is key to avoiding psychological problems. It is a central element especially in the stage of adolescence due to its relevance in the development of personality.
However, it is not enough to develop a positive self-concept to enjoy healthy mental and emotional development, since a limit in the positive sense is also necessary: just as despising oneself is harmful, rising to divine levels can cause great problems. social problems.
Self-concept and external stimuli
This brings us once again to the importance of experience when updating the self-concept. But it also reminds us of the great complexity of studying the results of our actions and their repercussions on the outside world, since the aforementioned filtering process of all those negative stimuli that do not necessarily reflect a logical response to our actions becomes necessary.
How to distinguish "fair" stimuli from arbitrary or unfair ones? Let's start with a simple example to understand the logic behind this analysis: if a person prepares food for the homeless and turns his garage into a community kitchen, he is expected to receive positive feedback ; If, on the other hand, she steals alms from the poor, she is expected to be criticized negatively.
In these extreme cases, a response opposite to those indicated would clearly be capricious: a person who helps the needy cannot be attacked for his actions, while someone who steals from the poor should not be flattered for it. However, there are multitudes of more diffuse situations , in which the analysis is complicated and this results in greater difficulty for self-concept.
The role of subjectivity
If I help someone and they congratulate me for it, my self-concept is positive; If I do harm gratuitously and they despise me, then it is negative. But what happens if I tell a joke and no one laughs? Am I a terrible comedian? Should I stop trying to make others laugh over a bad experience?
Subjectivity and circumstantial factors play a fundamental role in the impact of our actions on the outside world, and for that reason we should not judge ourselves hastily, but rather collect the results and study them calmly, contrasting them with others and providing our own point of view before of the verdict.