Self-Concept Essay ⋆ Sociology Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

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Sociological interest in the self-concept, rooted in the early writings of Cooley and Mead, has evolved into a multifaceted quest to describe the connections between social contexts and personal functioning. In his classic work, Conceiving the Self(1979), Rosenberg defines the self-concept as all of the thoughts and feelings that individuals maintain about the self as an object. Gecas and Burke (1995) have expanded on the definition: the self-concept is composed of various identities, attitudes, beliefs, values, motives, and experiences, along with their evaluative and affective components (e.g., self-efficacy, self-esteem), in terms of which individuals define themselves” (42). These processes involve reflexivity and self-awareness; that is, a level of consciousness or awareness about one’s self that emerges from the distinctly human capacity to be an object and a subject to one’s self.

A substantial core of the content of the self-concept involves identities – the meanings that individuals attach to the self. Identities embody the answer to the question:’ ‘ Who am I?” Often, but not always, identities are connected to the major institutionalized social roles of society such as spouse,” parent,” worker,” student,” church member, Muslim,” and so on. In many respects, identity is the most public” feature of the self-concept because it typically describes one’s place or membership in structural arrangements and social organization. At a social event, for example, individuals will ask each other about their work, their interests, their neighborhoods, and other pieces of information that typically peel back the layers of their identities. However, there may be a cost to the public nature of identities. Goffman illustrated the spoiled identity” as socially undesirable or stigmatized aspects of the self-concept. Spoiled identities contain discredited elements of the self-concept that the individual is encouraged to conceal or manage.” Failure to do so often exacts social costs. Collectively, these ideas underscore the highly social nature of the self-concept: other people have substantial influence on the form, content, consequences, and revelation of the self-concept.

Some of the most widely known research on the self-concept has focused on its evaluative and affective components, especially self-esteem and self-efficacy. Self-esteem is the evaluation which the individual makes and customarily maintains with regard to himself or herself: it expresses an attitude of approval or disapproval toward oneself” (Rosenberg 1965: 5).

Survey researchers have sought to measure self-esteem with responses to statements that include: I feel that I have a number of good qualities,” I feel that I’m a person of worth at least equal to others,” I am able to do things as well as most other people,” I take a positive attitude toward myself,” and so on. By contrast, self-efficacy – also referred to as the sense of mastery or personal control – involves the extent to which one feels in control of events and outcomes in everyday life. Measures of the sense of mastery ask about agreement or disagreement with statements like: I have little control over the things that happen to me,” There is really no way I can solve some of the problems I have,” What happens to me in the future mostly depends on me,” I can do just about anything I really set my mind to,” and so on. Sociologists are interested in mastery and self-esteem for several reasons: because they are socially distributed, because their absence may erode well-being, and because of their potential as psychosocial resources that help people avoid or manage stressors. That is, what groups have higher or lower levels of self-esteem than others? How does a low sense of mastery influence psychological well-being? And, do people who possess more favorable self-evaluations have a different capacity to cope with the presence and consequences of stressful adversity?

The complexity of processes involving self-dynamics has also provided researchers with terrain for theoretical and empirical developments about the self-concept. For example, actors are often motivated to protect the self-concept from external threats. In broader terms, an array of socialization forces and social-structural arrangements shape the formation and content of the self-concept; thus, it is a social product. In terms of self-concept formation, the notion of personal or self-investment evokes the ideas of identity salience and the centrality of achieved statuses, such as education, for the emergence of positive self-evaluations. Analyses of the structural determinants of personal qualities, especially with respect to achieved statuses and dimensions of social stratification, have a long tradition in sociology.

Bibliography:

Gecas, V. & Burke, P. J. (1995) Self and Identity. In: Cook, K., Fine, G. A., & House, J. S. (eds.), Sociological Perspectives on Social Psychology. Allyn & Bacon, Boston, MA, pp. 41-67.
Rosenberg, M. (1965) Society and the Adolescent Self-Image. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.