Behavioral component of self-concept. Behavioral component of advertising impact Behavioral component of the concept

The second factor important for the formation of self-esteem is associated with the internalization of social reactions to a given individual. In other words, a person tends to evaluate himself the way he thinks others evaluate him. This approach to understanding self-esteem was formulated and developed in the works of Cooley and Mead.

Finally, another view on the nature and formation of self-esteem is that an individual evaluates the success of his actions and manifestations through the prism of his identity. An individual experiences satisfaction not because he simply does something well, but because he has chosen a certain task and does it well. The overall picture is that people make great efforts to “fit” into the structure of society with the greatest success.

It should be especially emphasized that self-esteem, regardless of whether it is based on the individual’s own judgments about himself or interpretations of the judgments of other people, individual ideals or culture, but given standards, is always subjective.

Data from specific studies convince us that motivational and attitudinal structures are truly omnipresent for the human “I”. Therefore, we can confidently capture in the self-concept not only its cognitive component, but also its emotional, evaluative and potential behavioral component. A wide variety of sources give us grounds for this conclusion. We will consider the self-concept as a dynamic set of attitudes characteristic of each personality, aimed at the personality itself.

As follows from this definition, a positive self-concept can be equated to a positive attitude towards oneself, self-respect, self-acceptance, a sense of self-worth; In this case, synonyms for a negative self-concept become a negative attitude towards oneself, self-rejection, and a feeling of inferiority. These terms are used interchangeably in much of the work on self-concept. We will also use them as synonyms, because they all denote an individual’s idea of himself, containing an element of shade - in the range from unconditionally positive to unconditionally negative meanings.

Behavioral component of self-concept.

The fact that people do not always behave in accordance with their beliefs is well known. Often the direct, immediate expression of an attitude in behavior is modified or completely restrained due to its social unacceptability, the individual’s moral doubts or his fear of possible consequences. For example, a teenager who considers himself a firm and stern person cannot demonstrate similar character traits towards his school teacher. Or a graduate of a pedagogical college, a humanist and an opponent of authoritarian methods in education, is forced to restructure, retreat from this position, faced with the reality of a particular school, where certain norms of relationships between teachers and students already exist.

Any attitude is an emotionally charged belief associated with a specific object. The peculiarity of the Self-concept as a complex of attitudes lies only in the fact that the object in in this case is the installation media itself. Thanks to this self-direction, all emotions and evaluations associated with the self-image are very strong and stable. It is quite simple not to attach importance to another person’s attitude towards you; For this purpose, there is a rich arsenal of psychological defenses. For example, if you don’t like the cut of my new suit, I can always convince myself that you have no taste, that you don’t know the latest fashion, or come up with any other excuse that protects me from unpleasant judgments. But if we are talking about attitude towards oneself, then simple verbal manipulations may be powerless here. A person who is tired of everyday activities can take a vacation, change jobs, move to another city, or change the situation in some other way. But can he escape from himself?

The phenomenalistic approach to understanding the self-concept, developed by Rogers, is based on the following provisions:

· behavior depends on the perspective of individual perception;

· this perspective is subjective in nature;

· every perception of an individual is refracted in the phenomenal field of his consciousness, the center of which is the Self-concept,

Self-concept is both a representation and the inner essence of an individual, which gravitates toward values that have a cultural origin,

· Accordingly, the self-concept regulates behavior;

· The self-concept is relatively stable and determines fairly stable patterns of behavior;

· discrepancies between the individual’s experience and his self-concept are neutralized with the help of psychological defense mechanisms;

The main motivation of every person is the desire for self-actualization

Professional self-concept is defined through such concepts as: 1) part-whole in relation to the self-concept; 2) relationships in the context of professional formation and personal development; 3) a set or system of ideas of a professional about himself as a subject of professional activity; 4) the meaning of the “I” of a professional; 5) multi-level and multi-component education. As you can see, there are differences in the degree of study of the self-concept and the professional self-concept. The range of concepts used to define a professional self-concept is much narrower than when defining a general self-concept. The area of manifestation of the professional self-concept as a sphere of life activity is more specific and is considered in the context professional development and the formation of a subject of activity. In this regard, we define the professional self-concept as a specifically organized system, meaningful and updated in connection with the profession under the influence of subjective or objective factors, including a set of ideas about oneself and one’s professional qualities, coupled with their emotional assessment.

The structural structure of the self-concept and the professional self-concept is similar, but their bearers differ. If the self-concept refers to the personality as a whole, then the professional self-concept refers to the individual as a subject of professional activity. The structure of the self-concept is represented by three components: cognitive, affective-evaluative and behavioral. They have been studied unequally. The most studied is the cognitive component, which is formed from the individual’s ideas about himself, expressed in verbal form. Less studied is the emotional-evaluative component of the self-concept, which includes two substructures:

1) affective-evaluative

2) a system of emotional-value self-attitude (which includes the so-called global self-esteem, which determines the modality of a person’s attitude towards himself).

The behavioral component, which means:

1) intention, readiness for action;

2) real actions;

3) behavior in general or

4) self-regulation of behavior.

The first two components of the self-concept are methodically studied separately from the behavioral component. In traditionally organized studies, the self-concept is studied using statements and lists of qualities specified by the researcher, and certain methods based on self-description and projective methods are also used. The data obtained in this way makes it possible to reveal in structural terms the cognitive component, reflecting a person’s knowledge and ideas about himself, and the emotional-evaluative component, reflecting the attitude to the content of knowledge and ideas. There are no methods for studying the behavioral component of self-concept in the literature. Its intentional aspect is only indirectly noted in the study of self-attitude as the level of internal actions towards oneself or readiness for such actions. And the other three aspects (actions, behavior and self-regulation) are studied outside the framework of the self-concept. Thus, there is a deficit in the study of the behavioral component of the self-concept.

A combination of low self-esteem and high level claims is very unfavorable for a person’s mental health.

18.4. Behavioral component of self - concepts

The behavioral component of the self-concept is represented by a person’s actions and actions, which are caused by the image of the self. American family psychotherapist V. Satir describes four types of behavior of people with low self-esteem in cases where they feel the threat of rejection and do not want to reveal their weakness.

So, a person can:

1. Ingratiate yourself so that the other person does not get angry. The Peacemaker speaks in an ingratiating manner, trying to please!.. apologizing and never arguing about anything. This is a person who constantly needs someone's approval.

2. Accuse so that others consider him strong. The prosecutor is constantly looking for who is to blame in this or that case. He is the owner who behaves arrogantly, as if endlessly reproaching: “If it weren’t for you, everything would be fine

3. Calculate everything in such a way as to avoid the threat. Self-esteem is hidden behind lofty words and abstract concepts. This is a human “computer” who is very correct. He is very reasonable and does not express any feelings. This person appears calm, cool and collected. His body is stiff, he is often cold. His voice is monotonous, his words are mostly abstract.

4. Detach yourself enough to ignore the threat as if it doesn’t exist. Whatever the detached person does and whatever he says does not relate to what the other person says or does, he does not react to any questions.

There is a fifth type of behavior that is characteristic of people with positive self-esteem - “balanced”. Relationships are open and honest. In this case, the person does not humiliate himself or degrade the dignity of others.

Let's imagine that one person accidentally touched another person. Let us further imagine how he will ask for a petition depending on the position in which he finds himself.

Self-concept, according to encyclopedic literature, is a stable system of an individual’s ideas about himself, an image of his own “I”, an attitude towards himself and other people, a generalized image of his qualities, abilities, appearance, social significance; a prerequisite and consequence of social interaction. In classical psychology, it is customary to distinguish between the real “I”, the ideal “I”, and the dynamic “I” (what the individual intends to become).
The concept of “I”-concept arose in the 50s of the last century in the works of humanistic psychologists: K. Maslow and C. Rogers. Scientists considered this concept as an auto-attitude, that is, the individual’s attitude towards himself. This installation has conscious and unconscious aspects. The “I” concept is associated with the individual’s desire to attribute himself to a certain social group(gender, age, ethnic, civil, social-role) and manifests itself in various ways of its self-realization.

The discrepancy between the real and ideal “I”, realized by the individual, can cause negative emotional characteristics of the individual (inferiority complex) and intrapersonal conflicts. The “I” concept ensures the integrity and situational stability of the individual, his self-affirmation and self-development in line with the life strategy adopted by the individual. A synonym for the “I” concept is "self-awareness" of the individual.

Components of self-concept

COGNITIVE COMPONENT OF SELF-CONCEPT

An individual's ideas about himself, as a rule, seem convincing to him, regardless of whether they are based on objective knowledge or subjective opinion whether they are true or false. The specific methods of self-perception leading to the formation of the self-image can be very diverse.

The abstract characteristics that we use to describe a person are in no way related to a specific event or situation. As elements of a generalized image of an individual, they reflect, on the one hand, stable trends in his behavior, and on the other, the selectivity of our perception. The same thing happens when we describe ourselves: we try to express in words the main characteristics of our usual self-perception, these include any role, status, psychological characteristics individual, description of property, life goals, etc. All of them are included in the image of the Self with different specific weight - some seem more significant to the individual, others - less. Moreover, the significance of the elements of self-description and, accordingly, their hierarchy can change depending on the context, the life experience of the individual, or simply under the influence of the moment. This kind of self-description is a way to characterize the uniqueness of each personality through combinations of its individual traits (Burns R., 1986, p. 33).

EVALUATIVE COMPONENT OF SELF-CONCEPT

The emotional component of an attitude exists due to the fact that its cognitive component is not perceived by a person indifferently, but awakens in him assessments and emotions, the intensity of which depends on the context and on the cognitive content itself (Burns R., 1986, p. 34).

Self-esteem is not constant, it changes depending on circumstances. The source of evaluative knowledge of an individual’s various ideas about himself is his sociocultural environment, in which evaluative knowledge is normatively fixed in linguistic meanings. The source of an individual’s evaluative ideas can also be social reactions to some of his manifestations and introspection.

Self-esteem reflects the degree to which an individual develops a sense of self-respect, a sense of self-worth and a positive attitude towards everything that is included in the sphere of his Self.

Self-esteem manifests itself in the individual's conscious judgments in which he tries to formulate his importance. However, it is hidden or overtly present in any self-description. There are three points that are essential to understanding self-esteem.

Firstly, an important role in its formation is played by the comparison of the image of the real self with the image of the ideal self, that is, with the idea of what a person would like to be. Those who achieve in reality the characteristics that define their ideal self-image should have high self-esteem. If a person perceives a gap between these characteristics and the reality of his achievements, his self-esteem is likely to be low (Burns R., 1986, p. 36).

Finally, another view on the nature and formation of self-esteem is that the individual evaluates the success of his actions and manifestations through the prism of identity. An individual experiences satisfaction not from the fact that he simply does something well, but from the fact that he has chosen a certain task and is doing it well.

A positive self-concept can be equated to a positive attitude towards oneself, self-esteem, self-acceptance, a sense of self-worth; In this case, synonyms for a negative self-concept become a negative attitude towards oneself, self-rejection, and a feeling of inferiority (Burns R., 1986, p. 37).

BEHAVIORAL COMPONENT OF SELF-CONCEPT

The fact that people do not always behave in accordance with their beliefs is well known. Often, the direct, immediate expression of an attitude in behavior is modified or completely restrained due to its social unacceptability, the individual’s moral doubts, or his fear of possible consequences.

Any attitude is an emotionally charged belief associated with a specific object. The peculiarity of the self-concept as a complex of attitudes lies only in the fact that the object in this case is the bearer of the attitude itself. Thanks to this self-direction, all emotions and evaluations associated with the self-image are very strong and stable. Not attaching importance to another person's attitude towards you is quite simple; For this purpose, there is a rich arsenal of psychological defenses. But if we are talking about attitude towards oneself, then simple verbal manipulations may be powerless here. No one can just change their attitude towards themselves (Burns R., 1986, p. 39).

R. Burns (1986) defined the self-concept as a set of attitudes that are aimed at oneself. In the previous article it was already said that, in structural terms, the self-concept is an inextricable unity of cognitive, evaluative and behavioral components. In this article we will touch on this issue in more detail.

Cognitive component of self-concept

All self-descriptive characteristics, such as reliable, conscientious, sociable, kind, etc., are included in the self-image. Ways of self-perception can be different. The hierarchy and significance of the elements of self-description, depending on the context, life experience or the influence of a certain moment, can change.

Self-descriptions are, as a rule, general in nature and do not really correlate with real contexts, because they reflect a general self-perception. On the one hand, as elements of a generalized image of an individual, they reflect stable trends in his behavior, and on the other hand, they reflect the selectivity of our perception.

When describing himself, a person tries to express the main characteristics of his usual self-perception, for example, a description of property, life goals, etc. With different specific weights, they are all included in the image of the Self, only some seem more significant to the individual, and others - less. R. Burns considered self-description a way to characterize the uniqueness of each personality through a combination of its individual traits.

Evaluative component of self-concept

Self-esteem changes depending on circumstances and is not constant. The sociocultural environment of an individual is a source of evaluative knowledge of various ideas about him. This evaluative knowledge is normatively fixed in linguistic meanings. Social reactions and self-observation can also be a source of an individual’s evaluative ideas. Self-esteem reflects what is included in the sphere of the individual’s self, and this is the degree to which he develops a sense of self-esteem, a sense of self-worth, and a positive attitude towards everything around him. It also manifests itself in the individual’s conscious judgments, in which an attempt is made to formulate his own significance. In hidden or explicit form, it is present in any self-description.

There are three points to understanding self-esteem.

An idea of what a person would like to be. Those who actually achieve the characteristics that define their ideal self-image tend to have high self-esteem. If there is a gap between the characteristics and the reality of achievements, then self-esteem will be low, says R. Burns;
Interiorization of social reactions to a given individual. In this case, a person tends to evaluate himself the way he thinks others evaluate him;
The success of actions is assessed through the prism of identity. Satisfaction is experienced from the fact that an individual has chosen a certain task and does it well.

Self-esteem is always subjective, regardless of what underlies it - the individual’s own judgments about himself or interpretations of the judgments of other people. Sources of self-esteem:

Reflected self-esteem. Opinions of people significant to the individual;
Criteria-based self-assessment. According to certain criteria, comparing oneself with other people, as well as with a standard that is common to everyone;
Reflective self-esteem. Comparison of the real self and the ideal self. Comparing your own qualities with yourself. The high degree of agreement among these comparisons is indicative of mental health;
Identity self-esteem. In general, this is the individual’s desire to “fit” into the structure of society with the greatest success.” It plays an important role in maintaining a person’s identity.

Behavioral component of self-concept

It is a well-known fact that people do not always act in accordance with their beliefs. The direct expression of an attitude in behavior may be restrained due to its social unacceptability, some doubts of the individual, or fear of possible consequences. Any attitude is an emotionally charged belief and it is associated with a certain object, which in the concept is the bearer of the attitude itself. All emotions and evaluations associated with the self-image, as a result of this self-direction, are very strong and stable. It’s enough just not to attach importance to another person’s attitude towards you - there is an arsenal of psychological defense.

It’s another matter when it comes to attitude towards oneself - verbal manipulations here may be powerless. No one can simply change their attitude towards themselves.

This component has two vectors:

Expectations regarding oneself, e.g. willingness to act on your own;
Expectations for others in relation to oneself. This component can be expressed by such statements as “I am always ready...”, “this always happens to me”, etc.

Sometimes the impression may arise that the behavioral component is at the same time the most sensitive to the peculiarities of the life situation and the most rigid, i.e. little changing in its essence, using the same scenarios for solving life problems.

This component of the self-concept is least described by specialists.

Functions of self-concept

The self-concept does the following “work”:

Pre-setting perception, evaluation and behavior. Acting as a set of expectations, it makes it possible to predict the likely development of events, i.e. prepare to participate in them. Expectations and forecasts may for a long time remain in implicit form, they are not necessarily recognized even within the framework of the Self-concept;
Interpretation of current events and experiences gained. The concept acts as a means of categorical assessment of events that are present or have already occurred. For example, a woman who has been given her seat by a man on a bus may see in this act the traits of good upbringing, suspect a hint of her age, or perceive it as an attempt at acquaintance. Any of these interpretations and its self-concept are very closely related to each other. In such situations, the self-concept acts as an internal filter and determines the nature of a person’s perception of the situation, while it acts as an active principle and is quite difficult to change.
Ensuring internal consistency of ego identity. R. Burns believes that an essential factor in internal consistency is that an individual thinks about himself, and therefore is guided in his actions by self-perception.

The new experience gained by the individual is easily assimilated and becomes part of the self-concept if it is consistent with existing ideas about oneself. IN otherwise new experience is not allowed and is rejected as a foreign body, without disturbing the balance of the body.

If the difference between the new experience and the individual’s existing ideas about himself is not fundamental, then it can penetrate into the structure of the self-concept to the extent that the adaptive capabilities of its constituent self-attitudes allow.

In order to maintain his self-image, improve self-esteem, and maintain familiar strategies for solving life problems, a person sometimes uses crude and infantile, and sometimes sophisticated and subtle means of psychological defense.

Any attitude is an emotionally charged belief associated with a specific object. The peculiarity of the “I-concept” as a set of attitudes is that the object in this case is the carrier of the attitude itself. Thanks to this self-direction, all emotions and evaluations associated with the self-image are very strong and stable. It is quite simple not to attach importance to another person’s attitude towards you: for this there is a rich arsenal of psychological defenses. For example, if you don’t like the cut of my new suit, I can always convince myself that you have no taste, that you don’t know the latest fashion, or come up with any other excuse that protects me from unpleasant judgments. But if we are talking about attitude towards oneself, then simple verbal manipulations may be powerless here. A person who is tired of everyday life can take a vacation, change jobs, move to another city, or change the situation in some other way. But can he escape from himself?

Meaning "I-concept" in that it contributes to the achievement of internal consistency of the individual, determines the interpretation of experience and serves as a source of expectations.

There is research on personality theory based on the concept that a person always follows the path of achieving maximum internal consistency. Conceptions, feelings, ideas that conflict with other perceptions, feelings or ideas of the individual deharmonize the personality and create psychological discomfort. Following Festinger (1957), psychologists call this state cognitive dissonance. To restore the lost state of internal harmony, the individual is ready for various actions. So, he can either refuse to see things as they are and believe people who tell him something about himself, or strive to change himself and those around him in some way. An essential factor in internal consistency is what an individual thinks about himself; his actions are guided by self-perception.

Contradictory experiences that introduce discord into the personality structure can also be assimilated with the help of protective psychological mechanisms, for example, rationalization. These mechanisms make it possible to maintain the “I-concept”. The main idea in K. Rogers’ approach to understanding the “Self-concept” is associated with the individual’s use of psychological defense mechanisms necessary to overcome the dissonance between his direct experience and the “Self-concept”. Rogers views behavior as an attempt to achieve self-concept coherence. Reacting to a state of such dissonance as a threat arising from experiences that contradict the “I-concept”, the individual uses one of two defense mechanisms- distortion or denial. Distortion is used to change the personal significance of an experience; denial, as it were, eliminates the very fact of the presence of experience. K. Rogers especially highlights the first mechanism - distortion. It is aimed at bringing the individual’s immediate experiences into conformity with his personal, integral Self. Events are not assessed objectively, in themselves; They are given meaning by an individual burdened by past experience, who cares about preserving his “I-concept”. Following K. Rogers, we use client-centered therapy as a method aimed at modifying the state of the “I-concept” to eliminate the dissonance between it and the individual’s immediate experiences. As a result, the neurotic syndrome is eliminated and a state of psychological adaptation is achieved.

If immediate experiences are blocked or distorted and their adequate connection to the “I-concept” becomes impossible, maladjustment occurs. K. Rogers views maladaptation as a state of inconsistency, internal dissonance, and its main source lies in the potential conflict between personal attitudes and the individual’s direct experience. Such a discrepancy can arise in cases where the self-concept is overly conditioned by the values and perceptions emanating from other people and internalized by the individual. An internal conflict of this kind arises in a person if his “I-concept” strongly emphasizes love for other people and care for them, and the life situation is such that he is in an aggressive state under the influence of frustration. These feelings may be blocked because the self-concept cannot accept the idea that a person is capable of experiencing hatred.

The essence of the theory of cognitive dissonance developed by Festinger is that the individual cannot come to terms with inconsistent images of the Self and is forced to look for a way to eliminate the emerging contradiction, resorting, for example, to rationalization. However, internal contradictions of the “I-concept” quite often become a source of stress, since a person still has the ability to realistically assess the situation.

The image maker needs to remember that you can truly understand the motives of another person’s behavior and see the world through his eyes only by putting yourself in his place.

Being a social being, a person cannot help but accept social and cultural roles, standards and assessments determined by the conditions of his life. He becomes the object not only of his own assessments and judgments, but of the assessments and judgments of other people. If a person seeks to gain the approval of others, he must conform to generally accepted standards.

Let us turn once again to the functions of the “I-concept”:

contributes to the achievement of internal consistency of the individual;
determines the interpretation of experience;
is a source of expectations.

Let us consider the “I-concept” as a source of interpretation of experience. Two people faced with the same situation perceive it differently. When a young man gives up his seat to a woman on a bus, she can either see this as a sign of good manners, or suspect an offensive hint about his age, or perceive it as an attempt at flirting. Each of these interpretations is closely connected with the “I-concept” of this woman.

The individual has a strong tendency to build not only his behavior, but also the interpretation of individual experience on the basis of his own ideas about himself. Therefore, the formed “I-concept” acts as an active principle - and it can be extremely difficult to change it.

As a set of expectations, the self-concept determines how an individual will act in a particular situation and how he will interpret the actions of others. This function of the “I-concept” also determines a person’s ideas about what should happen.

Thus, three modalities of self-attitudes can be defined:

Real Self - attitudes related to how an individual perceives his current abilities, roles, his current status, that is, his ideas about what he really is.

Mirror (social) Self - attitudes associated with the individual’s ideas about how others see him.

Ideal Self - attitudes associated with an individual’s ideas about what he would like to become.