Self image

Self image

A person's self image is the mental picture, generally of a kind that is quite resistant to change, that depicts not only details that are potentially available to objective investigation by others (height, weight, hair color, sex, I.Q. score, etc.), but also items that have been learned by that person about himself or herself, either from personal experiences or by internalizing the judgments of others. Those items include the answers to such questions as:

* Am I thin?
* Am I fat?
* Am I attractive?
* Am I weak?
* Am I strong?
* Am I intelligent?
* Am I stupid?
* Am I a good person?
* Am I a bad person?
* Am I masculine?
* Am I feminine?
* Am I likable?

Definition

A simple definition of a person's self image is their answer to this question - "What do you believe people think about you?" A more technical term for self image that is commonly used by social and cognitive psychologists is self-schema. Like any schema, self-schemas store information and influence the way we think and remember. For example, research indicates that information which refers to the self is preferentially encoded and recalled in memory tests, a phenomenon known as "Self-Referential Encoding" (Rogers et al. 1977).

As it is a relative objective measure, it is generally measured against crowd leaders, such as celebrities [ [http://www.bignews.biz/?id=2141&keys=rockstar-anorexia-girls-support Australian Idol Starlet: Shocking Anorexic Revelations ] ] .


=Inaccurate self

The formation of a healthy self image can be challenging for an individual, especially when family, peers, community, or the general society issues very negative evaluations of a person that happen to be inaccurate. The consequences can be severe for the individual, who may learn self-hatred. They can also be severe for the society. As a European folk saying instructs, "Call a man a thief and he will steal."

Poor self image may be the result of accumulated invalid criticisms that the person collected as a child which have led to damaging his own view of himself. Children in particular are vulnerable to accepting false negative judgments from authority figures because they have yet to develop competency in evaluating such reports.

Correction

The correction of an inaccurate self image can be aided by reality testing. However, when social forces directed against the individual have been strongly manipulative, it may be very helpful for the individual to secure professional help in rectifying matters. Such rectification is most often directed at the individual, but corrective efforts could also be applied to members of the general community and/or social institutions that have manipulated individuals in a detrimental way. (See child abuse, racism, sexism, etc.)

What is not known to others

It should be noted that some information about an individual is not directly available to others, and that information may be very pertinent to the formation of an accurate and well functioning self image. For instance, only the individual may know whether certain of his or her acts were malicious or benevolent in intent. Only individuals know whether in their internal experience they are masculine or feminine, good or bad and so on.

Individuals often form a negative self image as a result of physicalities affecting themselves, such as alcoholic parents or other unstable environments, and the use of drugs to unintentionally hurt themselves.

ee also

* Body image
* Residual self image
* List of basic self topics
* Positive mental attitude
* Self-esteem
* Self (psychology)
* Self-concept

References

*Rogers, T.B., Kuiper, N.A., Kirker, W.S. (1977) Self-Reference and the Encoding of Personal Information, "Journal of Personality and Social Psychology", "35", 677-688.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • self-image — self images N COUNT: usu supp N Your self image is your opinion of yourself. You must strive constantly to improve your self image... A person with a poor self image will feel inadequate …   English dictionary

  • self-image — n the idea that you have of yourself, especially of your abilities, character, and appearance positive/good/poor/negative self image ▪ Depression affects people with a poor self image …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • self-image — 1939, from SELF (Cf. self) + IMAGE (Cf. image) …   Etymology dictionary

  • self-image — noun singular your opinions about yourself: The program aims to help girls develop a positive self image …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • self-image — [self′im′ij] n. one s conception of oneself and one s own identity, abilities, worth, etc …   English World dictionary

  • self-image — ► NOUN ▪ the idea one has of one s abilities, appearance, and personality …   English terms dictionary

  • self-image — savivaizdis statusas T sritis švietimas apibrėžtis Savo išorės ir reikšmingumo vaizdinys, savęs vertinimo, supratimo rezultatas; savo minčių, požiūrių, nuostatų, jausmų, poelgių visumos pažinimo ir vertinimo tapatinimas su savo Aš, darantis… …   Enciklopedinis edukologijos žodynas

  • self-image — savivoka statusas T sritis Kūno kultūra ir sportas apibrėžtis Savojo Aš, savo savybių ir vertės apskritai arba atskirose srityse (pvz., moksle, sporte) suvokimas, supratimas. atitikmenys: angl. self conception; self image vok. Selbsterkenntnis, f …   Sporto terminų žodynas

  • self-image — savivoka statusas T sritis Kūno kultūra ir sportas apibrėžtis Žmogaus nuostata savo paties atžvilgiu, kuria vadovaudamasis jis sąveikauja su kitais žmonėmis ir vertina save. atitikmenys: angl. self conception; self image vok. Selbsterkenntnis, f… …   Sporto terminų žodynas

  • self-image — noun The way a person views themself. Like most people my self image is much younger than my age; the fact that Im getting old hasnt quite sunk in yet …   Wiktionary

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”