The Self

1
Chapter 6

• The Self

2
Medical School Syndrome

• Because we may experience some symptoms of
  various physical/mental illnesses, we often
  falsely believe as though they may be suffering
  from them when in.
• Thus, you need to interpret scores with
  caution. The scales we will be using in class
  are not for clinical assessment, but rather for
  instructional purposes.
• However, if you feel as though you may need
  help, please seek out the counseling services
  offered free of charge on campus.

3
Our Self Image

• Our self image is our perception of who and what
  we are.
• A persons sense of self image is comprised of
  three interrelated parts
• The social self image is comprised of our
  perceived social role and our relationships.
• The physical self image is comprised of your
  physical appearance.
• The emotional self image is comprised of our
  inner thoughts feelings and beliefs.

4
Social Desirability Scale

• Low scorers (0-8)
• About one respondent in six earns a score between
  0 and 8. Such respondents answered in a socially
  undesirable direction much of the time. It may
  be that they are more willing than most people to
  respond to tests truthfully, even when their
  answers might meet with social disapproval.
• Average Scorers (9-19)
• About two respondents in three earn a score from
  9 through 19. They tend to show an average
  degree of concern for the social desirability of
  their responses, and it may be that their general
  behavior represents an average degree of
  conformity to social rules and conventions.
• High Scorers (20-33)
• About one respondent in six earns a score between
  20 and 33. These respondents may be highly
  concerned about social approval and respond to
  test items in such a way as to avoid the
  disapproval of people who may read their
  responses. Their general behavior may show high
  conformity to social rules and conventions.

5
Are You One of Your Favorite People?

• Reverse score the following items (2, 7, 15, 19,
  21, 25, 27, 32) using the following conversion
  scale
• change a 1 to a 5
• change a 2 to a 4
• do not change a 3
• change a 4 to a 2
• change a 5 to a 1

6
Are You One of Your Favorite People?

• Low scorers (36-110)
• Scorers in this range are expressing little
  self-acceptance. The lower your score, the less
  your self-acceptance. Your low self-acceptance
  is apparently related to feelings that there is
  something wrong with you, to general lack of
  confidence, and to shyness or withdrawal when
  social opportunities arise. Although many
  factors are related to low self-acceptance, one
  of them may be poor social skills. If your lack
  of self-acceptance and your social interactions
  are sources of distress to you, you may profit
  from trying some personal problem-solving or
  seeking professional counseling.
• Average scorers (111-150)
• Most people score in this range. Most of us tend
  to be more self-accepting in some areas than in
  others, to have more self-confidence in some
  areas than in others, to feel more comfortable
  with some people than with others. Our
  self-acceptance can be enhanced in some cases by
  challenging irrational goals and
  self-expectations. In other cases, we may profit
  from enhancing our vocational, personal, or
  interpersonal skills.
• High scorers (151-180)
• Scorers in this range are highly self-accepting
  and self-confident. Your consistent sense of
  worth tends to provide you with support as you
  meet new people and confront new challenges.

7
Barksdale Self-Esteem Scale

• High self esteem 90-100
• Good self esteem 80-89
• Moderate self esteem 60-79
• Low self esteem under 60

8
Hudson Self-Esteem

• Reverse Score these items
• 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 14, 15, 18, 21, 22, 23, 25
• Change 1 to 5
• Change 2 to 4
• Change 3 to 3
• Change 4 to 2
• Change 5 to 1
• 30 or below High self-esteem
• 40-70 moderate self-esteem
• 80-100 low self-esteem

9
The Self Concept Scale

• Take the self-concept scale on page 206.
• 1. Rate yourself on each of the dimensions of the
  scale.
• Rate yourself again based on how you think
  ought to be according to each dimension.
• People with higher self-esteem tend to rate
  themselves more positively than those with lower
  self-esteem.
• The bigger the difference between your actual
  self and your ideal self, the lower your
  self-esteem is likely to be.
• The closer your self-perceptions are to your
  ideal self, the higher your self-esteem is likely
  to be.

10
Our Self-Esteem

• Our self-esteem depends on the degree to which
  our self concept (ones perception of one-self,
  including ones traits) match with our beliefs of
  our ideal self (ones belief of what one ought to
  be and do) and how we think others perceive us.

11
Rogers Congruence Theory

• Figure 10.8
• Incongruence occurs when there is a mismatch
  between any of these three entities the ideal
  self (the person you would like to be), your
  self-image (the person you think you are), and
  the true self (the person you actually are).
  Self-esteem suffers when there is a large
  difference between ones ideal self and
  self-image. Anxiety and defensiveness are common
  when the self-image does not match the true self.

12
Development of Incongruence

• Parents help children develop self esteem when
  they show unconditional positive regard (when
  they accept them as having intrinsic merit
  regardless of their behavior at the moment.
• When parents show conditional positive regard
  (accept them only when they behave in a desired
  manner) children may learn to disown the
  thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that parents
  have rejected.

13
Carl Rogers Personality Theory

• Figure 12.7
• Rogerss view of personality development and
  dynamics. Rogerss theory of development posits
  that conditional love leads to a need to distort
  experiences, which fosters an incongruent
  self-concept. Incongruence makes one prone to
  recurrent anxiety, which triggers defensive
  behavior, which fuels more incongruence.

14
Incongruent Self-Concept

• A conflict between one's naturally positive
  self-image and negative external criticisms
  creates anxiety and unhappiness. This conflict
  may function outside of one's conscious awareness
  so that a person experiences feelings of
  unhappiness and low self-worth without knowing
  why.
• How do we try to protect ourselves from these
  unconscious feelings?