CHD3243 Exam 2 Study Guide Chapter 6 Self concept Identity Ethnicity and Gender The self a person s personality or nature of which that person is aware Self concept is a conscious cognitive perception and assessment by an individual of himself or herself one s thoughts and opinions about oneself Self esteem is a person s impression or opinion of himself or herself Dimensions of the Self Strang 1957 outlines four basic dimensions of the self 1 Basic self concept which is the adolescent s view of his or her personality and perceptions of his abilities and his status and roles in the outer world 2 Transitory self concept ideas of self are influenced by the mood of the moment or y a recent or continuing experience Ex a recent low grade on an exam may leave a person with a temporary feeling of being stupid 3 Social selves the selves he or she thinks others see which in turn influence how the individual sees himself or herself Ex If youths have the impression that others think they are boring they tend to think of themselves in this negative way 4 Ideal self the kind of person an adolescent would like to be may be realistic too low or too high Possible Selves Oyserman and Markus 1990 focused on an adolescent s possible selves These are the people he or she might be someday they refer to the future not to the present o Hoped for selves the people we hope to be in the future o Expected selves the people we think we will likely be in the future o Feared selves the people we are afraid of becoming in the future Development of a Positive Self Concept Several factors that contribute to its achievement o Parents o Significant others those individuals who occupy a high level of the quality of family relations during adolescence is importance they are influential and their opinions are meaningful associated with their levels of self esteem especially parents who are warm supportive caring and authoritative high SES students low SES students have lower self esteem than o Socioeconomic status o Race Ethnicity o Gender o Disabilities girl s self esteem is somewhat lower than boys African American adolescents have higher self esteem than adolescents from any other group Asian American youth are often found to have the lowest self esteem levels Latino adolescents self esteem is midway between these two groups individuals with physical disabilities have negative body images and more difficulty developing positive self concepts and self esteem same for cognitive limitations disabilities goes up self esteem goes down stress and self esteem are negatively correlated as stress o Stress Identity Erikson 1968 believed that seven issues were of primary importance 1 Temporal perspective versus time confusion gaining a sense of time and of the continuity of life learning to estimate and allocate one s time 2 Self certainty versus self consciousness developing self confidence based on past experiences so that a person believes in himself herself and believes there is a reasonable chance of accomplishing future aims 3 Role experimentation versus role fixation adolescents trying out the different roles they are to play in society experiment with identities personality characteristics rather than becoming prematurely fixated on a role 4 Apprenticeship versus work paralysis opportunity to explore and try out different occupations before deciding on a vocation 5 Sexual polarization versus bisexual confusion develop a clear identification with one sex or the other male and female should conform to the stereotypical norms of their sex 6 Leadership and followership versus authority confusion begin to learn to 7 take leadership responsibilities as well as how to follow others Ideological commitment versus confusion of values one s ideology should guide many aspects of behavior individuals need something to believe in or to follow developing morals values ideological commitments Marcia 1966 identified four basic identity statuses o Identity diffused have not experienced a crisis nor have they explored meaningful alternatives or made any commitments in finding an acceptable identity o Foreclosure have not experienced a crisis but they have made commitments to occupations and ideologies that are handed down to them frequently by parents o Moratorium a period of delay granted to someone who is not yet ready to make a decision or assume an obligation involved in a continual crisis continue to search for an identity high on exploration low on commitment o Identity achieved have experienced a psychological moratorium and have resolved their identity crisis self acceptance harmony Critique of Marcia o His four identity statuses do not capture the entirety of the identity concept as envisioned by Erikson o Focuses too much on the crisis commitment aspect of identity o Fails to address the sense of personal continuity o Fails to adequately capture the integration of different parts of the self or the sense of unity o Identity statuses do not always develop in an exact sequence Identity as a Process Burke 1991 envisions an identity control system that consists of two interpersonal and three intrapersonal components o The interpersonal components include 1 one s social behavior and 2 the interpersonal feedback one gets from others o The intrapersonal factors are 1 self concept 2 one s identity standards or beliefs about how one should behave and 3 a comparator that assesses the similarity between the two Berzonsky and Kuk 2000 identified three styles of identity searching o Youths with an informational style seek out diagnostic information and modify their plans and behaviors if necessary to match it This style characterizes moratorium and identity achieved individuals o Others have a normative style they are resistant to change and block out discrepant information This style is characteristic of foreclosured adolescents o Diffused individuals are most likely to exhibit an avoidant style of identity searching they put off making decisions and evade feedback when they do make changes they are superficial and short lived Acculturation Options dominant group Acculturation is the adjustment of minority groups to the culture of the There are four possible ways in which ethnic group members can participate in a culturally diverse society o Separation involves exclusive focus on the cultural values and practices of the ethnic group and little to no interaction with the dominant society o Assimilation occurs when an ethnic group member
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