ED304630 88 An
Overview of Self-Concept Theory for Counselors. Highlights: An ERIC/CAPS
Digest.
Author: Purkey,
William W.
ERIC Clearinghouse
on Counseling and Personnel Services, Ann Arbor, Mich.
THIS DIGEST WAS
CREATED BY ERIC, THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER.
FOR MORE
INFORMATION ABOUT ERIC, CONTACT ACCESS ERIC 1-800-LET-ERIC
After more than a
decade of relative neglect, self-concept is enjoying
renewed popularity
and attention by both researchers and
practitioners.
There is growing awareness that of all the perceptions
we experience in
the course of living, none has more profound
significance than
the perceptions we hold regarding our own personal
existence--our
concept of who we are and how we fit into the world.
Self-concept may be
defined as the totality of a complex, organized,
and dynamic system
of learned beliefs, attitudes and opinions that
each person holds
to be true about his or her personal existence.
Self-concept is
different from self-esteem (feelings of personal worth
and level of
satisfaction regarding one's self) or self-report (what a
person is willing
and able to disclose). Fromm (1956) was as
beautifully clear
as anyone when he described self-concept as "life
being aware of
itself."
BRIEF HISTORY OF
SELF-CONCEPT THEORY
A milestone in
human reflection about the non-physical inner self came
in 1644, when Rene
Descartes wrote Principles of Philosophy. Descartes
proposed that doubt
was a principal tool of disciplined inquiry, yet
he could not doubt
that he doubted. He reasoned that if he doubted,
he was thinking,
and therefore he must exist. Thus existence depended
upon perception.
A second milestone
in the development of self-concept theory was the
writing of Sigmund
Freud (1900) who gave us new understanding of the
importance of
internal mental processes. While Freud and many of his
followers hesitated
to make self-concept a primary psychological unit
in their theories,
Freud's daughter Anna (1946) gave central
importance to ego
development and self-interpretation.
Self-concept theory
has always had a strong influence on the emerging
profession of
counseling. Prescott Lecky (1945) contributed the
notion that
self-consistency is a primary motivating force in human
behavior. Raimy
(1948) introduced measures of self-concept in
counseling
interviews and argued that psychotherapy is basically a
process of altering
the ways that individuals see themselves.
By far the most
influential and eloquent voice in self-concept theory
was that of Carl
Rogers (1947) who introduced an entire system of
helping built
around the importance of the self. In Rogers' view, the
self is the central
ingredient in human personality and personal
adjustment. Rogers
described the self as a social product, developing
out of
interpersonal relationships and striving for consistency. He
maintained that
there is a basic human need for positive regard both
from others and
from oneself. He also believed that in every person
there is a tendency
towards self-actualization and development so long
as this is
permitted and encouraged by an inviting environment (Purkey
& Schmidt,
1987).
While most
self-concept theorists continued to write and conduct
research during the
1970's and 1980's, general interest in
self-concept
declined. In a recent article explaining the likely
causes for the
decline of "humanistic" education, Patterson (1987)
presents reasons
for the decline of interest in self-concept as well.
He offers four
likely causes:
1. A cornucopia of
contrived games, gimmicks, and techniques that
were introduced and
controlled by unprepared professionals.
2. A national mood
of "back to basics" in education prevailed where
concern for the
emotional needs of students was viewed as inimical to
academic
excellence.
3. Poor judgment by
counselors and teachers in selecting suitable
materials for
values clarification programs resulted in public
opposition to any
attempt to introduce values in school.
4. Strong
opposition by those who objected to any consideration of
personal
development of students because they believed it to be
secular humanism
and, therefore, an effort to undermine religion.
Fortunately, there
is a new awareness on the part of both the public
and professionals
that self-concept cannot be ignored if we are to
successfully
address such nagging problems as drug and alcohol abuse,
drop-out rates,
dysfunctional families, and other concerns. In
addition to this
growing awareness, new ways are being developed to
strengthen
self-concepts. For example, research by cognitive
theorists (McAdam,
1986; Ryan, Short & Weed, 1986) are demonstrating
that negative
self-talk leads to irrational thinking regarding oneself
and the world.
SOME BASIC
ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING SELF-CONCEPT
Many of the
successes and failures that people experience in many
areas of life are
closely related to the ways that they have learned
to view themselves
and their relationships with others. It is also
becoming clear that
self-concept has at least three major qualities of
interest to
counselors: (1) it is learned, (2) it is organized, and
(3) it is dynamic.
Each of these qualities, with corollaries, follow.
Self-concept is
learned. As far as we know, no one is born with a
self-concept. It
gradually emerges in the early months of life and is
shaped and reshaped
through repeated perceived experiences,
particularly with
significant others. The fact that self-concept is
learned has some
important implications:
-- Because
self-concept does not appear to be instinctive, but is a
social product
developed through experience, it possesses relatively
boundless potential
for development and actualization.
-- Because of
previous experiences and present perceptions,
individuals may
perceive themselves in ways different from the ways
others see them.
-- Individuals
perceive different aspects of themselves at different
times with varying
degrees of clarity. Therefore, inner focusing is a
valuable tool for
counseling.
-- Any experience
which is inconsistent with one's self-concept may
be perceived as a
threat, and the more of these experiences there are,
the more rigidly
self-concept is organized to maintain and protect
itself. When a
person is unable to get rid of perceived
inconsistencies,
emotional problems arise.
-- Faulty thinking
patterns, such as dichotomous reasoning (dividing
everything in terms
of opposites or extremes) or overgeneralizing
(making sweeping
conclusions based on little information) create
negative
interpretations of oneself.
Self-Concept is
organized. Most researchers agree that self-concept
has a generally
stable quality that is characterized by orderliness
and harmony. Each
person maintains countless perceptions regarding
one's personal
existence, and each perception is orchestrated with all
the others. It is
this generally stable and organized quality of
self-concept that
gives consistency to the personality. This organized
quality of
self-concept has corollaries.
-- Self-concept
requires consistency, stability, and tends to resist
change. If
self-concept changed readily, the individual would lack a
consistent and
dependable personality.
-- The more central
a particular belief is to one's self-concept, the
more resistant one
is to changing that belief.
-- At the heart of
self-concept is the self-as-doer, the "I," which
is distinct from
the self-as-object, the various "me's." This allows
the person to
reflect on past events, analyze present perceptions, and
shape future
experiences.
-- Basic
perceptions of oneself are quite stable, so change takes
time. Rome was not
built in a day, and neither is self-concept.
-- Perceived
success and failure impact on self-concept. Failure in
a highly regarded
area lowers evaluations in all other areas as well.
Success in a prized
area raises evaluations in other seemingly
unrelated areas.
Self-Concept is
dynamic. To understand the active nature of
self-concept, it
helps to imagine it as a gyrocompass: a continuously
active system that
dependably points to the "true north" of a person's
perceived
existence. This guidance system not only shapes the ways a
person views
oneself, others, and the world, but it also serves to
direct action and
enables each person to take a consistent "stance" in
life. Rather than
viewing self-concept as the cause of behavior, it
is better
understood as the gyrocompass of human personality,
providing
consistency in personality and direction for behavior. The
dynamic quality of
self-concept also carries corollaries.
-- The world and
the things in it are not just perceived; they are
perceived in
relation to one's self-concept.
-- Self-concept
development is a continuous process. In the healthy
personality there
is constant assimilation of new ideas and expulsion
of old ideas
throughout life.
-- Individuals
strive to behave in ways that are in keeping with
their self-concepts,
no matter how helpful or hurtful to oneself or
others.
-- Self-concept
usually takes precedence over the physical body.
Individuals will
often sacrifice physical comfort and safety for
emotional
satisfaction.
-- Self-concept
continuously guards itself against loss of
self-esteem, for it
is this loss that produces feelings of anxiety.
-- If self-concept
must constantly defend itself from assault, growth
opportunities are
limited.
SUMMARY
This brief overview
of self-concept theory has focused on describing
the ways people
organize and interpret their inner world of personal
existence. The
beginnings of self-concept theory and its recent
history have been
discussed. Three major qualities of
self-concept--that
it is: (1) learned, (2) organized, and (3)
dynamic--have been
presented. Individuals have within themselves
relatively
boundless potential for developing a positive and realistic
self-concept. This
potential can be realized by people, places,
policies, programs,
and processes that are intentionally designed to
invite the
realization of this potential.
RESOURCE DOCUMENTS
Freud, S. (1900).
The interpretation of dreams. In the complete
psychological works
of Sigmund Freud. London: The Hogarth Press,
1962.
Fromm, E. (1956).
The art of loving. New York: Harper & Row.
Hamachek, D. E.
(1978). Encounters with the self (2nd ed.). New York:
Holt Rinehart and
Winston.
Jourard, S. (1971).
Self-disclosure: An experimental analysis of the
transparent self.
New York: Wiley-Interscience.
Lecky, P. (1945).
Self-consistency: A theory of personality. New
York: Island Press.
McAdam, E. K.
(1986). Cognitive behavior therapy and its application
with adolescents.
Journal of Adolescence, 9, 1-15.
Patterson, C. H.
(1961). The self in recent Rogerian theory. Journal
of Individual
Psychology, 17, 5-11.
Purkey, W. W.,
& Schmidt, J. (1987). The inviting relationship: An
expanded
perspective for professional counseling. Englewood Cliffs,
NJ: Prentice-Hall,
Inc.
Raimy, V. C. (1948).
Self-reference in counseling interviews. Journal
of Consulting
Psychology, 12, 153-163.
Rogers, C. R.
(1947). Some observations on the organization of
personality.
American Psychologist, 2, 358-368.
Ryan, E. B., Short,
E. J., & Weed, K. A. (1986). The role of cognitive
strategy training
in improving the academic performance of learning
disabled children.
Journal of Learning Disabilities, 19, 521-529.
William W. Purkey
Professor of Counselor Education University of North
Carolina at
Greensboro
This publication
was prepared with funding from the Office of
Educational
Research and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education,
under contract no.
RI88062011. The opinions expressed in this report
do not necessarily
reflect the positions or policies of OERI or the
Department of
Education.
.