| What is self-concept? | Self-concept is the cognitive appraisal of our academic, physical, and social competences (Schunk et al., 2014). |
| Provide example of positive academic, physical, and social self-concepts. | 1. If I BELIEVE I am good at math, I have positive academic self-concept in math.
2. If I BELIEVE I'm a good athlete, I have positive physical self-concept.
3. If I BELIEVE I'm good at getting along with people, I have a positive social self-concept. |
| How do self-concepts form in individuals? | Self-concepts largely form on the basis of EXPERIENCES and FEEDBACK, and forming healthy self-concepts is important for personal and social development (Kail, 2012). |
| What is the difference between self-concept and self-esteem? | They are two entirely different concepts. Self-concept is cognitive, whereas, self-esteem (self-worth) is an emotional reaction to the self (Matsumoto & Juang, 2012; Schunk et al., 2014). |
| What do people with high self-esteem feel? | People who have high self-esteem believe that they are inherently worthy people and feel good about themselves. It's important, because low self-esteem during adolescence predict poor health, criminal behaviour, and limited economic prospects as adults (Baumeister, Campbell, Krueger, & Vohs, 2003; Trzesniewski et al., 2006). |
| Do young children have high self-esteem and positive self-concepts in general? | Yes, young children tend to have both high self-esteem and positive self-concepts -sometimes unrealistically so- probably because of few social comparisons and the support they recieve from parents.
This optimism is functional because it encourages young children to TAKE CHANCES and TRY NEW ACTIVITIES (Verchueren, Doumen, & Buyse, 2012). |
| What happens to the self-esteem and self-concept of children as they transition from elementary to middle and high school? | Self-esteem tends to drop during middle school, probably because of physical changes brought on by puberty and the less personal nature of middle schools.
But self-esteem rises again during the high school years- to a greater extent for boys than girls (Matsumoto & Juang, 2012; Harter, 2006; Seaton, Marsh, & Craven, 2010). |
| How would students form realistic self-concepts? | Self-concepts become more realistic as interactions with others give students more accurate measures of their performance compared to their peers (Schunk et al., 2014; Seaton et al., 2010).
As students move into adolescents, self-concept interacts with a developing sense of identity. Each influences the other, and both influence self-esteem (Chen, Hwang, Yeh, & Lin, 2012). |
| What is the relationship between self-concept and achievement? | A strong and robust relationship exists between self-concept and achievement, and this relationship makes sense intuitively. For example, students who believe they're good at math have this belief because of a history of doing well in math, and the same is true for other academic areas.
However, little relationship exists between physical self-concept and achievement (S. Chen et al., 2012). We've all known highly skilled athletes, for example, who are modest achievers.
For social self-concept and achievements, it becomes more complex. For instance, believing that we're socially skilled doesn't necessarily translate to achievement, but a link between social competence and achievement has been found beginning with children in early elementary school (Walker & Henderson, 2012). |
