Self-concept Discussion
Human behavior is influenced by how they perceive themselves. Various factors, including religion, gender, sexual orientation, and age, determine a person’s self-perception. These factors define self-image and self-esteem, thus impacting how a person acts around others. Self-perception may also be influenced by a person’s environment, including the people they interact with and their attitude towards the person. Self-concept plays a significant role in people’s lives because it defines their communication approaches and interactions with others in their environment based on how they perceive themselves and the limits they set on how others can influence various aspects of their self-concept, such as self-esteem and self-image.
Individuals Who Influenced Aspects of My Self-Concept
According to Adler et al., the self-concept is a set of various perceptions people have of themselves (p.52). The perceptions are influenced by different sociological parameters such as ethnicity, class, and gender (Karakayali, p.1). My self-concept has been influenced by various individuals that I have interacted with in my life. The interactions have enabled me to confirm some of my traits, such as being family-oriented, kind, hearted, and funny, based on my self-fulfilling prophecy. According to Adler et al., a self-fulfilling prophecy arises when an individual’s expectation of an outcome and subsequent behavior increase the likelihood of an outcome (p.56). My younger brother is one of the individuals who have influenced aspects of my self-concept. I am committed to making my younger brother happy by making him proud, taking care of him, and fulfilling my responsibilities, thus making me family-oriented. I also focus on lifting my younger brother’s mood by being funny and kind-hearted.
The second person who has influenced aspects of my self-concept is my work supervisor. Working in a demanding work environment has made me realize many things about myself and what I need to improve to become a better person. For example, my supervisor has influenced my family-orientedness by helping me realize that I was not setting aside enough time for my family based on my observation of how he treated his family. My work supervisor has also helped me realize the relationship between kindness and good working relationships, thus prompting me to be kind to my colleagues when I expect them to help me complete a task. For instance, I always step up to help colleagues struggling to complete tasks and offer to cover for them when they are not available to maintain a good relationship with them so that I can enjoy a conducive work environment.
Difference Between my Public Self and Perceived Self
According to Owens & Samblanet, the self includes an interactive and organized system of motives, identities, feelings, and thoughts people attribute to themselves (p.226). Public self includes how others view a person and is expressed through interaction, public action, and public communication. Consequently, perceived self is how a person views themselves, their characteristics, and their judgments about their traits. One of the differences between my public self and my perceived self is that I perceive myself as funny, but some people do not perceive me as funny because they do not relate to my sense of humor. My interaction with other people also influences the differences in the two perceptions. For instance, in some cases, the interactions are too formal and do not create room for humor, thus pushing me to refrain from funny conversations or comments. Another difference between my perceived and public self is that I perceive myself as family-oriented, but most of my colleagues do not perceive me as family-oriented because I spend most of my time at work. Most people who do not perceive me as family-oriented also make that assumption because I rarely publicly talk about my family.
Communication Challenges that I have with other People
Self-concept, especially self-esteem, significantly influences communication (Sampthirao, p.177). One of the communication challenges that I have with other people is a lack of interest in some topics. I pay less attention when someone communicating with me focuses on sharing information about a topic or matter that does not interest me. For example, I rarely pay attention when someone is talking to me about politics because the topic does not interest me, and I may focus on changing the topic to make the conversation more interesting. The second communication challenge is passive listening. This challenge mainly occurs when I assume that the other person misperceives me. For example, if a person does not perceive me as funny, I may lose interest in communicating with them, leading to passive listening.
Conclusion
Self-concept plays a significant role in people’s lives because it defines their communication approaches and interactions with others in their environment based on how they perceive themselves and the limits they set on how others can influence various aspects of their self-concept, such as self-esteem and self-image. My work supervisor and my younger brother have mainly influenced my self-concept. The main aspects of my self-perception influenced by these individuals include being funny, kind-hearted, and family-oriented. Interactions with others have made me realize significant differences between my public and perceived selves. The main differences include differences in the private and public perception of my family-orientedness, kind-heartedness, and being funny. The main impact of my self-concept on interactions with other people that could be causing the differences in the public and perceived self is creating communication challenges such as passive listening and lack of interest.
Works Cited
Adler, Ronald B., et al. Understanding Human Communication. Oxford University Press, 2020.
Karakayali, Nedim. “Self‐concept.” The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology, 2021, pp. 1–3, https://doi.org/10.1002/9781405165518.wbeoss069.pub2.
Owens, Timothy J., and Sarah Samblanet. “Self and self-concept.” Handbook of Social Psychology, 2013, pp. 225–249, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6772-0_8.
Sampthirao, Prabhakararao. “Self-concept and interpersonal communication.” International Journal of Indian Psychology, vol. 3, no. 3, 2016, https://doi.org/10.25215/0303.115.
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Question 
Self-concept Discussion
Make a list of skills, abilities, interests, beliefs, and roles that compose your self-concept. From this list, identify three adjectives (examples: kind, funny, practical, family-oriented, etc.) (please use ; family oriented, funny, and kind hearted) that most accurately reflect who you think you are most of the time. Use this information to compose an introduction for the essay. Make sure to conclude your introduction with a thesis statement.
Use items 1 – 3 (below) to compose the body of the essay.
Explain who influenced aspects of your self-concept. Apply communication theories such as reflected appraisal, self-fulfilling prophecy, and/or social comparison to explain how you perceive yourself (as discussed in Chapter Three). Be sure to include the textbook definition in your response. You can apply additional references to specific theories of self-concept development in the text, where appropriate. All materials must be cited to avoid plagiarism.
Write a comparison distinguishing your public self from your perceived self. In your comparison include a description of the context for the public self.
Provide concrete examples of communication challenges that you have with other people and explain why.
In the concluding paragraph(s) of your essay, summarize your main points and provide advice or strategies to yourself and others to be a more competent communicator (see Chapter One).
Format:
The essay must reflect PGCC English 101 college-level writing. Therefore, paragraphs must be focused with relevant supporting details that are specific and provide clarity and depth to the audience. There should be minimal grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors. Use MLA or APA citation style.
The essay must be at least 700 words (double-spaced in Times New Roman font). Please complete the essay in Word compatible format (.doc, .docx,. .rtf, .pdf). If you are using (Mac)intosh products, please export your essay as a Word of PDF document.
This website is for the book you can use as well
https://socialsci.libretexts.org/Courses/Prince_Georges_Community_College/COM_1090%3A_Interpersonal_Communication%3A_Among_Family_Friends__and_at_Work?readerView