Self-concept is a complex of representations of a person about himself, its reflective part. That the individual is drawn is, to one degree or another, stable and conscious of him. Often this term is used instead of the more neutral word "self-awareness."
Self-concept: problem of definition
Difficulties with the exact determination of this concept arise due to the fact that what a person means by “I” is too general. Indeed, depending on the context, any elementary word can be described in different ways, and even more so it concerns such abstract concepts as “personality”, etc. For example, Spirkin considers the “I” from the point of view of an element and a carrier of self-consciousness . Mikhailov is interested in where the origin of a person’s ability to work comes from. A whole group of psychologists considers the "I" at once in several aspects: as a self-conscious beginning, as the inner core of an individual, as a system of his ideas about himself. Burns connects him with self-esteem. He believes that the self-concept is not only what the individual is, but also what he thinks of himself, how he evaluates his activities, what he plans for the future. A person’s self-consciousness is directly related to how he performs his functions in society. For example, the professional self-concept of a teacher, the degree to which he perceives himself as a teacher, determines his willingness to teach and generally work with children. Thus, it becomes clear that the definition of this concept may vary depending on the methods of its consideration, and may also have many derivatives.
I-concept structure
A person can perceive himself and evaluate through his body, his abilities, through relations in society and other manifestations. In this regard, the self-concept traditionally has three components.
1. The cognitive component. This is a set of man's beliefs about himself. The hierarchy of properties that the individual ascribes to himself is unstable. They can change places, disappear and be replaced by new ones. It all depends on what kind of expectations a person has regarding himself. Also, the cognitive component is represented in the consciousness of the individual in the form of occupied statuses and roles performed in society.
2. Evaluation component. This is the attitude of the individual to the characteristics that he possesses, their self-esteem. For example, if a person is strong, this does not mean that he likes this quality in himself. The formation of self-esteem is affected by:
1) The way in which self-beliefs relate to the ideal self.
2) The way they relate to the expectations of society.
3) The way an individual evaluates his activity after its identification with the activity of a person from the same group (religious, professional, etc.).
3. Behavioral component. This is a person’s view of his own actions. After all, no matter how he evaluates himself, no matter who he represents, he cannot help but pay attention to his behavior, to what he really manages to do and what is only “attributed”.
The measurement of the image of "I"
Self-concept and its components are studied by psychologists using various techniques. One of the most popular was developed in 1989 by R. S. Panteleev. This MIS is a self-relationship research technique. It consists of nine scales: self-confidence, internal honesty, self-leadership, self-worth, self-reliance reflected outside, self-attachment, self-acceptance, self-accusation and internal conflict.