Influence of Self-Esteem - Assignment Example

Self-concept and Self-esteem

Introduction

Self-concept can be defined as how an individual views himself/herself depending on their skills, habits, and behavior. Besides, self-concept also enhances a person to express their behavior, skills, and personal traits. Besides, self-concept mainly affects an individual's values and beliefs concerning their behavior. On the other hand, self-esteem is defined as how a person views himself or herself either positively or negatively. Positive self-esteem enhances an individual to have confidence in himself/herself, which improves an individual's performance. Besides, positive self-esteem enables an individual to relate well with other people.

Question One

Self-perception is how individuals understand the world around him/them and how they choose to interact with other people. Self-perception determines the ideas, beliefs, and values of an individual, which are critical in communication. Communication is the collaborative process of passing information from one person to another in society. Somebody chooses how to interact with others, depending on the individual's perception of the environment. If an individual has a negative perception towards the people, he/she is communicating with the interaction may not be as healthy as expected. If the individual had a positive perception of the topic being discussed, then the communication is expected to be healthy. Self-perception and identity affect how people interact in workplaces, their homes, and online. Besides, self-perception and identity determine how people select and interpret information when communicating.

Types of identities.

There are three types of identities discussed in this module: personal, social, and co-cultural identities. Social identities are derived from groups that we may belong to either voluntarily or involuntarily, such as the family. Moreover, social identities may also be derived from the sports team and clubs that we are members of. On the other hand, personal identities may be derived from our hobbies and interests. Social identities differ from personal identities since social identities take time to develop, and they are not easy to change. For example, it takes a lot of time to develop an interest in a particular game or a fan of a certain sport, which almost becomes a part of you involuntarily. On the contrary, personal identities can easily change since people develop new interests as they interact with different life experiences. Sometimes personal identities lead to social identities. For instance, you may be interested in playing video games, but with the time you join a multiplayer group online and form a team that you are interpersonally committed.

The other type of identity is a co-cultural identity. Co-cultural identity develops from the learned values, behaviors, thinking patterns, and beliefs when growing. Co-cultural identities differ according to the geographic location and the history of the community. Some of the factors that determine co-cultural identities are race, social class, and gender. Each co-cultural identity shares common traits like the language, the norms to be followed by individuals in a particular community. Co-cultural identity determines how the people of that particular culture should interact, and it is easy to identify them from their code of behavior

However, there are hidden identities like mental health conditions and sexuality, which are not easily recognized by an eye's look. For example, it is not easy to identify one's sexuality by their looks unless they are willing to disclose it. Besides, it is not easy to identify a person's mental ability by just looking at them.

Principles of identity

This essay will discuss six principles of identity: dynamic, plural, different and changing meanings, contextual and interactional, negotiated, and ignored. Identities are dynamic since they can change over time, depending on an individual's personality and the environment. Secondly, identities are plural since nobody has a single identity. Everybody has a number of identities, depending on their sexuality, ethnicity, gender, and age. Thirdly, identities are contextual and interactional because they play different roles when communicating and interacting with different people with different personalities in different environments. For example, one has to change his/her identity when interacting with people at home and when interacting with people at the workplace.

Moreover, people can negotiate their identities depending on the situation and the associations attached. It is not easy to judge people just because of one of their personal identities, but people can negotiate their identity to work together without many differences. Lastly, identities can be privileged, silenced, ignored, or marginalized, depending on the setting and the parties involved. Some of the co-culture identities like race may advantage some people over the other in situations where whites may be perceived to be more superior than their black counterparts. In addition, gender may also lead to privileges over the other gender. For example, some cultures may consider the male gender to be better than the female gender, which may not be the case.

How self-concept, self-esteem, and self-efficacy shape our self-perception.

Self-concept is how we see ourselves and express our behavior, skills, and personal traits. While self-esteem is how we value and judge ourselves. As a result, the way individuals judge themselves determines how they interact with other people. On the other hand, self-efficacy can be defined as how people see their ability to perform different tasks. Therefore, if somebody has a positive self-concept, self-esteem, and self-efficacy, the person may have a positive and strong self-perception towards himself/herself, which improves their communication and interactions with other people.

How family and media influence self-perception

Family is the basic unit that determines if an individual will have a negative or positive view. For instance, if family members encourage an individual, then it is likely that the individual will have confidence in himself/herself and be in a position to achieve his/her or her dreams. On the other hand, the media may make people have a good or a bad perception towards themselves if they are not careful of the content they expose to the public. The media should take part in encouraging people to achieve their goals in life without judging their physical appearance and culture. Media should discourage people from spreading negative messages regarding race, gender, sexuality, ability, and class.

Question 2

Perception can be defined as the process of organizing, selecting, and interpreting information. Understanding identity and perception are important for interpersonal communication since it can negatively or positively affect communication. For instance, when two or more people are communicating whereby the message being conveyed is the same, the message may be interpreted differently depending on the people's perception and identity. Different perceptions may increase distortions in workplaces or even at home since some people may judge others negatively, which may lead to the development of communication problems. Individuals must avoid judging others just because of their first impression.

Interrelation between self-perception, identity, and communication.

Self-perception can be defined as what we think we are and how we view ourselves. As a result, it affects how we communicate with ourselves. For example, if a person perceives himself/herself as smart anytime he/she is carrying out a difficult task, he/she will motivate himself/herself and say I am an intelligent person I will have to do this. On the other hand, the messages that we receive from other people about ourselves may affect our identity. Therefore, communication may change our identity and self-perception, which in turn, may influence the way we communicate with other people.

How awareness of self-presentation, cultural context, and self-fulfilling prophecy help in building communication competence.

Awareness of self-presentation, cultural context, and self-fulfilling prophecy may improve communication between people at home or even at workplaces. For example, a good self-presentation may help others have a good picture and impression of ourselves, leading to effective communication. On the other hand, people need to be flexible and align themselves with the cultural context they are in order to improve interactions and communication with the people around them. Lastly, people need to have positive thoughts for people to improve communication and interactions between them and other people. As a result, people may be more attracted to people with positive thoughts than negative thoughts.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is important for people to have a positive self-concept and self-esteem towards themselves in order to build healthy relationships with other people. An individual with a positive attitude towards himself/herself can comfortably and efficiently communicate with other people since they do not judge other people negatively at the first impression. Therefore, people must have a positive self-concept, self-esteem, and self-efficacy since it improves their communication and interactions with other people.