Self-Concept

Paper Summary:

This paper compares the two theories of self-concept and self-esteem. The paper also describes the theories of self-verification and self-enhancement and compares them with each other. The paper then discusses the ramifications of a person discovering gaps that may exist between an individual's enhanced self-evaluation and his/her actual abilities. This paper includes a section of copied reference material.

Table of Contents:
I. Two Theories
Outside Circumstances?
Real Definitions?
II. Inside Out
Gaps
III. Win . . . Lose or Tie?

From the Paper:

"Just as an individual may self-perpetuate and/or exacerbate his/her condition when he/she views their surroundings as a threat, hostile and/or unfriendly (Sexton, 2002), he/she may improve his/her condition when he/she perceives their circumstances to be reassuring, supportive, and/or friendly. This self-perpetuation, considered a form of self-verification is defined as a person's use of "a variety of techniques to validate their self-views". (Ibid)"
"The self-verification approach assumes an individual is motivated to minimize biased uncertainty about his/her self-concept and social status. Self-verification does not require an individual's self-views to conform to any constraints, nor does it require any change in self-conception. (Ibid.)"

Sample of Sources Used:

• Albrecht, K. (2002, November). Brain Power: People Can Be Trained to Use Their Brains More Effectively for Creativity, Problem Solving, and Other Thinking. T&D, 56, 38+.
• Bartlett, John, comp. Familiar Quotations, 10th ed, rev. and enl. by Nathan Haskell Dole. Boston: Little, Brown, 1919; Bartleby.com, 2000. www.bartleby.com/100/. [28 October 2006].
• Blackburn, Simon. "Epictetus ", The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy, January 1, 1996.
• Cast, Alicia D., & Burke, Peter J. (March 2002)A theory of self-esteem Social Forces, 80, p1041(28).
• Escovar, Luis. "The effects of assessment feedback on rapport-building and self-enhancement processes. (Research).", Journal of Mental Health Counseling, July 1, 2003.

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