Theoretical aspects of the professional “I-image” of the individual 1820

A person’s image and opinion about himself significantly influences his worldview, behavior and lifestyle.

In psychology, this idea is called self-concept. This is one of the most important components of the human personality, which forms not only a person’s idea of ​​himself, but also the idea of ​​other people about him.

Self-concept is the result of self-assessment and self-knowledge regarding various events occurring in a person’s life and the opinions of other individuals around him.

Today, the concept of “I-concept” is becoming increasingly relevant. Many people interested in psychology or simply caring about their development try to understand themselves and their personality by turning to the concept of self-concept.

It is not just the idea of ​​a person's self-image, it is a complex dynamic system that consists of many aspects. Let's look at the concept in more detail.

Content

• 1 Term 1.1 Problems of defining the “I” concept

Term

The term “I-concept” appeared in scientific language at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries in connection with ideas about the dual nature of man as a cognizing subject and a cognizable object.

The concept of “self-concept” developed in the 1950s in line with phenomenological, humanistic psychology, whose representatives (A. Maslow, C. Rogers), unlike behaviorists and Freudians, sought to consider the holistic human “I” as fundamental factor of behavior and personality development[1].

The term is often used as a synonym for “self-awareness,” but unlike the latter, the “I-concept” is less neutral, including the evaluative aspect of self-awareness[2].

The “I” concept, in essence, determines not just what an individual is, but also what he thinks about himself, how he looks at his active beginning and possibilities for development in the future

[3].

Problems of defining the “I” concept

The complexity of the problem in defining the “self” concept has been emphasized by many researchers. Its essence is in the too general nature of what we define as “I”.

“Even a simple material object like a glass can be defined differently depending on the practical or theoretical context. This is especially true in relation to such concepts as “personality”, “consciousness” or “self-awareness”. The point is not so much in the terminological laxity of the humanities, but in the fact that different researchers are concerned with different aspects of the problem of personality and the human “I”. But what exactly is his mystery? F. T. Mikhailov is concerned with the question of what is the source of human creative abilities, the dialectic of the creator and the created. A.G. Spirkin is interested in “I” as a carrier and at the same time an element of self-awareness. D.I. Dubrovsky approaches the “I” as the central integrating and activating factor of subjective reality. Psychologists (B. G. Ananyev, A. N. Leontyev, V. S. Merlin, V. V. Stolin, I. I. Chesnokova, E. V. Shorokhova and others) consider the “I” as the inner core of the personality, sometimes as its conscious beginning, sometimes as a clot of individual self-awareness, a person’s system of ideas about himself. The research interest of neurophysiologists is aimed at identifying where and in what parts of the brain the regulatory mechanisms of the psyche are localized, allowing a living being to distinguish itself from others and ensure the continuity of its life activity. For psychiatrists, the problem of “I” focuses on the relationship between the conscious and unconscious, the mechanisms of self-control (“the power of “I”), etc., etc.,” the famous philosopher and sociologist Igor Semenovich Kon reflects on the problem of “I” his acclaimed book “In Search of Myself” (p. 7)

[4].

For Burns, the “I-concept” is associated with self-esteem as a set of attitudes “about oneself” and is the sum of all an individual’s ideas about himself. This, in his opinion, follows from the identification of descriptive and evaluative components. The author calls the descriptive component of the “I-concept” the image of “I” or the picture of “I”. A component associated with the attitude towards oneself or individual qualities, self-esteem or self-acceptance. He writes that the “self-concept” determines not just what an individual is, but also what he thinks about himself, how he looks at his active beginning and the possibilities of development in the future. Describing the youthful “I-concept,” R. Burns points to a well-known contradiction: on the one hand, the “I-concept” becomes more stable, on the other hand, “ ... undergoes certain changes due to a number of reasons. Firstly, physiological and psychological changes associated with puberty cannot but influence an individual’s perception of his appearance. Secondly, the development of cognitive and intellectual capabilities leads to the complexity and differentiation of the “I” concept, in particular to the ability to distinguish between real and hypothetical possibilities. Finally, thirdly, the demands coming from the social environment - parents, teachers, peers - may turn out to be mutually contradictory. Changing roles, the need to make important decisions regarding profession, value orientations, lifestyle, etc., can cause role conflict and status uncertainty, which also leaves a clear imprint on the “I” concept during adolescence.

«[5].

Thus, depending on the original problem and the methods of its division, the meaning of concepts and their countless derivatives changes.

Material has been accumulated on the content of the image of “I” and its structure. Many works reveal age-related characteristics of ideas about the content of one’s “I”. The subject of a special psychological study was the question of the levels of development of the image of “I”, mastery of which in different age groups can mean not only knowledge of one’s “I”, but also a readiness to realize it. Most authors propose studying changes in the content of self-image, that is, the transition from objective indicators (physical characteristics) to subjective ones (personal qualities, ideas, attitudes).

History of the concept

Self-concept in psychology is a system of a person’s ideas about himself, which consists of:

• self-esteem;

  
  Self-concept is how you think about yourself.

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• awareness and understanding of one’s mental, physiological and other properties;
• subjective perception of external factors that influence the development and behavior of the individual.

For a long time, many scientists, philosophers and psychologists considered questions about the origins of man's self-image to be very serious and significant.

But attempts to give a precise definition of such a concept have been unsuccessful.

The self-concept as an independent concept began to emerge only in the 19th and 20th centuries. In those days, there was active debate and discussion of ideas about man as a cognizable subject and a knower, that is, about his dual nature.

One of the first researchers to explore the idea of ​​a person’s system of ideas about himself was psychologist William James. He observed his own conscious experiences every day and made conclusions on which to base his beliefs about self-concept.

The structure of the “I” concept

The subject of an individual’s self-perception and self-esteem can, in particular, be his body, his abilities, his social relationships and many other personal manifestations[6]. Based on the “I” concept, the individual builds interaction with other people and with himself.

Traditionally, the cognitive, evaluative and behavioral components of the “I” concept are distinguished. The cognitive component is an individual’s ideas about himself, a set of characteristics that he thinks he possesses. Evaluative is how an individual evaluates these characteristics and how he relates to them. Behavioral is how a person actually acts[6].

Cognitive

Usually a person believes that he has certain characteristics. These characteristics cannot be deduced or reduced to one current moment in his life - if a person believes that he is “strong”, this does not mean that he is currently lifting weights. Moreover, in fact, this person may not be objectively strong. Or maybe it is. A set of beliefs about oneself is the cognitive component of the “I” concept.

These beliefs may have different meanings for an individual. He may believe, for example, that he is brave first of all, and strong only tenth. This hierarchy is not constant and may change depending on the context or over time. The combination and significance of characteristics at a given moment largely determine the individual’s attitudes and expectations regarding himself[6].

Along with other things, the cognitive component of the “I” concept is represented in the mind of the individual in the form of social roles and statuses.

Estimated

An individual not only believes that he has certain characteristics, but also evaluates them in a certain way and relates to them. He may or may not like the fact that he is, for example, strong. An important role in the formation of this assessment is played by:

• correlation of ideas about oneself with the “ideal “I””;
• correlation of self-image with social expectations;
• assessing the effectiveness of one’s activities from the perspective of one’s identity[6].

Behavioral

No matter who a person considers himself to be, he cannot ignore how he actually behaves, what he actually succeeds in. This “objective” part is the behavioral component of the “I” concept[6].

Most modern scientists dealing with personality problems come to the conclusion that when studying the self-image, it is most productive to move from metaphors to the spheres and properties of the psyche that “work” on the self-image. They, like vectors, determine a certain general load and direction of the central structure, which is often called the “self.”

Other approaches to the structure of the “I”-concept (“I”-image)

T. Yu. Kaminskaya identifies two approaches to developing the problem of the structure of the image of “I”. In the first approach, the motivational component is not identified in the structure of the self-image, or only its minor components are identified. Thus, S. Stein defines the “I”-Concept - “a system of representations of images and assessments existing in the mind of an individual, relating to the subject himself.” L.A. Wenger speaks of the image of “I” as a set of generalized meaningful and evaluative ideas.

The second approach is to recognize the influence of the motivational component (the connection between the self-image and behavior) on the development of the self-image. In other words, the prerequisites are being formed for the inclusion of a motivational component in the structure of the self-image.

The most common is the idea of ​​the structure of the image of “I” as a unity of cognitive (the image of one’s qualities, abilities, appearance, etc.), emotional (self-esteem, self-abasement, etc.) and evaluative-volitional (the desire to increase self-esteem, win respect and etc.) components (A. V. Petrovsky, M. G. Yaroshevsky).

G. E. Zalessky distinguishes two components of the image of “I” - motivational and cognitive. In relation to the study of age-related characteristics of the development of the “I” image, special attention is paid to clarifying the question of how the formation of each of the components occurs when two components of the “I” image begin to interact.

The cognitive block of the “I” image reflects meaningful ideas about oneself. This understanding of the cognitive block of the self-image is close to the understanding of the self-image by other researchers. But both evaluative (self-esteem) and target (level of aspirations, system of prohibitions and rewards) components are added to this block. The motivational block is responsible for the functional significance of these qualities, that is, whether these qualities act as criteria in the choice of motives, goals, and actions. And if they do, then do the qualities perform the function of active or meaning-forming motives?

6.3. I am a personality concept

Self-concept is a generalized idea of ​​oneself, a system of attitudes regarding one’s own personality, or, as psychologists also say, a “theory of oneself.” It is important to note that the self-concept is not a static, but a dynamic psychological formation. The formation, development and change of self-concept is determined by internal and external factors. The social environment (family, school, numerous formal and informal groups in which the individual is included) has a strong influence on the formation of the self-concept. The family has a fundamental influence on the formation of self-concept in the process of socialization. Moreover, this influence is strong not only during the period of earliest socialization, when the family is the only (or absolutely dominant) social environment of the child, but also in the future. With age, the experience of social interaction at school and in informal groups becomes increasingly important in the development of the self-concept. However, the family as an institution for the socialization of the individual continues to play a crucial role also in adolescence and youth.

In the most general form, in psychology it is customary to distinguish two forms of self-concept - real and ideal. However, more specific types of it are also possible, for example, the professional self-concept of a person, or the professional self. In turn, the professional self-concept of a person can also be real and ideal.

The term “real” does not imply that the concept is realistic. The main thing here is the individual’s idea of ​​himself, of “what I am.” The ideal self-concept (ideal “I”) is a person’s idea of ​​himself in accordance with desires (“what I would like to be”).

Of course, the real and ideal self-concepts not only may not coincide, but in most cases they are necessarily different. The discrepancy between the real and ideal self-concept can lead to various, both negative and positive consequences. On the one hand, a discrepancy between the real and ideal “I” can become a source of serious intrapersonal conflicts. On the other hand, the discrepancy between the real and ideal self-concept is a source of personal self-improvement and the desire for development. We can say that much is determined by the extent of this discrepancy, as well as its interpretation by the individual. In any case, the expectation of a complete coincidence of the real self and the ideal self, especially in adolescence and youth, is an illusion that is not based on anything. Essentially, some methods for measuring the adequacy of self-esteem are based on the idea that the real and ideal self-concepts in most cases (the statistical norm) to one degree or another naturally do not coincide.

Despite the obvious proximity, the psychological concepts of self-esteem and self-concept have differences. The self-concept represents a set of descriptive rather than evaluative ideas about oneself. Although, of course, one or another part of the self-concept can be colored positively or negatively. The concept of self-esteem, on the contrary, is directly related to how a person evaluates himself and his own qualities. For example, a person’s awareness that he is sanguine by temperament, or that he is tall and has brown eyes, form part of his self-concept, but these properties are not considered in an evaluative way. In the case of self-esteem, certain qualities are considered as good or bad, the subject evaluates himself according to these qualities in a comparative sense, as a person who is “better” or “worse” than others. In other words, if we distinguish cognitive and affective components in the self-concept, then, in essence, self-esteem can be considered as an affective-evaluative component of the self-concept. It is also important that the same qualities in the structure of self-esteem of different individuals can be interpreted by one person in a positive way (and then they increase self-esteem), and by another - in a negative way (and then they lower self-esteem).

Self-esteem refers to the central formations of the personality, its core. Self-esteem largely determines the social adaptation of an individual and is a regulator of behavior and activity. Although, of course, one should be aware that self-esteem is not something given, initially inherent in the individual. The formation of self-esteem itself occurs in the process of socialization, in the process of activity and interpersonal interaction. Society greatly influences the formation of an individual’s self-esteem. A person’s relationship to himself is the most recent formation in the system of a person’s relationship to the world. But, despite this (or perhaps precisely because of this), self-esteem has a particularly important place in the structure of personality relationships.

Self-esteem is directly related to the process of social adaptation and maladaptation of the individual. Despite all the inconsistency of modern data on the self-esteem of juvenile delinquents, ideas about the connection between self-esteem and antisocial and delinquent behavior of a teenager are almost universally accepted. The debate mainly boils down to clarifying the nature of the offender’s self-esteem - overestimated or underestimated. The most common position, based on empirical research, is the position that both adolescent delinquents and adult offenders have inflated self-esteem. In this regard, it is noted that inadequate, inflated self-esteem associated with social maladjustment of the individual creates a fairly wide area of ​​conflict situations and, under certain conditions, contributes to the manifestation of delinquent behavior.

However, there is another point of view, also based on experimental data. According to its supporters, the level of self-esteem among juvenile delinquents is lower than among law-abiding adolescents. The majority of studies in which opposite results were obtained, according to supporters of this concept, are methodologically incorrect. A number of studies have shown that young criminals and those who come to the attention of public organizations dealing with “difficult” teenagers have a negative self-concept. Works in this direction indicate that an unfavorable self-concept (weak self-confidence, fear of rejection, low self-esteem), having arisen, subsequently leads to behavioral disorders. At the same time, the following effects of an unfavorable self-concept are identified (X. Remschmidt).

1. Decrease in self-esteem and often, as a consequence, social degradation, aggressiveness and crime.

2. Stimulation of conformist reactions in difficult situations. Such young people are easily influenced by the group and are drawn into criminal activities.

3. Profound change in perception. Thus, young people with negative self-esteem have difficulty recognizing that they are doing good things, because they consider themselves incapable of them.

In general, it should be noted that in modern psychology there is a certain contradiction in the data on the issue of overestimation and underestimation of self-esteem in adolescent delinquents. When such a “deadlock” situation arises, science often becomes aware of the need to develop a different concept, a third approach that has explanatory power and resolves contradictions.

The problem under consideration and the contradiction created can also be looked at from other conceptual positions. It can be assumed that the main thing in the problem of self-esteem of delinquent teenagers is not that it is overestimated or underestimated, but that their self-esteem, as a rule, is in conflict with the assessment of society and does not correspond to external assessment (parents, teachers, class). In this regard, the assessment is always lower than the teenager’s self-esteem (even if the latter is quite adequate). This is the trigger for delinquency, the impetus for antisocial behavior in a teenager. The need for respect and recognition is one of the most important needs of the individual. In some concepts of personality, it refers to basic, fundamental needs (for example, A. Maslow). The author of the concept of general adaptation syndrome, G. Selye, considers blocking the realization of this need as a powerful factor of distress. In this regard, he emphasizes that a person needs recognition, he cannot endure constant reproaches, because this, more than any other stressor, negatively affects any activity. Obviously, all of the above is true for the personality of a teenage boy, even to a greater extent than for adults, taking into account the identity crisis characteristic of this age and its acute experience.

In conditions when a teenager’s self-esteem does not find support in society, when his assessment by others is constantly low in comparison with self-esteem, when the realization of one of the fundamental needs - the need for respect - is constantly blocked, a sharp feeling of personal discomfort develops. A person cannot constantly remain in a state of acute discomfort and distress; a teenager cannot help but look for a way out of the current situation. His self-esteem must find adequate support in social space. One of the common ways to solve this problem is for the teenager to move to a group in which the assessment of his personality by those around him will be adequate to his self-esteem or even exceed it. In this group, the teenager is valued (this is constantly confirmed verbally and non-verbally), which leads to the satisfaction of the need for respect, and, consequently, to a state of satisfaction and comfort from belonging to the group.

The teenager's self-esteem thus finally receives adequate support in the space of external social assessments of the individual. The group into which a teenager moves may have different orientations and different values. Unfortunately, very often in a new informal group where a teenager finds the necessary social support, the counter-normative scale of values ​​is dominant. Research shows that counter-normative values ​​are a characteristic feature of groups of delinquent adolescents. However, the described path of contradiction between self-esteem and evaluation may not lead to negative consequences. This happens when a teenager joins an informal group focused on a normative scale of values. This mechanism or concept of the trigger of delinquency also helps explain why desperate attempts by teachers and parents to tear a teenager out of “bad company” fail. Essentially, such attempts are a priori doomed to failure, since behind them there is a negative psychological consequence for the individual - they are again trying to deprive the teenager of social support by including him in a group that is unacceptable and rejected by him (and also, and perhaps even primarily, that rejects him) . There is, therefore, only one effective way to resolve this psychological contradiction. It is necessary not only to try to snatch a teenager out of one group, but to “substitute” for him, instead of this antisocial group, another group - one with a prosocial orientation. Obviously, it is unnecessary to remind us that this new group should be such that the teenager’s self-esteem finds adequate support in it in the form of a social assessment of his personality.

The approach considered here also explains those seemingly paradoxical facts when a teenager stubbornly clings to some asocial group, although he occupies a very low position in it. In such cases, indeed, the transition of an individual to a given group is not accompanied by an increase in the group’s assessment of the individual. However, belonging to this antisocial group allows one to satisfy the need for external confirmation of self-esteem at the expense of adolescents who are not part of the group. The model works: within the group - “six”, but for outside teenagers - “authority”. In extreme cases, such satisfaction can also be achieved through the manifestation of aggression, humiliating and subjugating other adolescents who are not members of the group.

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Measuring the self-concept

The literature presents a diverse set of techniques for studying the “I” concept (the image of “I”) or its components.

Various questionnaires
Examples:
The Self-Attitude Research Methodology (MIS) was developed by R. S. Panteleev (1989) and contains 9 scales:

• inner honesty;
• self-confidence;
• self-leadership;
• reflected self-attitude;
• self-worth;
• self-acceptance;
• self-attachment;
• internal conflict;
• self-accusation.

The method for diagnosing socio-psychological adaptation was developed by K. Rogers and R. Diamond (1954). The methodology has been tested and standardized on different samples of students in domestic schools and universities. Based on a Russian-language sample, adapted by A. K. Osnitsky. The scale as a measuring instrument has revealed a high differentiating ability in diagnosing the characteristics of self-image, their restructuring during critical age periods of development and in critical situations that prompt an individual to reassess himself and his capabilities, acceptance or rejection of himself, others, emotional comfort or discomfort, internal or external control, dominance or dominance, avoidance of solving problems.

I. S. Kon raises the question of whether an individual can adequately perceive and evaluate himself, in connection with the problem of the relationship between the main functions of self-consciousness - regulatory-organizing and ego-protective. In order to successfully direct his behavior, the subject must have adequate information both about the environment and about the states and properties of his personality. On the contrary, the ego-protective function is focused primarily on maintaining self-esteem and stability of the self-image, even at the cost of distorting information. Depending on this, the same subject can give both adequate and false self-assessments. The low self-esteem of a neurotic is a motive and at the same time a self-justification for leaving activities, while self-criticism of a creative person is an incentive for self-improvement and overcoming new boundaries.

Projective techniques

Almost all projective methods are aimed at studying the personal sphere in its various aspects - the level of aspirations, the degree of self-acceptance, attachment to loved ones, conflict, etc. The idea that in a drawing or story you can see a kind of “self-portrait” is the basis of the tests “Drawing of a Man” (K. Machover), “House - Tree - Man” (Goodenough - Harris), Thematic Apperception Test (G. Murray), Psychogeometric Test (Dellinger), Symbol Apperception Test (Nagibina-Afanasyeva) and others.

Theoretical aspects of the professional “I-image” of the individual 1820

The problems of psychological research into professional personal development are not new in modern science. Throughout his life, a person devotes most of his time to professional activities, which, as we know, have always been of interest to scientists. The psychological study of human professional activity, professional formation and personal development in different contexts is widely represented by both foreign and domestic authors. However, it is worth noting that with an ever-increasing amount of substantive theoretical and applied research in the field of professionalization of the personality of a modern person, immersed in the cycle of information technologies with their high dynamics and multi-level semantic content, generally conditioned by the development of modern society, there is a discrepancy in the authors’ understanding of the cognitive basis of professional personal identity.

In our opinion, the basis of a person’s professional identity, which shows the person’s awareness of his belonging to a certain profession [19], is a professional self-concept, which in turn is based on a professional self-image as its cognitive component. These concepts are also meaningfully included in the category of professional self-awareness of the individual, which, as a component of general self-awareness in the context of the general picture of the world, is concretized under the influence of the professional environment, communication with professionals, the active participation of the subject in professional activities and a conscious attitude towards it, and is subordinated to the tasks of professional self-determination [5, With. 24–25].

Thus, the purpose of the article

is to determine and describe the content components of a person’s professional self-image and its role in the process of professional development.

Personal and professional development occupies a special place in the study of personality development. In the process of professional development, the system of interactions and relationships of the individual, needs, standards and value orientations gradually changes. The personality characteristics of the subject of labor influence the process and results of professional activity, and at the same time, its specificity determines the development of the individual, affects consciousness, self-awareness, self-esteem, and the formation of the image of “I” [4, p. 251–252].

As rightly shown by A.A. Derkach, personal and professional development is determined by a productive self-concept, i.e., stable, conscious and experienced as a unique system of ideas of the subject about himself, on the basis of which he builds his relationships and interactions [4]. A study of the meaningful relationship between various processes of self-awareness and self-concept with the levels of activity of a person as an organism, an individual and a personality was carried out by V.V. Stolin. In his works, he showed that the activity of the body is characterized by the processes of self-identification and self-acceptance. The development of an individual's self-awareness is accompanied by:

1) accepting another’s point of view about oneself;

2) identification with parents;

3) mastering standards for performing actions and forming self-esteem;

4) gaining identity in family relationships and relationships with peers;

5) the formation of sexual and professional identity, the formation of self-control in the process of ontogenesis. An individual’s self-awareness is distinguished by the identification of one’s social value and personal meaning and the formation and change of ideas about one’s future, past and present [18, p. 88–101].

As an integral characteristic of a person, professional self-awareness, according to S.D. Dzhaneryan, unites the diversity of human ideas:

• about yourself as a professional and professional role, about the level of development of professional qualities, the system of relationships, assessments and attitudes towards yourself as a professional;
• about labor functions, subject, goals, process, result of professional activity and assessment of achievements in it; norms, rules, models of their profession as standards for understanding their qualities;
• about the qualities and assessments of colleagues about themselves as a professional [5, p. 25].

The importance of studying professional consciousness is emphasized by A.I. Zelichenko, G.I. Stepanova, E.A. Klimov and a number of other authors. The main (integral) component of a person’s professional self-awareness is such a complex personal formation as the self-image, which includes a number of elements that make up professional consciousness. In general and very briefly, the structure of professional self-awareness of E.A. Klimov characterizes with the following provisions:

1) consciousness of belonging to a professional community;

2) knowledge, opinion about the degree of one’s compliance with professional standards, about one’s place in the system of professional “roles” on the “scale” of social positions;

3) a person’s knowledge of his recognition in a professional group;

4) knowledge of one’s strengths and weaknesses, ways of self-improvement, probable zones of success and failure, knowledge of one’s individual methods of successful action, one’s most successful action, the most successful “handwriting”, style of work;

5) ideas about yourself and your work in the future [8, p. 73–74].

Professional consciousness is considered the most important category, truly reflecting the success and effectiveness of the process of professional development of an individual; this is one of the central concepts that reveals the formation of a professional. From the psychology of activity it is known that one can speak of a person’s involvement in a profession only when professional activity is recognized by one’s own self-awareness [13, p. 162].

V.H. Koziev considers professional self-awareness as a complex personal regulatory mechanism of professional activity, with the help of which it is possible to assess existing professional qualities, achievements, and plan areas for personal self-development [4, p. 335].

The following structural components are distinguished in professional self-awareness:

• cognitive (knowledge about oneself as a subject of professional activity);
• emotional-value (attitude towards oneself as a professional and assessment of the professional self);
• regulatory (tendencies to act in relation to oneself as a professional and real actions associated with a professional position, knowledge of oneself as a subject of professional activity and attitude towards oneself as a professional) [ibid., p. 339–340].

General activity in the profession, the success of the professional development of the subject of labor largely depends on the development of the professional position - the identity of the professional. In modern research, professional identity is highlighted as the main criterion for a person’s professional development and the leading characteristic of a subject of labor. The process of forming professional identity, in essence, is the relationship between individual characteristics and social actions in the course of professionalization, allowing a person to carry out professional self-regulation. The formation of a subject of labor is revealed most fully in achieving a professional position that integrates professional situations, relationships and the image of “I”, characterizes the identity, certainty and integrity of a person [13].

E.F. Zeer understands professional identity as a “professional self-image”, including stereotypes and the uniqueness of one’s own self; awareness of one’s identity with the professional image of “I”” [6, p. 324].

In studies of professional identity L.B. Schneider identifies the image of “I” as a way of expressing professional identity. In addition to describing one’s personality traits, it includes the entire set of evaluative characteristics and associated behavioral manifestations. Valuable in the context of the study of professional self-image, in our opinion, is the statement about the stability and strength of emotions and assessments associated with the self-image. By making thoughtful decisions, differentiating one’s expectations and reality, professional assessment and self-assessment, the functional content of the “I” image is enriched and developed in the process of professional development of the individual [19, p. 63].

According to V.I. Settled, professional identity corresponds to the level of internal activity, that is, it manifests itself in the personal significance of professional activity for a person and can be identified through consciously providing professionally differentiating signs. Profession acts as a social-objective component of the professional continuum of individual activity, professional readiness arises as a formal reality, and professional identity - as an informal, semantic, subjective reality. From this perspective, profession and professional identity are connected by causal dependence as cause and effect [13, p. 231–232].

A.A. Kornilova in her research identifies several main stages in the formation of a person’s professional identity: the image of the profession; Self-concept, Self-image: ideal, normative, real; professional self-image; professional identity (awareness of one’s identity with a professional self-image; confidence in the correctness of the choice of profession and a positive attitude towards oneself as a subject of professional activity [9].

Let us note that an important aspect when considering the construct of a person’s professional self-image is the relationship between the category “I” and professional self-awareness. Thus, the component composition of the “I” is mainly the unity of three components: cognitive (knowledge about oneself), affective (attitude towards oneself, self-esteem) and behavioral (self-regulation) [20].

In the theory of R. Burns, the category “I” is revealed through the Self-concept, which is considered as a set of self-directed attitudes, a set of ideas about oneself, structurally consisting of:

• image of “I” (cognitive component);
• self-esteem (affective assessment of this idea);
• behavioral reaction. E.P. Belinskaya and O.A. Tikhomandritskaya point out the possibility of revealing these components through the real “I” (attitudes associated with current abilities, roles and statuses); social “I” (attitudes related to a person’s opinion of how others see him);
• ideal “I” (attitudes associated with a person’s idea of ​​the ideal “I”) [1].

According to V.H. Koziev, professional self-awareness consists of four elements:

• self-assessment as a professional at the present time (current self)
• self-assessment as a professional in relation to the initial stages of work (retrospective self);
• what a professional would like to become (ideal self);
• how, from a professional’s point of view, he is perceived by others (reflexive self) [4, p. 336].

A.A. Rean identifies the “Professional Self” in the structure of professional self-esteem as a component of the professional Self-concept in connection with an individual’s assessment of his professional qualities against the background of the Ideal Self [15].

Thus, the professional “I” correlates with the professional self-image as its meaningful characteristic and is determined by the agreement between the vision of the professional self with the position of professional others, while the vector of development is set by the vision of the ideal professional.

Based on the comparison of the image of the profession with the self-image, the individual forms a professional self-image and develops an awareness of his identity with the chosen profession, and a positive attitude towards himself as a subject of real professional activity is formed.

A person, in the process of his activity, either receives confirmation of an already existing self-image, or perceives something new in himself or in a new way [3, p. 155–158]. The self-image contains a developing, holistic emotional-value attitude of the individual towards himself, which is formed through the individual’s internalization of his social relationships, and also motivates the individual’s activities, determines relationships with the outside world, and therefore influences the development of both individual traits and the development of personality in general. The role of the “I-image” is its direct influence on the entire course of a person’s life, a person’s communication with other people, is the most important regulator of his behavior, contributes to the achievement of internal consistency, determines the characteristics and nature of the interpretation of acquired experience and serves as a source of expectations regarding one’s own behavior and oneself [14, p. 25].

Thus, the self-image determines the development of the individual and his ability to form vital goals of activity and is a fundamental aspect in the professional self-determination of the individual.

In the process of educational and professional activity, a person acquires and develops an idea of ​​his future profession and his capabilities in it. First, an ideal self-image (the standard of a professional personality) arises in the mind, then a contradiction appears between the real self-image and the standard of a professional personality. As a result of resolving the contradiction, the self-image of the individual as a subject of future professional activity appears and develops. Developing as a subject of professional activity and forming an attitude towards oneself (as a professional), a person develops as a personality [7, p. 66–67].

The image through which the description of professional activity passes includes the image of a professional, reflected in the self-image of the subject. The image of professional conditions, in turn, is an integral part of the image of oneself as a professional, providing a holistic vision of one’s professional activity through the inclusion of the image of the conditions of professional activity in the image of activity, and, as a consequence, in the self-image [12, p. 63].

As vocational training and professional maturation deepen, the list of self-recognized qualities by subjects expands, along with changes in their content specificity. B.B. In this regard, Kosov notes the convergence of the subject’s essential ideas about the qualities of other people and his own in the context of future professional activity, notes the increase in the content proximity of the self-image and the professional standard and the influence of the content of the professional standard on the content of the self-image [10, p. 231–233].

Empirical research by I.L. Naprieva et al. showed a deep connection between the self-image and activity, considered through its stylistic features, in which the subject of professional activity is included. This connection manifests itself in all components of the self-image (social-perceptual, cognitive, emotional-value and behavioral), is gradually integrated with its stylistic features, and can be experienced by the subject as achieving a state of integrity and identity [12].

The self-image essentially performs a triple function: it contributes to the achievement of internal consistency of the personality; determines the characteristic features of interpretations of acquired experience; is a source of expectations regarding oneself in professional activities and regulates the social behavior of an individual. A person has a strong tendency to build not only his behavior, but also the interpretation of his own, including professional experience, on the basis of ideas about himself [9]. In the process of gaining experience, ideas about oneself are replenished, clarified, and reconstructed. They are the basis of self-control, self-regulation of behavior, self-education, planning activities taking into account human capabilities [8, p. 68].

So, L.M. Mitina in her research notes that now the “ideal image of a professional” has to some extent been replaced by an “ideal way of life” (“American”, “European”, “modern”, etc.) [11]. At the same time, we note that a person’s orientation towards such an “ideal” way of life is not his conscious choice, since he only strives to achieve it, and the determinants of such aspiration can be pseudo-values ​​imposed by external factors.

As studies by F.K. have shown. Svobodny, “professional self-image” is a formation in the structure of the individual’s self-concept, is formed in the process of professionalization and is the result of reflection, awareness and evaluation of oneself as a subject of professional activity and professional relationships [17]. The author identifies the cognitive component of the “professional self-image,” which includes ideas about professional roles, values, motives, internal and external conditions of professional activity; the emotional component manifests itself in relation to oneself as a subject of professional activity and reflects the degree of development of a sense of professional self-esteem, self-worth and a positive attitude towards what is included in the sphere of the professional “I”; the behavioral component is manifested in direct actions in professional activities, includes the acceptance of professional requirements, professional roles and functions, adherence to professional standards, norms and traditions [17].

THEM. Bekh describes the image of “I am a future professional” as a necessary component of the individual’s “I” image system, which provides her with an adequate reflection of the professional environment and herself in it, the attitude towards herself as a subject of professional activity with a certain system of values ​​and meanings of her activity. The author focuses on restructuring the image of “I am a professional” towards an adequate reflection by a person of the specifics of the profession (“I” and profession) and the attitude he has formed towards himself as a subject of future professional activity (“I” in the profession) [2]. Valuable in the context of our research are the identified structural components of the image “I am a future professional”: cognitive-reflective, emotional-value and practically effective [ibid.].

In the study by S.O. Renke has shown that the professional image of “I” includes a set of personal characteristics in the unity, interconnection and interdependence of cognitive, affective, professional-motivational and emotional-volitional components [16].

Conclusions.

The analysis showed that the professional “Self-image” in general, being a cognitive component of the professional Self-concept in the structure of a person’s professional identity as a perceived indicator of a person’s belonging to a certain profession, which meaningfully fill the phenomenon of a person’s professional self-awareness, constantly being in the dynamics of development in the process of personality stages of professional development. The professional “I-image” harmonizes the subject’s subjective-evaluative attitude towards himself as a professional and personal-selective attitudes towards the profession as an environment for personal development and professional growth, while as a result of the coordination of the professional positions of the “Real Self” and the “Ideal Self”, it is determined vector of personality development in a professional environment.

The predominantly component composition of the content category of “Self-image” as a whole is presented through the unity of cognitive (knowledge about oneself), affective (attitude towards oneself, self-esteem) and behavioral (self-regulation) components, which in terms of content characterize the professional “I” of an individual through coordination of vision professional-oneself with the position of professionals-others against the backdrop of the professional-ideal. Therefore, we consider four interconnected components in the structure of the professional self-image: social-perceptual (forms the structure and determines the development of a professional), cognitive (consists of the individual’s image of himself as a professional (physical self - possession of professional qualities, social self - inclusion in the professional environment and the relationships in it, the spiritual self - moral and ethical attitudes of the individual), emotional and value (represented by self-attitude towards oneself as a professional and self-esteem of oneself as a professional, which are closely interrelated) and behavioral (revealed through three interrelated components - motivational, expressive and regulatory).

A stable positive professional self-image” carries information about the subjective image of the profession, the qualities that a person should have, an integral system of relationships to the profession and to oneself as a specialist, and is a component and the most important regulator of work activity.

Types and classifications of “I”-concept (image of “I”)

“I”-image (I-image, “I”-concept) is a kind of global self-esteem. The “I” image can be adequate and inadequate, real and ideal, structured and disintegrated, etc.

Almost any of the images of “I” has a complex structure, ambiguous in its origin.

V.V. Stolin notes that the analysis of the final products of self-consciousness, which are expressed in the structure of ideas about oneself, the “I-image”, or the “I-concept” is carried out either as a search for types and classifications of images of “I”, or as a search for “dimensions” (that is, meaningful parameters) of this image. The most famous distinction between the images of the “I” is the distinction between the “real I” and the “ideal I”, which in one way or another is already present in the works of W. James, S. Freud, K. Lewin, K. Rogers and many others, as well as the distinction between the “material self” and the “social self” proposed by W. James. S. Samuel identifies four “dimensions” of the “self-concept”: body image, “social self”, “cognitive self” and self-esteem.

A more detailed classification of images was proposed by M. Rosenberg:

• real self
• dynamic self
• actual "I"
• probable self
• idealized self

Acceptance of self-image

Recognition and acceptance of all aspects of one’s “I”, as opposed to “conditional self-acceptance,” ensures the integration of the “I” concept, affirms the “I” as a measure of oneself and one’s position in life space. “I”-concept (“I”-image) is the grain that carries within itself both the embryo and its potential for growth and development. The coordination of the work of all structures, their harmonious interaction is a necessary condition for psychological comfort.

V. Rotenberg in his book “Self-Image and Behavior” gives examples of the perception of the self-image under hypnosis: “ When one subject was told that he was Paul Morphy, a brilliant American chess player, and was asked to play chess, his first reaction was to demand huge fee - a million dollars. He was handed a pack of blank paper, announcing that this was the coveted million, and at that moment a powerful surge of electrical activity in the skin was recorded on the encephalograph, indicating a pronounced emotional reaction. By the way, Mikhail Tal himself played with this subject, and he also played a game with him in his usual state outside of hypnosis. The photographs showed how confidently the subject behaved during the game, while he considered himself Paul Morphy, for whom the name Tal means nothing, and how timidly the same subject squeezed into a chair outside of hypnosis, well imagining who he was playing with. By the way, Tal admitted that although “in character” the subject played, of course, not at Morphy’s level, he was still about two grades higher than without hypnosis. A few months later, when asked by a journalist: “Which game do you remember most recently?” Tal answered: “Meeting with Morphy,” and explained to the stunned reporter that he had no hallucinations yet

«.

So, it is the suggestion of a holistic image that makes it possible to identify unique possibilities in hypnosis that the person himself is not aware of. Of course, these possibilities are precisely revealed, and not introduced by the state of hypnosis”[7].

Psychological conflicts become a kind of quality control points on the path to personal growth and self-realization, when the interaction and dialogue of “I”-images are interrupted, “split”, each of which, being an essential part of the “I”-concept, tries to “declare itself”, “to speak”, “to be heard”, but is not accepted as one’s own, rejected or transformed defensively.

The complexity and unpredictability of the self-image creates difficulties for its study. Sometimes a teacher deals with a student whose various parts and components of the image of “I” are “blurred” and are not interconnected. The consequence of psychological undifferentiation and dependence, which constitute the main system-forming property of “borderline self-awareness,” are its three interrelated characteristics:

1. A high level of bias in the image of “I” and its accessibility to subjective distortions;
2. Overdependence on the assessments of significant others, stress availability and vulnerability of the “I” concept in relation to emotionally traumatic experiences;
3. “Narrowness” and “flatness” of the system of individual meanings representing the image of “I”.

«The factor that creates the greatest risk of destabilization of self-attitude is the low degree of differentiation of the “I” concept and, as a result, insufficient autonomy of cognitive and affective processes, which increase the stress availability of the entire holistic system

"- says Sokolova, E. T. [8]

In the personality structure, the mental component is particularly distinguished, which is responsible for the integrity of the psyche. This is a certain core - the self.

Self

- this is the “center of gravity”. The system is balanced when the self (like the sun) illuminates, warms and gives energy to all other components of the personality.

The book “Psychological Types” by Carl Jung contains reflections on many philosophical cognitive problems.

It highlights various aspects of consciousness, possible worldviews, while human consciousness is considered from the so-called clinical point of view... In my book, I argued that every way of thinking is conditioned by a certain psychological type and that every point of view is in some way relative. At the same time, the question arose about the unity necessary to compensate for this diversity. In other words, I came to Taoism... It was then that my thoughts and research began to converge on a certain central concept - the idea of ​​selfhood, self-sufficiency.

— Carl Jung

. Memories, dreams, reflections. The origin of my writings.

C. Jung considered the “self” as a primary image, an archetype, a complex that exists in the collective unconscious. The Self is the archetype of wholeness, a symbol of the fullness of human potential and the unity of the individual.

I. S. Kon, revealing the concept of “I” as an actively creative integrative principle that allows an individual not only to be aware of himself, but also to consciously direct and regulate his activities, notes the duality of this concept; self-consciousness contains a double “I”:

1. “I” as a subject of thinking, reflexive “I” - active, acting, subjective, existential “I” or “ego”;
2. “I” as an object of perception and internal feeling - objective, reflective, phenomenal, categorical “I” or image of “I”, “concept of “I””, “I”-concept”.

It is common for a person to have and build not only a theory of himself, the way he really is today, but also a theory of the ideal self, the way a person wants to be in the future. It is believed that the presence of such a concept of the ideal “I”, or the future “I”, is the most important motivating factor that encourages a person to take actions aimed at self-development, self-realization, self-actualization, and the search for an authentic life. Self-realization is manifested in the construction and adjustment, restructuring of the “concept of “I””, including the “ideal “I””, picture of the world and life plan, awareness of the results of previous activities (formation of the concept of the past).

Karen Horney distinguishes the actual or experiential self from the idealized self on the one hand and the real self on the other. The current “I” is an all-encompassing concept for everything that a person is at a given time: for his body and soul, health and neuroticism. The actual “I” is what the subject means when he says that he wants to know himself, that is, he wants to know what he is like. The idealized self is what the subject is in his irrational imagination or what he should be according to the dictates of neurotic pride. The real self is the "primordial" force acting towards individual growth and self-realization, with which the subject can again achieve complete identification when free from neurosis. The real self is what the subject refers to when he says he wants to find himself. The real self for neurotics is the possible self, as opposed to the idealized self, which is impossible to achieve.

Transformation of “I” Chapter 1 – SELF-CONCEPT, VALUES AND SELF-ESTEEM

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Aug 1, 2010 3355
Before we dive into how exactly your self-concept functions, I want to lay some groundwork by introducing some basic concepts. You have a certain way of thinking about yourself, what is often called “self,” self-image, or identity. The term “self-image” is somewhat misleading and limited because your self-concept includes not only visual images, but also audible words and sounds, as well as kinesthetic senses (and sometimes even smells and tastes). “Identity” is a term that has been in use for a very long time and has a very wide range of possible meanings, some of which I would prefer not to touch upon. The concept of “I” is somewhat narrower than “identity,” but still has a fairly wide range of meanings. Apparently the term “self-concept” is quite new, since it is not in my old 1966 edition of Webster's Complete Dictionary. This word has exactly the meaning that I want to explore, namely: a concept or idea that you have about yourself. In essence, it is more correct to talk about l-concepts, since you have many ideas about yourself, but I will use the term “self-concept” to mean any and all ideas that you have about yourself.

Self-concept sounds like it is talking about an object, but that object cannot be seen, touched, or put in a jar. In essence, this is “self-conceptualization.” a number of processes that we use in thinking about ourselves, and these are what we will explore. The good functioning of your self-concept is due only partly to its content—what you think about yourself—and much more to how you think about it. For now, these words may seem somewhat mysterious, but in the future their meaning will become clearer.

Your self-concept is based mainly on all the personal experiences that are stored in your memory. You retain a wealth of memories of your personal experiences. Some people believe that we can remember everything that has ever happened, but we don't know for sure. Either way, your memories span years and years. However, the basis of your self-concept is formed not just by memories, but also by how you organize those memories and think about them. If an artist is given a blank canvas and a certain set of paints and brushes, he can paint a wide variety of pictures; the same is true of the self you construct based on your personal history.

When you think about yourself, the first thing you do is draw from your widest range of experiences. It is impossible to cover it all, so you have to choose, and when you choose some aspects, you inevitably have to ignore others. If you consider yourself smart, you will remember the times you demonstrated this quality and ignore the times you misunderstood something or made a mistake. Anyone who considers himself stupid will do the opposite. Every person has had the experience of being both intelligent and stupid, so your current self-concept is only one of many possible ones that you could form based on your wealth of experience, which means that you are able to change it when it stops serve you well.

Your self-concept is a kind of map of who you are. Like any other map, it is a very simplified reflection of the territory it depicts; It is this simplicity that makes the map useful. A small piece of paper with a few lines on it may not be a good representation of a large city, but it can be quite useful in helping you navigate unfamiliar territory and find things of interest. No matter how detailed a map is, it always leaves out some objects, events and information that can be found in that area. The only way to have a perfect map is to completely reproduce the territory, particle by particle, atom by atom. Since the reproduced area would be as large and vast as the original, it would defeat the purpose of creating the map.

Your self-concept, your “map” of yourself, serves the same purpose as a city map—it provides orientation in the world and helps you find your way, especially when events test your abilities or challenge you. Your self-concept is a bit like a travel agent; it helps you get where you need to go and the experiences you want to have. Because our maps of ourselves are always very simplified, they can never fully reflect our personality. We never

we can recognize ourselves completely, and if this happened, these maps would be so complex and cumbersome that we would not be able to use them.

Many books have been written about discovering your “true self” or “real self”; I think it's mostly about recognizing that many people have a false self, an unreal image that they project outward. Often this happens in response to the demands of others or some idealistic idea of ​​​​what a person “should” be, replacing the real view of oneself. Some people are so good at presenting their false self that they even forget their own values ​​and views, resulting in a significant part of their true identity being hidden from them - what is often called the unknown, "shadow" self.

At the same time, trying to find your “real” self is a little like trying to determine whether a topographical, geobotanical, or road map is the “true” map of an area. All cards are true to the extent that they provide information useful to us. Any person benefits from what serves him in the realization of his values ​​- what is important to him personally, what exactly he finds interesting, enjoyable, etc. This points to one very useful aspect of thinking about finding your true " “I”—developing a self-concept that aligns with what is important to you and that effectively helps you achieve your goals in life.

Self-esteem

Before we begin to study self-concept, I would like to draw a very important distinction between self-concept and self-esteem. In essence, it is quite obvious, but many people use these terms interchangeably, although in reality they are very different. Let’s say you “consider yourself a kind person. “Kindness” is a generalization about some aspect or quality of your behavior, part of your self-concept. In this case, when you apply your values ​​to something - "Do I like it or not?" - your self-esteem is positive if the answer is "yes." Self-esteem is the result of your analysis of your self-concept. so If you behave kindly and value kindness, you may have positive feelings about what is happening and * say that you have high self-esteem. If you find yourself being cruel, you will feel bad about it and your self-esteem will be low.

However, if a person grew up in a dangerous and competitive environment, for example in. years of merciless war, his life could depend on the suppression of his own feelings and the manifestation of cruelty. Perceiving oneself as cruel will be valued and lead to high self-esteem, while being sensitive and kind will be anxious and seen as dangerous, leading to low self-esteem. If your self-concept is not consistent with your values, you will have low self-esteem. If your self-concept is consistent with your values, you can enjoy high self-esteem.

For those who like to reason using logical levels of thinking, we can give this formulation: the self-concept is a generalization regarding experience, therefore it has a higher, general logical level than the totality of experience that it describes. Self-esteem is a generalization regarding the self-concept, so it corresponds to an even higher logical level than the level of the self-concept. A broader generalization has greater scope, showing what a body of experience has in common while ignoring the differences in what it describes, so it has both advantages and disadvantages.

There are a number of other common misconceptions associated with self-esteem that I would like to clear up. Many people believe that people who are troublesome to society (our particular society) are people with low self-esteem, and sometimes this statement is true. If people are unhappy with themselves; then, due to their unhappiness and frustration, they often make wrong decisions and can commit destructive actions towards others or society as a whole.

But sometimes socially anxious people share the same values ​​as society; they just express those values ​​differently. For example, a young man who draws and writes on walls in public places demonstrates courage, artistic talent, group affiliation, etc. and is very happy with what he does. Most of us would agree that these are worthy qualities, but we would prefer that he express them in other ways.

Other people may have a completely different set of values, often drawn from another culture or subculture. If they behave in accordance with these values, they can be very pleased with themselves, taking actions that society as a whole does not accept. Many years ago I heard a radio interview with a mafia killer who killed 19 people. He believed that he was doing a righteous deed and felt very positive about it. He shared the values ​​of his particular social group. This man was not just a hitman: he spoke in great detail about an incident when a man called him and offered him one hundred thousand dollars to kill his pregnant mistress, who was causing him trouble. After talking with him, the killer collected certain information, including the name and address of his mistress, as well as the name and address of the customer. Then he told him the following: “Tell you what, within two weeks you must give this lady that one hundred thousand dollars, otherwise I will kill you.” You may not agree with his values ​​or the way he put them into practice, but he was very consistent about them. He believed that he was exterminating “parasites” and “cockroaches” and valued his work very highly.

A hundred years ago, when most women in the United States were housewives, they tended to base their self-worth largely on the appropriate set of abilities because that was what had cultural value. Nowadays, with the expansion of views on women's capabilities, housework is often not valued as highly and a housewife may have quite low self-esteem, while a businesswoman may be very happy with her job, even if she is a poor housewife. These are just a few examples. I believe you can come up with many others.

So, if self-esteem is the result of self-concept analysis, what do you think would happen if you didn't engage with self-concept and just tried to help people develop positive feelings about themselves directly?

In one of my favorite comics, Calvin and Hobbes, Hobbes tells Calvin, “It’s time for you to do your homework!”

Calvin: Fuck them. They are bad for my self-esteem. Hobbs: What are you saying?

Calvin: Of course. They show that I don't know anything. I need to answer correctly, so I feel bad when I answer incorrectly. So instead of trying hard in my studies, I decided to focus on loving myself for who I am.

Hobbs: Does your self-esteem increase because you remain ignorant? Calvin: Let's call it "information inadequacy."

Many well-meaning parents try to create positive feelings in their children by saying, “Oh, you're a nice kid,” providing “external validation” in the hope that it will influence the sol/evaluation. But if you don't provide any data, no rationale for the situation, the assessment will not be of long-term benefit because the child does not know what the assessment means or what he did to deserve it. This is similar to when someone is told about a “fancy restaurant” without telling them anything about what kind of food they serve or how they taste. Perhaps you're talking about a place that serves amazing beans and peppers, but your interlocutor can't eat spicy foods and doesn't like beans!

If non-specific praise is excessive, it can even have an undesirable effect, leading to the opposite result if the child begins to see some deeper meaning in it. “Why is dad making such a fuss? Maybe my affairs are so bad that he is worried and wants to cheer me up?

Many people make the same mistake when they yearn for “happiness.” Happiness, like self-esteem, cannot be acquired directly. You will have to identify what experiences make you happy and seek them out; happiness is the result of this process. Just as happiness automatically results from experiencing what makes you happy, self-esteem is a natural and automatic result of a self-concept that is consistent with your values.

If you tie the assessment to behavior, the child understands exactly what actions his parent values. “Do you remember yesterday your brother fell off his bike and hurt himself, and you helped him up and covered the abrasion with a band-aid? I'm really glad you did; I’m very pleased that you are so kind.” The child now has data to explain the evaluation or praise. Such activities instill both behavior and values, linking them together and enabling the child's positive self-esteem.

If you look at some of the methods people use to improve self-esteem, you will find that the most useful ones actually build self-concept. It is understandable that children from minority groups have difficulty identifying with figures who are successful among the white majority. When these children are asked to cut out photographs of sports and movie stars, singers and musicians, politicians and scientists from their own racial or ethnic group, and then arrange them to form a collage, they have something with which they can identify, forming a self. - co-conception associated with the possibility of success. This automatically results in their positive self-esteem.

Since low self-esteem stems from a self-concept that is inconsistent with values, it is worth reflecting on some of the signs of low self-esteem, as this shows us when it is useful to work on the self-concept. Low self-esteem often manifests itself as lack of confidence, or what is often called “underachieving.” People who have a bad opinion of themselves usually don't try hard, and if they don't try hard, they don't achieve much.

Low self-esteem often results from people comparing themselves to their environment and deciding that they lack certain social values ​​or ideals that they recognize as important. Almost everyone does this, at least in part, which indicates a huge untapped resource, because when people have a high opinion of themselves, they achieve much more success - both in the ordinary sense of the word and in the sense of greater success in developing each individual's own unique qualities.

Another sign of poor self-coinception is when people often try to escape from themselves through drugs, gluttony, watching TV, or other entertainment. Although people say they take drugs to feel “high,” most addiction experts agree that a better explanation is that they take drugs to feel normal, to relieve a variety of unpleasant feelings—frustration, guilt. , shame, regret, anger, etc. A common example here is undoubtedly a person who experiences shyness and anxiety in social situations, but begins to feel comfortable after a few drinks. I remember many years ago, at a student party, a tipsy friend approached me with a puzzled look. He brought his face close to mine and said: “I don’t understand; You didn’t drink anything at all, but you’re having more fun than I am.”

Of course, escaping from oneself can only be temporary, and when people return from it, their lives are usually made worse, not better, by the consequences of what they did while escaping, or by the opportunities they missed. . Other repeated self-destructive behaviors may simply be a sign of weak intelligence or ignorance, but they are often very clear indicators that some work on the self-concept would be in order.

Another sign of low self-esteem is when a person puts others down or acts arrogant and self-important. In another of my favorite comics, Sally Fort says to her husband Tad, “Did you know that we spend billions of dollars every year on programs designed to improve people's self-esteem?”

Ted: What's wrong with that?

Sally: No, nothing. But what about people who cause a lot of trouble because their self-esteem is too high? Why don't we spend money on programs that would lower their self-esteem? Most of my colleagues would find this very helpful.

The “too much self-esteem” that Sally Forth talks about is actually a sign of a very unstable self-concept of a person who is very insecure and tries to disguise this with excessive confidence - large self-importance, arrogance, boasting, etc. To someone who really confident and satisfied with himself, there is no need to even communicate this to other people, let alone brag about it.

Having too much or too little self-esteem is a good reason to change your self-concept, and we will use adequate self-esteem as reliable evidence that your self-concept is consistent with your values. In other cases, we will focus not on self-esteem, but on how to form a self-concept, which automatically culminates in self-esteem. We will work on it. to align your self-concept with your values, because then high self-esteem comes automatically.

Values

Although I won't go into your values, I do want to say a few words about them because they are the basis for how well your self-concept functions, providing you with the kind of satisfying behavior that leads to self-esteem. Your values ​​are essentially some generalizations about what experiences are important to you. You value experiences that make you feel good and negatively value those that make you feel bad. Because so many things and events are important to you—for so many different reasons—you have many different values. A single event may be valuable to you for more than one reason, and several different experiences may be valuable to you for the same reason.

However, sometimes it turns out that your values ​​begin to conflict with each other. Even in a fairly simple situation, such as choosing food in a restaurant, different values ​​come into play and you need to determine which values ​​are most important to you at that moment. You might be hungry and want a big lunch, but then you want to exercise, so it might be better to eat less for that purpose. Perhaps this dessert looks very tasty, but you want to lose weight. Perhaps it's an expensive restaurant, so you decide to order a smaller meal to save money even though you're very hungry. This is a common situation where you have to make a difficult choice between something that is valuable to you now and something that will be valuable to you at another time.

When buying a car, you need to determine which qualities are most important to you and ignore others that are less important. Perhaps you value safety, economy, design, color, capacity, comfort, novelty, speed and low cost. But efficiency can lead to reduced speed, comfort can affect safety, certain designs reduce capacity, and all this together increases the cost of the car.

Many life decisions are much more complex than choosing food or buying a car. To make those tough decisions and choose what's most important, it's helpful to prioritize your values ​​by arranging them in some kind of hierarchy of importance. When people don't prioritize their values, they may not even consider other values ​​when making a decision. They may see a delicious dessert or a nice car and buy it without even thinking about what else they could have spent that money on at another time or place - all the other possible alternatives that might satisfy other values, perhaps , much more important.

Each of us faces these value conflicts, even if all our values ​​are firmly based in our own experience. However, we also borrow many values ​​from our parents or other people without basing them on personal experience. The advantage of this is that the child can perceive, for example, the value of being careful when crossing the street so as not to get hit by a truck, without having to subject himself to this experience personally. However, even when society's values ​​are beneficial to us, we may experience internal conflict. I might really like to eat breakfast without paying for it, but it would be better if I resisted my urge to do so.

However, sometimes we internalize values ​​simply because they are a generally accepted part of the culture we perceive, even if we do not like them. Since different cultures have very different values, they are, to put it mildly, often inconsistent with each other and some of them are not suitable for every person. When people accept a social value that does not suit them, they have to suppress their own natural reactions when they conflict with it. They may even deny or ignore these reactions, completely denying them access to their consciousness and self-concept.

In addition, any culture is characterized by values ​​that sharply conflict with each other. One of the Ten Commandments states: “Thou shalt not kill”: there are no exceptions, and our society has many laws prohibiting murder. However, other laws allow killing in self-defense, sanction the execution of a convicted murderer, state that killing in war is a duty in defense of the homeland, etc. If you accept all of these values ​​and take them seriously, deciding what to do sometimes becomes into a very difficult problem.

Due to all these factors, it turns out that often, when we find ourselves in a certain situation, we are dealing with conflicting values, and, no matter what decision we make, we will have to trample on one or more of our values. In the 1950s, Abraham Maslow created a list of values ​​and then tried to rank them in a hierarchical order according to their importance. The most important value turned out to be survival, and the least important was individual “self-actualization” (self-realization), which made itself felt only after survival and other needs were ensured. In the army hierarchy, each rank always gives orders to those below him in rank, and invariably obeys orders coming from higher ranks. Therefore, the hierarchy of values ​​means that the highest value is always more important than the lowest. But then Maslow discovered so many exceptions that he had to abandon his idea of ​​hierarchy. People often risk their lives to realize themselves, and some even give their lives so that some other person can realize themselves.

In real life, the importance of your values ​​changes over time and in different contexts. At a certain time and in a certain context, you may perceive one event as more important to you than another, but at another time and place the hierarchy may be completely different. Here's a simple example. At this point, I hope reading this book is important to you. But a little later you may get tired of reading, and if the phone rings or you notice that you are hungry, this circumstance may become more important to you than reading.

There is another, much more accurate way of describing how values ​​function, which was pointed out by WS McCulloch, one of the first to describe neural networks in mathematical terms. One of the structures he studied was the reticular activating system in the brain stem. Because this system determines where a person directs his attention, it lies at the very basis of values ​​and choices. McCulloch found that this structure could best be described as a "heterarchy" rather than a hierarchy.

Heterarchy functions like a committee, but one in which everyone can talk to each other and listen to each other at the same time. All the many elements of this system communicate with each other, promoting consensus about what sensations and actions are most relevant at a given moment. In a heterarchical system, all the various elements interact, and one of them gains control for a time in collaboration with the others. This system is very ancient, but it determines attention not only in humans, but in all vertebrates, and this has been happening for several million years - this is evidence of how useful it is.

This system must necessarily have a redundancy of potential influence, in which the possession of necessary, urgent information ensures dominance in the part that has the information.

The fact that it functions so well throughout evolution without evolving itself points to its structure as a natural solution to the organization of adequate behavior (16, p. 397).

Heterarchy describes how our values ​​actually work. Apparently. at any given time, this system is a hierarchy, as some elements take precedence over others. But observation over time shows that attention and control actually move from one element to another, satisfying needs sequentially.

An example of a rigid hierarchy is a traditional authoritarian family. Parents know more than children about most things, especially when children are very young. But as children mature and acquire all kinds of skills, they increasingly insist on their participation in decision-making, resulting in the family being forced to function in a more natural heterarchy.

Our conscious thinking usually functions in the form of hierarchies, while our unconscious needs are heterarchical. Research on creativity has shown time and time again that problem solving often benefits from interruption of one kind or another. Calling a break or postponing the problem until the morning frees itself from the influence of any conscious approach that is not working to solve the problem, and gives the heterarchy the opportunity to reassert itself and find a solution.

Another example is horse racing. For simplicity, let's assume that three horses are racing in pairs and that A beats B, B beats C, and C beats A. If you think in hierarchical terms, this statement makes no sense. But if it were possible to build a stable hierarchy among the horses, racing would be over! Missing from the above information are the various factors that go into winning a race. Perhaps horse A performs best on a hot sunny day and on a dry track, while B races well on mud and C performs best in cold weather. Other variables such as the health and fitness of the horse and rider can also influence winning a race. This complexity is why it is impossible to construct a hierarchy, except in some general form, and why people still bet on horse races.

The Israeli military, one of the most effective militaries in the world, is taking steps towards heterarchy. If possible, soldiers serve long or permanently in the same small units so that everyone has an accurate understanding of each other's specific abilities, skills, strengths and weaknesses. Although one of the soldiers is considered the commander, in fact, in a particular situation, command is transferred to the one who can act most skillfully under the circumstances.

A terarchy of values ​​is always some artificial imposition on the natural heterarchical process, which for hundreds of millions of years has been the basis of survival in animals. Hierarchy can be quite useful as a general indication of what is typically more important to you. But if it becomes too rigid or specific, it can cause great harm. Examples of a rigid hierarchy are bulimia and anorexia, in which the social need for a slim figure completely suppresses the urgent and basic needs for food and health.

Sometimes people try to define their values ​​in an objective way or try to derive them logically from a set of hierarchical rules, principles or regulations, but such values ​​usually do not work out very well in real life. Logical systems strive to be objective and absolute, but they can only achieve this at the cost of ignoring many important details, and they would only work well if both we and the world around us were extremely simple and never changed. Whatever usefulness one or another set of principles may provide as a general guideline, none can accurately correspond to the enormous complexity of man existing in an even more complex physical and social world in which all these elements are constantly changing.

Some people talk about objective values, but the word “objective” is always a deception, because even in the case of the most verified and strictly tested scientific knowledge there is an observer hiding somewhere, and all sorts of reservations have to be made: “Thus, using the following assumptions, studying so-and-so, with the help of the following methods and instruments, under the following conditions, it was possible to establish that...” The deceptiveness of “objective” knowledge is very expressively described by Heinz von Foerster (18):

It is syntactically and semantically correct to say that subjective statements are made by subjects. Thus, by analogy, we can say that objective statements are made by objects. What a shame that damn inanimate objects don't make any statements.

Due to common physiology and general laws of development, we share some basic values ​​with all other people. However, even a basic need like hunger can be satisfied in countless ways, and the culinary arts of one culture may not make any impression on a person raised in another. It is common knowledge that values ​​reflect subjective experience; different people value very different things and activities. Think about all the differences that exist between your values ​​and someone else's. When I consider the things and activities that other people value, many of them seem completely meaningless to me! For a lot of money, I wouldn’t do something that others voluntarily and willingly spend their time and money on. Of course, much of what I do also makes no sense to others.

I'm willing to admit that you have a special way of thinking about your values; that you have a definite idea about a lot of different experiences that are important to you and that you like or dislike. If you don't know what your values ​​are, the best way to find out is to put yourself in a certain situation (either real or imaginary) and determine whether you experience positive or negative feelings. It is important that you evaluate both short-term and long-term effects, since some events may seem unpleasant in the moment but be perceived positively later, while the opposite is true for others.

By doing these steps, you can figure out what your values ​​are and how well they serve you. Are these values ​​important to you, or are they values ​​that you simply adopted from other people or society in general without checking whether they suit you or not?

Think about the last time you did something that you were unhappy with or that displeased someone else. What values ​​were associated with this event? What values ​​were ignored, discarded, or taken into account only later? For example, is the phone call that your wife forgot to tell you about, which caused your anger, more important than your affectionate relationship with her? If this situation were to happen again, would you be angry again or would you choose to do something differently to better express what is most important to you in this situation?

I assume that you have certain values ​​and that you know at least a little about what they are and which ones are usually more important to you. My goal will be to show you how you can become a person with a self-concept that aligns with your values ​​and works well for you.

Summary

Your self-concept is a collection of processes that form a kind of map of your personality. This card acts as a travel agent, helping you get where you need to go and have the experiences you want. Your self-concept consists of events selected from everything that has happened to you and then grouped into a certain form. Because you can select and group your experiences in so many different ways, you have enormous freedom to transform your self-concept to make it more effective.

Ideally, your self-concept is consistent with your values, and when this is the case, you may feel good about it, or have what is commonly called positive self-esteem. You value many different types of experiences for many different reasons, so it's helpful to prioritize your values ​​into an overall hierarchy that shows which values ​​are typically more important to you. This way, you can devote more time to experiences that are valuable to you, and not waste your life on things that are not important.

At the same time, it is important to see that your values ​​actually function in the form of a heterarchy, changing their significance as your internal state, external situation, your knowledge, experience, goals, etc. change. Many problems are caused by the fact that a natural flexible heterarchy , being part of the human being, a rigid hierarchy of values ​​is imposed.

Next, I want to look at some of the core elements of self-concept that make it so influential, meaningful, and useful in our lives.

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Transformation of the Self Introduction

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Transformation of “I” Chapter 2 - INFLUENCE OF SELF-CONCEPT

“I” concept and psychological type

Some methods for determining psychological type are based on the fact that a person chooses his type as his preferred one, that is, he highlights his most attractive features.

There are techniques in which a person gives an image of himself and an image of his loved one, thereby emphasizing his characteristics that distinguish him from others. For example, Timothy Leary’s method for diagnosing interpersonal relationships (Leary test). The technique is intended to study the subject’s ideas about himself and his ideal self, as well as to study relationships in small groups. Using this technique, the predominant type of attitude towards people in self-esteem and mutual assessment is revealed.

Development of the “I” image

Despite its stability, the “I” image is not a static, but a dynamic formation. The formation of the “I”-image is influenced by a whole complex of factors, of which contacts with “significant others” are especially important, essentially determining the idea of ​​oneself. An individual's ideas about himself, as a rule, seem convincing to him, regardless of whether they are based on objective knowledge or subjective opinion. The subject of a person’s perception can, in particular, be his body, his abilities, his social relationships and many other personal manifestations. “I” identity is the “I” image in comparison of oneself with others and determining one’s place in the social structure. “ The human self exists only through constant dialogue with others

"(I.S. Kon). The formation of an adequate “I” concept, as well as self-awareness in general, is an important condition for raising a conscious member of society [9].

At first, babies do not differentiate between themselves and the world around them. As one grows, the bodily “I” begins to develop, with the awareness of which comes an understanding of the non-identity of the internal and external worlds. Later, young children begin to compare themselves with their parents, peers and relatives, finding certain differences. By middle childhood, their knowledge about themselves expands so much that it already includes a whole system of assessing their own qualities.

In adolescence and adolescence, self-esteem takes on a more abstract character, and adolescents develop a noticeable concern about how others perceive them. Finding yourself, collecting your own identity from the mosaic of knowledge about yourself becomes a paramount task for boys and girls. It is during this period that their intellect reaches a level of development that allows them to think about what the world around them is and what it should be[10].

We can say that what is inherent in the “I” concept is what the teenager is trying to develop. For example, a physically ill child’s “I” concept is healthy. Such a child will try to physically pull himself up. If the level of aspirations is high, and one’s own capabilities are perceived to be insufficient, neuroticism (touchiness, stubbornness) may occur[11].

Throughout the adult period of life, a person’s “I” concept simultaneously strives to maintain continuity and undergoes changes. Important life events: changing jobs, marriage, the birth of children and grandchildren, divorce, job loss, war, personal tragedies - force us to reconsider our attitude towards ourselves[10].

It was discovered that the dynamics of change in the “I”-concept of an individual begins with a change in attitude towards oneself and the outside world, which serves as an impetus for a shift in all interdependent components of a multi-level system. With the increase of contradictions in the structure of the “I” image, stability is disrupted, the internal consistency of the elements of the “I”-concept model disappears, “loss of self” occurs, and mental tension arises. The process of change, which follows either the path of simplification or the path of complication of the content of the “I” concept, ends with a transformation of its entire structure.

seminar Self-concept of student and teacher methodological development on the topic

Introduction.

Recently, the term “Self-concept” has been increasingly used in educational psychology. And this is no coincidence. Self-concept is the core of personality; it is the basis of school motivation. And since the effectiveness of the educational process largely depends on school motivation, close attention is paid to the study of self-concept today.

What is self-concept? It should be noted that in modern pedagogical and psychological literature there is no unambiguous definition: some understand by it only the self-esteem of an individual, others identify it with self-awareness, others see in it the basis of personality... Such confusion in terminology is due to the fact that the concept “I am a concept” - quite young, it was introduced by K. Rogers at the end of the twentieth century. The theory of self-concept was most fully and clearly developed by R. Burns, who, like C. Rogers, is a representative of humanistic psychology. The merit of Robert Burns also lies in the fact that he was the first to try to use the ideas of the theory and practice of humanistic psychology in the process of teaching and upbringing. He considered the “I-concept” as “a set of attitudes towards oneself” and specified it as follows:

• Self-image is an individual’s idea of ​​himself.

• Self-esteem is an affective assessment of this idea, which can have varying intensity, since specific features of the self-image can evoke more or less strong emotions associated with their acceptance or condemnation.

• Potential behavioral response, that is, those specific actions that can be caused by self-image and self-esteem.

That is, the self-concept is “a set of conscious and unconscious ideas of a person about himself, on the basis of which he builds his behavior”[1]. Thus, the self-concept is the basis of behavior and activity. And here we come to a very important conclusion: by developing a student’s positive self-concept, we develop an active, purposeful, independent personality. This means that we thus increase the effectiveness of education.

How to develop a positive self-concept? This is exactly what I wanted to talk about in the seminar lesson “I-concept of teacher and student.” Moreover, this lesson especially emphasizes the need to form a positive self-concept not only among students, but also among teachers.

Seminar lesson

“I-concept of teacher and student”

Goal: To acquaint teachers and methodologists of the Center for Children and Youth with the concepts of “Self-concept”, the structural components of this concept, to show the educational significance of the “Self-concept” in the professional work of a teacher.

Equipment:

1. Wall and tabletop tables “Characteristics and self-esteem.”
2. Handout “Self-assessment of the completeness of personal happiness.”
3. Multimedia installation.
4. Multimedia presentation on the topic of the seminar.

Seminar plan

1. Statement of the seminar problem.
2. The concept of “Self-concept”.
3. Discussion of the topic.
4. Practical work:

1. Exercises to develop a positive self-concept
2. Testing “Self-assessment of the completeness of personal happiness.”

1. Summarizing. Questions for discussion in the audience.
2. Conclusion.

Seminar progress

1. Statement of the seminar problem.

What the new generation, and therefore the “tomorrow” of the country, will be like, largely depends on the teacher, how he educates his students and what they will ultimately become. What requirements today and in the future must the personality of the teacher and the personality of the student meet?

And the main question for the audience: how can we control and correct the personal growth of the teacher (i.e., our own) and our student?

Answer: Constantly reflect on your behavior, the results of professional training, self-education, etc., that is, constantly see the pros and cons of the personal development of yourself and your students, carry out your personal growth according to the theory of “Self-concept”.

2. The concept of “Self-concept”

Before we begin to examine the concept of “Self-concept,” let’s take a look at the table (Appendix No. 1). [2]

Which of the following characteristics would you attribute to yourself? Mark those that are, in your opinion, the most sustainable. Now distribute the selected characteristics into three columns that express your attitude towards your own qualities.

Are there many characteristics that satisfy you? Let's hope the majority. As a result of this simple procedure, you received a sketch of your own portrait (very conditional and fragmentary), which reflected some facets of your self-concept

This procedure, of course, has neither reliability nor validity, but it makes you think about what the self-concept is, and gives this concept, which at first glance seems abstract, quite specific outlines. Thus, we have already formed the first, intuitive idea of ​​the self-concept.

Now let's think about what you were actually doing when working with this circuit. Firstly, you described yourself using a certain set of characteristics, and secondly, you tried to express, quite simply, your emotional attitude towards your own qualities. Therefore, there were two things that were present in your actions that will be considered fundamental aspects of the self-concept. Self-concept is the totality of all an individual’s ideas about himself, coupled with their assessment, that is, we considered ourselves as an object and as a subject.

So, what is “self-concept”? This is an attitude towards oneself, towards a person, towards a child, towards the educational process. This is a complete picture of the world that we create within ourselves, and we build our life position according to it.

There are 3 components in it:[3]

1. Cognitive (knowledge, the individual’s ideas about himself, what I know about myself). This is the image of me.

1. Emotional-evaluative (attitude to what I know about myself, self-esteem). This component refers to the I-subject (I-conscious)
2. Behavioral (specific actions that can be caused by self-image and self-esteem, behavioral tendencies in the external world, interaction with the world, with oneself, methods of self-realization and self-control). These are consequences arising from the Self as an object and the Self as a subject.

The image and assessment of one’s self predispose an individual to certain behavior, therefore we consider the global self-concept as a set of attitudes towards oneself. (we draw the relationship between all components of the self-concept) The cognitive and emotional-evaluative components are interconnected, and my behavior depends on what I am as an object and as a subject. That is, both of these components are associated with the behavioral component.

1. Let's try to answer the question, who am I? (7 times, with one noun)

Who am I? (woman)

Who am I? (teacher)

Who am I? (mother), etc.

1. What am I? Can we evaluate ourselves objectively? Even if we try to do this, we will understand that our opinion of ourselves is influenced by many external and internal factors. Therefore, it is better to answer this question from three positions – the real self, the mirror self, and the ideal self.[4] Our attitude towards ourselves depends on these three modalities, on whether there is harmony between them.

I am real

I am the mirror I am the ideal

For example, in real life I am a good teacher. According to my colleagues, I am a good teacher. Ideally, I am a super teacher. It should be emphasized that self-esteem, regardless of whether it is based on the individual’s own judgments about himself or interpretations of the judgments of other people, is always subjective.

3. What and how do I do? (according to your inner beliefs). The fact that people do not always behave in accordance with their beliefs is well known. Often, the direct, immediate expression of an attitude in behavior is modified or completely restrained due to its social unacceptability, the individual’s moral doubts, or his fear of possible consequences. For example, a teenager who considers himself a firm and stern person cannot display such character traits in the director’s office. Or a young teacher, a humanist and opponent of authoritarian methods in education, is forced to restructure, retreat from this position, faced with the reality of a particular school, where certain norms for the relationship between teachers and students already exist. However, it is worth noting that all emotions and evaluations associated with the self-image are very strong and stable. It is quite simple not to attach importance to another person’s attitude towards you; for this there is a rich arsenal of pedagogical defenses. For example, if you don’t like the cut of my new dress, I can always convince myself that you have no taste, that you don’t know the latest fashion, or come up with any other excuse that protects me from unpleasant judgments. But if we are talking about attitude towards oneself, then simple verbal manipulations may be powerless here. A person who is tired of everyday life can take a vacation, change jobs, move to another city, or change the situation in some other way. But if a person commits betrayal, is he deeply worried about it? How to escape from yourself?

For what reasons does such disharmony occur?

And because (I repeat) that the human self has several modalities: the real self, the ideal self and the mirror self (let’s write it down in the structure).

1. Real Self - attitudes related to how an individual perceives his current abilities, his current status, that is, with his ideas about what he really is.

2. Mirror (social) Self - attitudes associated with the individual’s ideas about how others see him. Dr. people, for example, parents, play the role of a mirror in which the child looks and knows himself; from them he learns the first conscious information not only about the outside world, but also about himself (name, gender, age, family relationships, nationality, citizenship, abilities, morpho-physiological properties, etc.).

3. Ideal Self - attitudes associated with ideas about what an individual would like to become.

Why are we talking about this now? The ideal self consists of a number of ideas that reflect the innermost aspirations and aspirations of the individual. These ideas are often divorced from reality. And a large discrepancy between the real and ideal self often leads to depression. Helping a person give up unrealistic aspirations dictated by the ideal Self is one of the greatest reliefs.

It follows that the self-concept can be considered as positive (self-esteem, self-acceptance, a sense of self-worth) and negative (negative attitude towards oneself, self-rejection, feeling of inferiority).

• A positive self-concept (I like myself and others, I can do a lot) contributes to success.
• A negative self-concept (I am not liked, I am not capable) interferes with success, worsens results, and contributes to personality changes [5]

3. Discussion of the topic.

Question to the audience: What needs to be done to form a positive self-concept in a student?

Answer:

• See everyone as a unique personality, respect it, accept it, believe in it (all children are talented).
• Create personal situations of success, approval, support, goodwill, so that life activities and studies bring joy to the child.
• Understand the reasons for children's ignorance and incorrect behavior, eliminate them without harming the dignity and self-concept of the child (the child is good, his action is bad).
• Help children realize themselves in activities (there is a miracle in every child, expect it).

4. Practical work.

4.1 Exercises to develop a positive self-concept.[6]

• "Hello, I love myself..."

Each person in a circle tells others why he loves himself.

• "I'm under a microscope"

The guys share their “unpleasant little things” and give each other advice on how to get rid of them.

• "This is good, this is bad..."

The driver (ideally the one who wants to share his trouble) tells his problem in one or two sentences. The last word of the driver is taken as a basis by the next player and he describes it from the position of “this is good, because...”. The next one takes as a basis the last word of the second player and describes it from the position of “It’s bad because...”.

• "Draw your shadow."

The shadow is the anti-self, everything bad that is in a person. When everyone has finished working, ask the children to finish drawing or change any detail so that the shadow does not seem scary and threatening, but becomes more humane and accessible, perhaps acquiring a somewhat comical expression. This makes it possible to see your shortcomings in a new way.

• "Autopilot".

You need to write down 10 phrases that reflect the strengths of your personality. It is important to remember this list and return to this image of “I” as often as possible. After all, knowing and accepting his strengths, a person always knows the right course, will not get lost in a difficult life situation, will find support within himself, his AUTOPILOT!

• "Sun of Success"

The work is carried out over a quarter. At the beginning of the quarter, the teacher distributes forms to students that indicate the ZUNs that the child will acquire during the specified period of time. You can play with this form in different ways: either make them “rays” of the sun, or “bricks of knowledge” from which you can build a house, or a cheerful Smesharik with balloons. Parents are given forms with the same ZUNs, the teacher also has his own card. During the quarter, each participant in the educational process (student, teacher, parent) fills out their own copy; at the end of the quarter, the data is compared and a conversation is held. When using cards for the first time, children have certain difficulties in analyzing their own knowledge; they try to find out from the teacher or parents what they think, whether he knows how to find, for example, the main parts of a sentence or not. However, over time, the children cope with the analysis of their own knowledge, skills and abilities on their own. The work captivates all participants in the educational process, as a result you will get amazing results and active students and parents!

• "Chain of Achievements"

The work is carried out throughout the year and consists in the fact that the successes achieved by the student with the help of willpower, perseverance, and patience are marked by the teacher with a special badge, on which the date of achievement is written and the essence of the achievement is written. This could be, for example, space, where each child has his own rocket, he flies on it to the Planet of Mysterious Knowledge, the path to which is built according to the stars - achievements. Throughout the year, work along the chain of achievements will not lose its relevance. Quite the opposite. It will become an element in the development of reflection, adequate self-esteem and tolerance in children. The moment of play that is present in this allows the child to have fun while cultivating willpower. In addition, from the moment the first achievement appears, the results of each child will be clearly visible, and everyone will have the right to be proud of themselves. This is a real picture of a child’s development, the development of his positive self-concept.

• "Book about me"

Invite students, like writers, to write a book. But not an ordinary book, but a book that would be called “The Book about Me.” In this book you can record all the most interesting things that happen to your child. If it’s difficult to write down, then you can draw, stick some objects there that remind you of this or that life event. The guys will welcome such a proposal with great enthusiasm. Since this is a new experience, the design of the first page can be offered to the children. So, on the first page you can indicate the name, age, start date of the “Book about me”, height, weight, leave space for the “author’s photograph”. Invite the children to draw their palm, measure the length of each finger and sign it.

4.2 However, it should be noted that only a happy person can raise a happy person, or “Success for a child is created by a teacher who himself experiences the joy of success.” Are we really that successful? Are we in harmony with ourselves?

Let's conduct the test “Self-assessment of the completeness of personal happiness” (Appendix No. 2).[7]

The radius of the circle has a value of 10 points. Mark on the radius the point at which you think you have realized yourself. Connect the resulting points with each other. The resulting figure reflects the degree of completeness of personal happiness that is inherent in you at the moment. Is this figure so far from a perfect circle?

5. Summing up.

Questions for discussion in the audience:

— What should you do to achieve harmony in your soul?

— How to help students grow into harmonious personalities, self-realization and self-affirmation in this life?

— Did you gain useful knowledge at this seminar, will it be useful to you in your work?

6. Conclusion.

The seminar lesson “I-concept of teacher and student” is an original development. The basic concepts of “Self-concept” were taken by the teacher in the work of Robert Burns “What is Self-concept”, the testing methodology is in the work of M. Argyle “Psychology of Happiness”, exercises for the formation of a positive self-concept are in the work of Shustova I. Yu. “Development of analysis skills in high school students” and on major educational sites. But appealing to this aspect in raising children is still the merit of the teacher who developed the seminar lesson. The fact is that today they talk a lot about raising children, they talk about all kinds of approaches and technologies of education. However, we forget that, first of all, we must not only achieve from the younger generation competitiveness, education, and the desire to lead a healthy lifestyle, but also raise a simply happy person who positively perceives reality and his role in it. That is why the seminar session raises questions about the formation of a positive attitude towards oneself, about a positive self-concept. After all, what is inherent in the self-concept is what the child tries to develop in himself. It was especially emphasized in the seminar lesson that the main task of the teacher is to help the child learn to evaluate himself correctly. And since only a happy person can raise a happy person, the lesson raises the question of how a teacher can become happy. To do this, a set of exercises is given to form a positive self-concept. The seminar lesson is structured in such a way that it encourages teachers to think about new approaches to educating the younger generation, about the need to raise a happy and successful individual.

Used and recommended literature.

1. Argyle M. Psychology of happiness. - M.: Progress, 1990.
2. Burns R. What is Self-concept (part 1-3). – M., 2003.
3. V. I. Dobrenkov, A. I. Kravchenko. History of foreign sociology. Mirror self theory. – www.PolBu.Ru. Library "Self-Self"
4. Shustova I. Yu. Development of analysis skills among high school students. – Class teacher, No. 2, 2006.
5. Educational sites:

www.azps.ru

www.ucheba.ru

www.humanities.edu.ru

Appendix No. 1

Appendix No. 2

Methodological recommendations for preschool teachers, class teachers of schools.

Exercises to develop a positive self-concept.

• "Hello, I love myself..."

Each person in a circle tells others why he loves himself.

• "I'm under a microscope"

The guys share their “unpleasant little things” and give each other advice on how to get rid of them.

• "This is good, this is bad..."

The driver (ideally the one who wants to share his trouble) tells his problem in one or two sentences. The last word of the driver is taken as a basis by the next player and he describes it from the position of “this is good, because...”. The next one takes as a basis the last word of the second player and describes it from the position of “It’s bad because...”.

• "Draw your shadow."

The shadow is the anti-self, everything bad that is in a person. When everyone has finished working, ask the children to finish drawing or change any detail so that the shadow does not seem scary and threatening, but becomes more humane and accessible, perhaps acquiring a somewhat comical expression. This makes it possible to see your shortcomings in a new way.

• "Autopilot".

You need to write down 10 phrases that reflect the strengths of your personality. It is important to remember this list and return to this image of “I” as often as possible. After all, knowing and accepting his strengths, a person always knows the right course, will not get lost in a difficult life situation, will find support within himself, his AUTOPILOT!

• "Sun of Success"

The work is carried out over a quarter. At the beginning of the quarter, the teacher distributes forms to students that indicate the ZUNs that the child will acquire during the specified period of time. You can play with this form in different ways: either make them “rays” of the sun, or “bricks of knowledge” from which you can build a house, or a cheerful Smesharik with balloons. Parents are given forms with the same ZUNs, the teacher also has his own card. During the quarter, each participant in the educational process (student, teacher, parent) fills out their own copy; at the end of the quarter, the data is compared and a conversation is held. When using cards for the first time, children have certain difficulties in analyzing their own knowledge; they try to find out from the teacher or parents what they think, whether he knows how to find, for example, the main parts of a sentence or not. However, over time, the children cope with the analysis of their own knowledge, skills and abilities on their own. The work captivates all participants in the educational process, as a result you will get amazing results and active students and parents!

• "Chain of Achievements"

The work is carried out throughout the year and consists in the fact that the successes achieved by the student with the help of willpower, perseverance, and patience are marked by the teacher with a special badge, on which the date of achievement is written and the essence of the achievement is written. This could be, for example, space, where each child has his own rocket, he flies on it to the Planet of Mysterious Knowledge, the path to which is built according to the stars - achievements. Throughout the year, work along the chain of achievements will not lose its relevance. Quite the opposite. It will become an element in the development of reflection, adequate self-esteem and tolerance in children. The moment of play that is present in this allows the child to have fun while cultivating willpower. In addition, from the moment the first achievement appears, the results of each child will be clearly visible, and everyone will have the right to be proud of themselves. This is a real picture of a child’s development, the development of his positive self-concept.

• "Book about me"

Invite students, like writers, to write a book. But not an ordinary book, but a book that would be called “The Book about Me.” In this book you can record all the most interesting things that happen to your child. If it’s difficult to write down, then you can draw, stick some objects there that remind you of this or that life event. The guys will welcome such a proposal with great enthusiasm. Since this is a new experience, the design of the first page can be offered to the children. So, on the first page you can indicate the name, age, start date of the “Book about me”, height, weight, leave space for the “author’s photograph”. Invite the children to draw their palm, measure the length of each finger and sign it.

I am I am mirror I am mirror

I'm perfect

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[1] Burns R. What is Self-concept (part 1-3)

[2] Burns R. What is Self-concept (part 1, pp. 1-2)

[3] Burns R. What is Self-concept (part 1, pp. 2-5)

[4] V.I. Dobrenkov, A.I. Kravchenko. History of foreign sociology. The “mirror self” theory. - www. PolBu.Ru. Library "Self-Self"

[5] Shustova I. Yu. Development of analysis skills among high school students. - Class teacher, No. 2, 2006.

[6] Shustova I. Yu. Development of analysis skills among high school students. - Class teacher, No. 2, 2006.

[7]
1. Argyle M. Psychology of happiness. M.: Progress, 1990.

Factors influencing self-concept

All researchers note the complexity and ambiguity of the formation and development of the image of “I”. The image of “I” is a systemic, multi-component and multi-level formation of the human psyche. All components of this system have countless degrees of freedom, which complicates the possibility of a scientific approach in diagnosing and predicting the formation of the “I” image. Apparently, the points of personal growth and development along the path of self-realization coincide with such human realities as selfhood, self-actualization, the ideal “I” and a person’s desire to find a harmonious correspondence of these realities in his image of “I”.

Gergen (1971) notes the following factors related to the evaluations of others that influence an individual's self-image:

1. Consistency between external assessment and self-concept.
2. The significance of the ideas that the assessment addresses.
3. Trust in the expert. The greater the credibility of the expert making the assessment, the greater his influence (Bergin, 1962).
4. Number of repetitions. The greater the number of repetitions of a given assessment, the greater the likelihood of its acceptance.
5. Modality of assessment. Acceptance or ignoring of external evaluation depends on whether it is positive or negative.

Based on this, external assessment will pose a threat to the self-concept in cases where:

• the assessment does not coincide with the individual’s ideas about himself and is negative;
• the assessment affects functionally significant concepts that the individual uses for self-determination;
• the expert making the assessment enjoys significant credibility;
• the individual is systematically exposed to the same external assessment and cannot ignore it.

The reflective “I” is a kind of cognitive scheme that underlies the implicit theory of personality, in the light of which the individual structures his social perception and ideas about other people. In the psychological orderliness of the subject’s idea of ​​himself and his dispositions, the leading role is played by higher dispositional formations—the system of value orientations in particular.

G. E. Zalessky identifies the following stages in the formation of personal meanings:

1. meaning acts as a standard for assessing the situation, choosing a system of orientation tools;
2. the activity of goal setting, choice of goals, motives is carried out, the personal significance of the choice begins to be realized to a greater extent;
3. the various “components” of the “I” begin to function as one mechanism, a system is formed. The choice of motives is carried out through beliefs and worldview (L. I. Bozhovich);
4. the meaning goes to the “post-conscious level” (A. N. Leontiev), acts as an installation. Note that meaning cannot be highlighted without action - meaning, action and motive are formed simultaneously. Motive influences the selection of goals. Self-esteem determines the process of finding means to achieve them[12].

What role does self-concept play in a person’s life?

The self-concept is very important for the development of personality and plays a special role in a person’s life. The importance of the role of this concept is, for the most part, determined by its main functions:

1. The self-concept helps to achieve internal consistency within the personality. Environmental influences are compared to a person's concept of self-image. If these influences do not correspond to this concept, then they are repressed by consciousness. Psychological defense mechanisms thus protect the integrity of the inner “I”.
2. This concept is nothing more than a source of a person’s attitudes and expectations. Self-concept influences the determination of individual expectations, such as the level of self-esteem and the nature of behavior.
3. The self-concept reveals the nature of the formation and development of a person’s life experience.

The concept of a person’s self-knowledge is also characterized by constant internal changes. The self-concept cannot be formed once and for all; it is a permanent state of the individual.

Throughout life, as life experience changes, the self-concept of an individual is capable of changing its adequacy and maturity. Thus, this concept is a fundamental factor in shaping human behavior, and also has a great influence on his mental state and worldview.

Self-concept is an integral part of the process of self-discovery. It will become much easier for a person to function in the environment, achieve success and develop in the right direction if he begins to understand the components of his personality, its characteristics and the functions of the self-concept itself.

The development of each personality depends on itself. Knowing the characteristics of your mental state, you can not only achieve certain successes in the development of your personality, but also influence the development of others.

In this video you will learn about the characteristics of temperament in the self-concept:

Notes

1. Large psychological dictionary / Comp. Meshcheryakov B., Zinchenko V. - Olma-press, 2004..
2. The concept of self-concept.
3. One of the definitions given by the English psychologist Robert Burns.
4. Kon, Igor Semyonovich. In search of myself. Personality and its self-awareness. - Politizdat, 1984. - P. 7.
5. Burns, Robert B.
   Self-concept and education. - M., 1989. - P. 169.
6. ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 Burns R.B.
   What is self-concept //
   Burns R.B.
   Development of self-concept and education: trans. from English - M.: Progress, 1986. - P. 30-66.
7. Rotenberg, Vadim Semyonovich. “Self-image” and behavior. - Jerusalem: Manachim, 2000.
8. Sokolova, Elena Teodorovna. Self-awareness and self-esteem in personality anomalies. - Moscow University, 1989. - ISBN 5-211-00231-8.
9. World of Psychology - Self-Concept
10. ↑ 12
    Craig G. Development of self-concept.
11. “I” concepts and character.
12. Zalessky, Georgy Evgenievich; Redkina E. B. Psychodiagnostics of personal beliefs and orientations. - Moscow State University, 1996.