Self concept is a general term used to refer to how someone think about themselves, it is the process in which you gain self awareness of physical appearances social talents, intellectuality or skills.
It is also how someone evaluate or perceive themselves.What the individual believes about him or her self, including the person’s attribute to whom and what self – concept is. (R. E. Baumeister) .Self- esteem refers to the feelings we have about ourselves including the positivity and negativity. We either have a high self- esteem or a low self -esteem. We experience the high self -esteem when we believe we’re worthy, pleasing and good and that others view us positively.
We experience the negative feelings of low self esteem when we believe or feel as if thou we are inadequate and less worthy of others. Our self -esteem is measured in many ways by aspects such as our performances, our appearances and how satisfied we are with our relationships with other people. (Tafarodi 322-342)In my personal opinion I feel that the television and magazines sometimes affects our self esteems as it makes us feel as though we are not pretty enough or skinny enough.
Social media is another aspect that affects one’s self -esteem. Depending on your followers if for example you have a lot of followers automatically it would make you feel good and boost your self-esteem where as the person with not so many followers will feel as though they are not good enough or pretty enough or interesting enough. I try to set goals for myself when it comes to self esteem because some days I feel like I have a high self esteem and other days I just feel like a complete failure.I place value in myself by embracing my mistakes, I tell myself that failure is not the end of the world as long as I learn from it. I try not to compare my life with the lives my friends live.
Whether they are ahead of me in life or not I always try to wish them well. I place value in myself by taking every opportunity that helps me grow as a person.I see myself as a reliable person, as the person who desperately tries to break free from negative circumstances and negative thoughts.
I see myself as an on going art .i constantly have to remind myself that I should have faith in myself and that I should be confident. Sometimes I feel like I am intelligent yet stupid at the same time. I see myself as my toughest critic and sometimes as my own worse enemy. Sometimes we are quick to make judgments. We sometimes do it without even realizing it for an example someone walking into a room or walking pass us dressed in designer clothing : automatically we get that thoughts in our head “oh this person must be rich look at his shoes” or when we see someone who is not dressed that well, with dirty hair we assume that this person must be struggling financially.
A friend once told me that before she knew me she thought I was just grumpy because every time she saw me walking down the street I would look serious. As she got to know me she quickly came to realize that I am quit the complete opposite of grumpy. I asked my sister to describe me in one sentence and she described me as annoying, nosy and bubbly. She also said that I am kind hearted, passionate and trustworthy. The first time I met Trevor Noah was back in South Africa , I remember him laughing at something I said about South African politics , before he walked away from me he said “you are funny and smart don’t ever let that go to waste” these are just a few examples as to how people see and describe me.
Culture influences your life by demonstrating successful ways to survive within a group. It is the social forms and material traits of a racial or religious group. Culture is a complex web of information that a person learns and which guides each person’s actions, experiences and perceptions. (Cambell p38) In many parts of the world you are not allowed to refer to some as “colored” but that is my ethnicity group where I am from. Coloreds are a multiracial ethnic group in South Africa who’ve ancestry from different populations.
For example my Dad is a black Xhosa and my mom is half British. As a colored population we have values and certain believes. I am ChristianMost colored people on Easter Friday eat spicy pickled fish and nothing else for that entire day, and over a Easter weekend we do not eat anything sugary , we go to church at least 4 times over a Easter weekend. Making a letter “V” with your index finger and middle finger in the shape of a peace sign is considered very rude if the palm of your hand Is facing toward yourself.Another one is putting your hands in your pockets while someone’s is talking to you is considered as being rude. I think the way I was raised taught me a lot, my parents brought me and my sister up in a very strict way and I cant thank them enough for that.
