Self Concept Development

self concept involves...

physical characteristics, psychological characteristics, possessions, attributions, social roles, other's evaluations

Susan Harter

examined self referential language and came up with a three stage sequence for self concept development

categorial identification

4-7 years

describe self by: physical characteristics, possessions, actions they can perform, unintegrated traits, overly optimistic

(observable characteristics)

comparative assessments

8-11 years

use more psychological descriptions, more general, stable traits ("I'm an athlete), start to make comparative judgments ("I'm the fastest runner in my grade")

abstract integration

12-15 years

talk about broad personality traits, focus on values, ideologies, beliefs, recognize split-self (understand that any number of extenuating circumstances can cause one to act in ways inconsistent with self-descriptions), real-self vs. ideal-self