When we make decisions about what to do, the first thing to do is usually to assess our own abilities. Self-assessment is part of the self-concept. Self-concept is an individual's view or impression of himself as a whole which includes his opinion about himself and other people's self-images of things he can achieve which are formed through experience and interpretation of his environment, covering three dimensions, namely (1) self-knowledge , (2) expectations for yourself, and (3) self-evaluation.
The self-concept is formed from self-image which is formed through the process of asking oneself,
"Who am I?"
"What is my role in life?"
"What are my values?"
"Good or bad?"
"What do I want to be?"
The answer to this question will form a self-concept which then forms an appreciation of self-value.
The process of asking ourselves is a process of getting to know ourselves. When we have found the answers to these questions, it will be easier for us to find our self-concept and develop ourselves according to our potential and self-concept.
In a person, self-concept is related to his view of:
Physical condition (such as body shape, height, weight, health and illness).
Psychic aspects (including thoughts, feelings, and attitudes)
Social aspects (including how the individual feels in the scope of his role in the environment, assessment of roles, and socialization skills)
Moral aspects (how to look at good and bad, what is permissible and not, religious values, rules or community values).
Recognizing the abilities, strengths and weaknesses.
Life goals and plans, and personal expectations.
Sexual aspects (including sexual identity, gender, sexual orientation)
Overall, the self-concept consists of:
1.Extant self: who I am at this point
2.Desired self: the self that I want
3.Presenting self: the self that I present in the environment
When a human is born, man has no self-concept because he has no knowledge of himself, there is no hope, and there is no evaluation of himself. Then, in the first year of life, humans begin to distinguish between "I" and "not I", between "mine" and those "not mine." This is where the process begins to form the self-concept. Self-concept will continue to develop throughout human life (Calhoun, 1990).
Self-concept is the result of human learning through relationships with other people. The environment has an important role in the process of self-knowledge, especially in the experience of relationships with others and how others treat themselves. From there he catches his reflection about himself, like what he is as a person. So a person's self-concept can be known based on a comparison between what he feels about himself and what other people feel about him. Therefore, presenting self (also called public self) emerges because usually people present themselves in accordance with what is considered good or accepted by their environment.
Markus and Narius revealed the relationship between extant self and desired self in adolescents. Adolescence is a period where someone has a certain idol or has an ideal picture of something that eventually forms the desired self.
There are 3 possibilities that arise if we connect extant self and desired self:
When the gap between extant self and desired self is small. This means that a person is satisfied with himself and may not want to develop himself to be better.
If the gap between extant self and desired self is large. This means that a person has a very high desire to change and may not be realistic.
If the gap between extant self and desired self is moderate. This condition is the best, because the person realizes his current state and determines reasonable goals that make him motivated to develop himself.
Calhoun (1990) divides self-concept into two, namely: positive self-concept and negative self-concept. Assessment of self-concept imagined from positive to negative. Teens who have a positive self-concept will really recognize themselves, their strengths and weaknesses, besides that they are not fixated on their weaknesses. He can acknowledge and accept these weaknesses without feeling inferior and this actually spurs him to become a better individual by developing his strengths. Meanwhile, adolescents who have a negative self-concept will only be fixated on their weaknesses and become inferior.
The degree of positivity and negativity from self-concept will affect a person's self-confidence and ultimately affect his behavior. Teens with a positive self-concept will be more confident and feel confident that they have a share in everything that happens to them. As a result, he will be more eager to try to achieve all his goals.
Negative self-concept makes adolescents tend to focus on the negative things in him, making it difficult to find positive things and deserve respect in him.
Teens who have negative self-concept easily criticize and blame themselves for feeling less beautiful or less talented. Therefore, negative self-concept tends to lead adolescents to failure. Feelings of inadequacy and images of failure will actually hinder success; so often the image of failure becomes reality, and the teenager ends up avoiding opportunities. The actual opportunity may be useful for his development.
From the description above, it is clear that self-concept has a big influence on our lives. A good self-concept can be good for us and vice versa, a bad self-concept can have a negative impact on us.
To develop a healthy and positive self-concept, we should:
Learn about yourself. Be sensitive to any information, feedback, both positive and negative about ourselves, both through experience and given directly by people who are important to ourselves. Test the information and don't be quickly consumed by it because who knows the information is wrong.
Developing the ability to discover the positive elements we have and the negatives we have.
Accept and acknowledge yourself as an ordinary human being with all his strengths and weaknesses, who can succeed but also fail. Accept ourselves as we are by continuing to strive to improve, develop and perfect ourselves.
Seeing yourself as a valuable human being, who has goals and aspirations to become a quality human being and able to contribute to life. We try to be active and direct ourselves towards our goals and objectives in life. With our activities and efforts one day we will be able to achieve what we should and can achieve. Because thanks to the activities and efforts, ourselves and our abilities and potentials develop.