UNDERSTANDING SELF, SELF- ESTEEM, AND SELF CONCEPT.
HOW TO IMPROVE SELF WORTH AND IMAGE.
BY UPCOMING PSYCHOTHERAPIST MURANGA .W. SAMUEL
0713827688

THE SELF
 Who are you?
 What make you different from everyone else?
 How do you describe yourself? How would you
described yourself when you were 15 years
old?
 What features would you have emphasized?
 What am I like as a person?

An individual developing sense of self and
uniqueness is a motivating force in life
 What are understanding self, self-esteem & self-concept.
 Types of Self-Esteem.
 How to measure one self-esteem and self concept.
 How do parent and peer relationships influences one self esteem.
 Symptoms / indicators of low Self-Esteem.
 Consequences of low Self-Esteem.
 Four ways of Increasing Self-Esteem.
 Benefits of Self-Esteem.
 Conclusion.
 Recommendations.

What is understanding self?
 Understanding self means understanding who really you are, and what makes
you unique.
The self cognitive presentation
The substance and content of the individual self
 Self understanding help to answer the question who are you? who am I? who
is me?
 Self understanding not only define and describe the attribute of self, it also
evaluate those attributes that is, self esteem and self concept

What is Self-Esteem?
 Self esteem also referred to as self worth or self image > it is the global
evaluative dimension of the self e.g. an adolescent might perceive that she
is not a mere person but, a good, beautiful person and of course not all
individual have an overall positive image of themselves .
 Self esteem is how we value /what value we put on ourselves and how we
perceive ourself. Opinions and beliefs we have about ourselves.
 Your self esteem can affect whether you: like and value yourself as a person
or not
 sth. Self esteem encompasses beliefs about oneself as well as emotional
status i.e. triumph, despair, pride, shame.

Types of self esteem.
 Self esteem it can be influenced by attitude about yourself your confidence, your
identity, your sense of belonging and feeling confident in your abilities.
Self-esteem can be high, low or somewhere in between
1. Your self-confidence
Self-confidence is all about your sense of security you have in yourself and in your life.
Having your needs met means you have things like a place to live, physical health, and
stable finances.
2. Your identity
Your sense of identity it is the knowledge you have about yourself. This can include your
confidence in your body, your gender, your sexuality, your job, your beliefs, your culture,
or anything else about yourself. It’s helpful to be confident in these things because they
can help you understand what you need and what you want in life.

3. Feeling like you belong
Belonging is all about feeling welcome and an active part of where we
actually are in life, whether that’s in your school, your workplace, your family, or
the other groups you’re a part of. Sometimes, if you don’t feel belonging in one
group you’re in, like your workplace, you can find your sense of belonging in
another group, like your family or friends.
4. Feeling confident in your abilities
It’s important to feel confident in your abilities so that you can control what
happens to you in life. If you’re confident in what you can do, you can handle big
challenges and make the changes you need to make to respond to them. However,
being confident in your abilities isn’t just about succeeding.

Low self esteem
Having low self-esteem might mean you aren’t
confident in your abilities, your personality, or the
value you bring to others in your life. Low self esteem
might be caused by:
• not feeling a sense of security in life
• doubts about your gender, sexuality, or body
• feeling like you don't belong with your family,
friends, or colleagues.

Good self esteem
Having good self-esteem means you have positive beliefs about
your abilities and your place in the world. It can be caused by:
• Being confident in your ability to create change and withstand
challenges in your life
• A sense of confidence and pride in your identity
• Feeling like you belong in your family, school, or group of friends

What is self concept
 Self concept refer to the domain specific evaluation of self.
 Making self evaluation in domains such as academic, athletics, physical
appearance etc.
1. Physical appearance,
2. Scholastic competence,
3. Social acceptance,
4. Behavioral conduct,
5. Athletic competence,
6. Close friendship,
7. Romantic appeal and
8. Job competence

How to measure one self esteem and
self concept.
 The following are some of the ways one can measure self esteem and self
concept:
1. By assessing the eight domains-specific of self. Using the Self Perception
Profile for adolescents by Susan Harter 1989]
The eight domains are; physical appearance, scholastic competence, social
acceptance, behavioral conduct, athletic competence, close friendship,
romantic appeal and job competence.
Are some domains more closely linked to self esteem than the other?
What is your powerful contributor to your self esteem?
In Harter’s research ,for example ,global self esteem was correlated most strongly
with physical appearance was .65 and .62. in USA and other countries like japan
Germany Canada Ireland etc
In another study adolescents’ concept of their physical attractiveness was the
strongly predictor of their overall self esteem [lord &Eccles,1994]

2. By using behavioral indicators of self
esteem
Positive indicators
 Gives others directives or commands
 Use voice quality appropriate for situation
 Expresses opinions
 Sits with others during social activities
 Work cooperatively in a group
 Faces others when speaking or being spoken
to
 Maintains eye contacts during conversations
 Initiate friendly contacts with others
 Maintain comfortable space between self and
others
 Has little hesitation in speech ,speaks
fluently
 Negative indicators
 Puts down others by teasing, name calling or
gossiping
 Uses gestures that are dramatic or out of
context
 Gives excuses for failure
 Brags excessively about achievement skills
appearance
 Verbally puts self down; self depreciation
 Engaging in inappropriate touching or avoids
physical contact
 Speaks too loudly, abruptly or in a dogmatic
tone
 Constantly comparing yourself with others

How do parent, peer and school
relationships influences one self esteem?
 One research study found that family cohesiveness increased adolescent's self esteem over time. This family cohesiveness was based on:
1. The amount of time the family spent together,
2. The quality of coParents, peer and school contribute to development of one self esteem.
mmunication and
3. The extent the adolescent was involved in family decision making.
Other parent-child relationship factors that are closely related to increased adolescent's self esteem include:
1. Parental approval
2. Care and concern
3. Harmony in the family
4. Clear and fair rules in the family
5. Ability to express affection
6. Availability to/for help in times of need etc.
 Peer approval and support from general peer group are strongly related to adolescents increased self esteem.
 Teachers comments to the pupil e.g.

Symptoms / indicators of low Self-
Esteem.
 Poor confidence
 Feeling having little or no control over your life
 Negative social comparison: comparing your self to people who they think are
better than yourself. Social media comparison
 Problem asking for what you need.
 Worry after making any decision and self doubt of their opinion, what they
think
 Constant negative self talks, focusing on flaws rather than strength
 Fear of failure hence avoid challenges, give up easily
 Try to please others :people pleasing :focus on external validation

Consequences of low Self-Esteem
 Low self esteem has been linked to mental health issues such as anxiety,
bulimia nervosa , panic disorder, social phobia stress etc.
 Difficulty achieving your goals and forming health relationships.
 May lead to be sensitive to criticism or rejection.
 Makes someone to take things personally instead of shaking off negative
feedback.
 Research has shown that people with low self esteem often engage in
behaviors that are design to help preserve their limited self worth ie acting
sad and sulking=silent, morose

Four ways of Increasing Self-Esteem
1) Identify the cause of low self esteem and the domain of competence
important to self.
2) Face problems realistically honestly and nondefensively and try to cope
with than to avoid. This produces favorably self evaluative thoughts which
leads to self generated approval that raises self esteem. Unlike denial,
deception and avoidance which produces self degenerating thoughts hence
low self esteem.
3) Learn real skills that results to achievement. Foster your achievements.
Know what task are important for achieving goals and have an experience in
performing them. self efficacy is individual beliefs that they can master
situations and produce positive outcome by ALBERT BANDURA.
4) Surround yourself with a supportive squad. find people who make you feel
good.

Other ways include:
 Be nice to your self, write down things that you like about yourself. forgive,
value and accept your self. Care for your self
 Do what makes you happy, enjoy doing ,make deliberate time for that thing.
 Celebrate the small stuff, victories and achievements.
 Don’t compare yourself with others ,focus on your goals and achievements.
 Remember nobody is perfect, be the best version of yourself.
 Remember that every one makes mistakes, mistakes to learn from them.
 Be pal, be considerate for others this make you.
 Focus on what you can change.
 Exercise helps improve your moods and also as a goal to accvhieve.

Benefits of Self-Esteem.
 high self-esteem generally have more success at school and work, better
social relationships, improved mental and physical health, and less anti-
social behavior.

Conclusion
 In a conclusion, self esteem plays an important roles in variety of areas in life, which having
unhealthy self esteem can be such a serious problem hence the big term to carry home is to
FIND WAYS>
 TO GAIN CONFIDENCE IN YOURSELF
 THERAPIES
 Also self esteem plays an important role in your ability to pursue goals,develop your abilities
and develop health relationship and general felling good about your self.
 Every on in a while struggles with their confidence, low self esteem can make you susecptible
to mental health condition such as anxiety
 If you are experiencing symptoms of poor self esteem, help is available ,consider to take a
step to seek for professional help or learn more about self concept self understanding and
self esteem. A therapist can help you change the thoughts patterns that contribute to
your self esteem.


1. RECOMMEDATIONS to the:
parents, peers, and to the individual
1. Since self concept develops from childhood parents should be trained about parenting styles that
will improve self esteem of child for example the parent should promote child autonomous by
supporting child activities that will promote independence of the child
2. Parents should be role models to their children that is parents should have high self esteem so that
their children can emulate them.
3. Parents should be very keen to identify their child potential so as to promote recognize abilities at
an early age and support the child early.
4. Parents should not discriminate children on bases of their physical appearance as this can have a
negative impact to their self esteem and affect social interactions.
To the peers
give positive feedback and approval to your friends
To the individual.
Should seek therapeutic interventions.
Surrounds yourself with supportive squad

The End.
Any Questions or Comments
THANKYOU VERY MUCH