Factors that influence an individual’s self-concept Essay

P3 State factors that influence an individuals self-concept M2 Outline how factors post influence the growth of an individuals self-conceptSharon is a 17 year old girl at the stage of adolescence, to add on to that shes also a bingle mother of two children. Throughtaboo her life she has had to grow up more(prenominal) than others as she has a family of her own to look after as swell as her educational life which give determine how her future will turn fall out later. In this assignment I will state as well as outline factors that can influence the schooling of Sharons self-concept. Before I continue I will be discussing self-concept, self-esteem and self-image in wrong of Sharon. Self-concept is how Sharon views herself in terms of her strengths and weaknesses self-concept is what she thinks of herself as While self-esteem is how very much Sharon values herself, in other words if Sharon had a high self-esteem she would be more ilkly to believe herself as an extremely likea ble person. Lastly, self-image is basically the overall image Sharon has of herself, what she believes her own image portrays.Read moreInfluences that affect childrens development essayAgeEspecially at the stage of adolescence, girls like Sharon tend to be extremely self-aware of their own image and how they portray themselves towards the public. This is because as Sharon gets older, shes more likely to care virtually how other people think of her. Age influences Sharons self-concept because as she gets older shell tend to behave in a certain(prenominal) way when she thinks she doesnt belong anywhere, to be able to fit into everybodys standards. As Sharon gets older, shes more likely to develop her own self-image so far peer pressure will prohibit her from doing that as she will feel more pressured into fitting in and more fearful of being rejected by the majority.AppearanceAppearance is a big influence on Sharons self-concept, as appearance also affects your self-image as well as self-esteem. During the stage of adolescence, teenagers like Sharon tend to be more critical to themselves more therefore their way of judging tends to be more harsh depending onSharons judgment of herself its more likely that she will either have higher self-esteem or lower self-esteem this is because at this stage teenagers like Sharon tend to look for out their insecurities more and are slight likely to point out their strengths since they are more focused on trying to fit inAnd these eld teenage girls care more about being physically perfect and trying climb up the social ladder that they some sequences forget about their own unique qualities and try to forge a solely whole image which fits completely into golf-clubs standards. However looking back at Sharons past, its more likely that shes to have a more negative self-concept, self-image as well as self-esteem as non only has she given birth once but twice and pregnancies can cause physical side effects such(prenomina l) as stretch tag now adding on to the stress Sharon has to face from trying to fit in she also has to face the physical side effects of giving birth which can cause her self-esteem to deflate which will overall affect her self-image.GenderGender influences Sharons self-concept because Sharon depending on how shes been brought up may act upon societys expectations towards male and female. When it conveys to females, they are expected to be more of the submissive type that tend to do the domestic tasks around the house and do jobs associate to health care more than physically strenuous jobs. Unlike males who are suspected to be more dominant, strong and more into jobs which doesnt require ablaze involvement but more of physical and intellectual involvement. When it comes to genders influences to Sharons self-concept, she will tend to stray away from doing physically strenuous activities as a girl shes not expected to be strong and fit like boys but fragile and slender because it suits societys overview on femininity. Overall adolescents like Sharon will feel more pressured in trying to fit into their gender roles.CultureCulture affects our self-concept because it could change Sharons values and views of herself depending on what kind of culture she grew up into. Culture teaches Sharon a lot about how to do things such as what kind of clothes towear, how to react in divers(prenominal) situations, and what food she should be eating in other words it encourages Sharon to have different views and improves her self-concept depending on what kind of culture we grew up into. Culture mostly influences compulsive self-concept as culture is mostly not aimed to degrade our self-image but to improve our overall views on ourselves by gaining confidence and learning how to do and view things in a certain way. For Sharon since it seems that she hasnt moved around much thus it miserlys that shes been able to fit in to her culture quite well, and may not have much diffi culty making herself accustom to other peoples culture the way they were brought up.Culture affects self-concept because self-concept involves things such as how cagy you are, and the approach to education is something thats viewed differently from culture to culture. The Asian culture might be more uptight and committed to education, in contrast to the westerly cultures less uptight but nonetheless committed approach to education. The downside of culture is that if Sharon was to find her culture and another persons culture clashing together then it could cause a negative influence towards her self-concept as this could mean that they wont have the same views or attitudes to certain things, which could cause Sharons overall performance to a disadvantage as itll make her more self-conscious and less confident in the way she has been brought up as well as feel anxious as she might not be able to get her views across easily.IncomeIncome influences Sharons self-concept because dependi ng on how much income Sharon or her mothers income might be it might change her views towards money and expenditure as well as values towards other factors such as education because education usually is the key to a better occupation which could lead to higher income. Especially when Sharons a untried private mother with most likely no high income at all, shes forced to sacrifice some of her own self-indulgences to be able to provide for her children as well as aid in monthly bills with Janet as Janet cant always provide financial security for her family.Due to Sharons watercourse situation shes more likely to have a negative self-concept, she will often find life more difficult and find less enjoyment out of trying to maintain enough income to fend for herfamily as this will reduce Sharons time for herself as well as time to hang out with her friends and family. However since Sharon not only gave birth to Aimee but Fergal, this could indicate that there are positive influences t o income when it comes to Sharons situation as this could mean Sharons willing to cope with the problems of being a single mother and try to be successful at it, meaning she must have a higher self-esteem to be able to have a high motivation.MediaMedia plays an important role in influencing Sharons self-concept, media tends to encourage adolescents such as Sharon to come up with unrealistic ideals. This could cause Sharon to go through extreme measures such as dieting to get the perfect body, as well as completely change how she behaves because she might not be portraying the feminine image girls should have. The media tends to exaggerate flaws out of people that adolescents like Sharon feel the need to change overdue to the growing feeling of insecurity about their own qualities which causes low self-esteem and self-image because of this Sharon may feel tempted to compare herself with friends and other people and be increasingly self-aware of other peoples opinions. Depending on h ow much self-esteem Sharon has towards her self-image shes more likely to change her self-concept in order to meet the unrealistic norms the media has brought out from trying to maintain consistency with the idea of perfection.EducationEducation affects Sharons self-concept because education is a gateway to Sharons overall financial outcome as well as lifestyle in the future it also gives Sharon the ability to choose. However since Sharons a single mother education would have to be postponed as her life now revolves around her two children Aimee and Fergal. Since Sharons at the age of 17 shes still in progress of acquiring her qualifications, doing her A-levels then going to University. Unfortunately her current situation will prevent her from working to the best of her ability, this may affect her self-concept asshell be less motivated to subscribe to and learn.She may also lack self-esteem because she might not be able to understand whats going on in her lessons and what needs to be done. Her teachers might undertake to discourage her from continuing the courses she does due to bad grades and overall her self-concept will change negatively. Being a mother at the age of 17 is hard to hide, in such a big environment such as school and being pregnant at such a young age can be looked down upon which could cause Sharon to get bullied at school. Bullying is a dilemma that people have always tried to prevent but it still goes on today, it could cause a lot of damage to a persons self-concept especially Sharons.EnvironmentSharons financial position may prevent her and her family to live in a peaceful environment where pollution and violence is rarely an occurrence. This will affect her self-concept as Sharon will start to compare her situation with others that may have a better lifestyle bringing her self-esteem and self-image down. With her current situation shes more likely to be living in a more polluted environment, meaning the environment shes living in wou ld be uncontained and unclean. This will be a potentially damaging environment for her childrens health thus affecting her self-concept negatively.SocialisationWhen it comes to socialisation Sharons lifestyle will affect her greatly, as shes a busy mother who would have to prioritise her children first before personal indulgences. This will affect her self-concept and self-image because she will have less time to hang out with her friends and socialise as well as even have enough time to take care of herself or go shopping. Sharons self-confidence will also decrease drastically as she compares her friends social life with hers, because Sharon already has a family while her friends are still at their adolescence stage having lots of immunity and less responsibilities to take.