The Self: Who I Am Who I am defined the actual me, not just what an individual sees on the outside, but he or she sees the depths that make me who I really am. People believe that it is a person’s career, financial status, or his position within a company, or the standing that he or she has in the community that makes the person who he or she is. The truth is these are just a few of the aspects about who the person is. An individual is a mixture of emotions, character, hurts, pains, relationships, culture, family, environment, finances, education, growth potential, and much more. This paper will define the concept of self by explaining how an individual develops a self concept by explaining the relationship between the self and emotions. How the relationship affects an individual’s self esteem, and offers an explanation of the relationship between the self and behavior and how this relationship affects the individual’s self presentation. Define Self The self is: Fiske (2010) offers two definitions the conceptual definition, and the operational definition. The conceptual definition addresses the interpersonal self and the person’s collection of roles: student, swimmer (athlete), daughter, sister, friend, and psychology major (p. 179). A person’s true identity is not what he or she does but rather the identity of an individual is who he or she really is and how he or she fits into the community, society, and his or her place in the culture. A name does not make the person, but his or her characteristics give lead way to the truth of an individual. The operational definition explains how social psychologists measure the self (Fiske, 2010, pg. 179). This is achieved by looking at an individual’s
References: Fiske, S.T. (2010) Social beings: Core motives in social psychology (2nd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons Valencia, C., (2010) Developing a positive self image. Retrieved October 2, 2011 from: Http://www.selfesteemawareness.com/developing-positive-self-imaage.htm.