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Self Image
Self image is who we think we are. It is our self concept. The self image is the collection of traits that we recognize in the ego and our designs. We can recognize ourselves as patient, bold, handsome, funny, talented, or successful.
Your self-image is developed by how you assess the following factors in your person hood:
*Physical appearance.
*Shape of your body.
*Accomplishments. in academics.
*Achievement in athletics.
*Social skills.
*Value system.
*Skills, abilities and competencies.
* Relationship with family, relatives, siblings, peer group, and others.
*Behavior in social and professional situations.
*Background and environment from which you came.
*Roles played in life at school, home, work and in the community.
*Jobs and job titles held.
*Goals, ambitions and aspirations for the future.
*Develop expectations for how you are to act and react.
o If you act and react according to the expectations, then you develop high self-concept.
o If you act and react differently from the expectations, you see yourself in a negative light, resulting in a poor self-concept.
*Develop self-talk by which you continuously reinforce your self-image.
o Positive self-talk yields self-affirming behaviors.
o Negative self-talk yields self-defeating behavior.
*Set goals for yourself.
o If self-image is too high or unrealistic, you set goals that are often unreachable or too perfectionist. You continue to fall short of the mark.
o If self-image is too low and unrealistic, you set goals that are too easily reached, never attaining overall satisfaction.
o If self-image is realistic, you can set attainable goals leading to overall satisfaction.
It is important, too, to make clear that the self-image also depends on how others see and assess us. We should perhaps add to the notion of the self-image the feeling of competence that is the cognitive construction corresponding to the opinion that each of us is subject to on the cognitive, social, and physical levels, and the relational feeling of self-esteem.
Negative self image
The formation of a healthy self image can be challenging for an individual, especially when family, peers, community, or the general society issues very negative evaluations of a person that happen to be inaccurate. The consequences can be severe for the individual, who may learn self-hatred. They can also be severe for the society.
Poor self image may be the result of accumulated invalid criticisms that the person collected as a child which have led to damaging his own view of himself. Children in particular are vulnerable to accepting false negative judgments from authority figures because they have yet to develop competency in evaluating such reports.
The correction of an inaccurate self image can be aided by reality testing. However, when social forces directed against the individual have been strongly manipulative, it may be very helpful for the individual to secure professional help in rectifying matters. Such rectification is most often directed at the individual, but corrective efforts could also be applied to members of the general community and/or social institutions that have manipulated individuals in a detrimental way. You can get help from your friend, colleague, relative or a person who is very close to you.
~Irma Khan
Self image is very important for me. There is a very thin line between having a good self image and narcissism. I do feel that self image is also tied up with our conscious.