Factors That Influence the Development of Individual’s Self Concept Essay

Income can influence the development of individual’s self-concept in a negative and positive way whereby people with good income with be able to live a luxurious life-style, for example will be able to afford good healthy balance diet, expensive cloths, shoes and jewellery able to afford good expensive accommodations with nice furniture, expensive cars, private hospitals, can afford their children to go to private schools which will them the advantage to good education and will be able to reach their full potential in life; can afford to go on holidays. But most importantly, possessions are not the only important thing in life, as long as one is able to maintain basic standard of living. on the other people with low income will even find it difficult to maintain the basic needs of life and this will their self-esteem especially if they are surrounding by images of people who have a lot of wealth. They will be restricted from a lot of things for example, will not be able to afford nice cloths for them and their children, will not be able to afford nice secured accommodation, not be able to access higher education and in terms of sickness they will have to be on the NHS waiting until is the time for them to be treated because they cannot afford to go to private hospitals to be treated or seen by a doctor. This is why so many people on low income are dying due to health problem because they cannot afford private hospitals so they have to wait on the NHS waiting list for a year or more meanwhile the sickness is getting worse and if they are unlock by the time the NHS get to them they would have been dead. Therefore, money in an important factor that influence the development of individual’s self-concept. Media edia means things like newspapers, television, internet, sites and music and these may influence the development of individual’s self-concept in that they positively enable us to have knowledge on what is happening around the world as well as playing a big role in the development of especially teenagers’ self-esteem and self confidence in relation to how they perceive their body image and beauty because media can alternation how to look beautiful by making them eat less to maintain their body figure, body transformations an so on thereby developing their self- esteem and confidences. On the other hand media can influences the way we think and feel about ourselves as it affect the person’s perception of body image and present them with an unrealistic view of how their bodies should look like thereby making them not to appreciate who they are, causing them always want to look like others and so begin to copy what they do and how they like as well as hoe they dress hence leading them to attempt unhealthy diet that is eating less because they do not want to gain weight as they want to be models, get stressed with money to buy designer clothes and so on and if they fail to achieve what their hearts desire, their self confidence will decline as well as having low self-esteem. Also when we watch media we tend to hate certain features of our appearance for example hate your nose and admire another person seen on media causing you to go for face transformations like plastic surgeries which may have an impact on your general health as time goes on because it may cause you to develop health issues sues as developing cancer, and also the feeling that we are not good or beautiful makes us unhappy and hence gets withdrawn. Family The family in which a person is brought up in plays an important role in influencing the development of someone’s self concept because when members of your family for example your parent love and care for you, it can make you feel good about yourself and develop a sense of belonging as well as self awareness. Also parent who praise and reward their children for what they have done contribute to the development of their self-concept because rewards and praises make them love and believe in themselves that they can also do things something which makes them have a feeling being useful people as well as developing their self confidences. On the other hand poor relationship between parents and children with in the family may make children lack confidence as well as as feel unloved and valued something which can result them in not being able to form long lasting relationships in adolescent or adulthood because of the effect that was cause during their childhood of not being loved and therefore they are passing on what they experienced during childhood making them having no love for anyone. However family members who abuse and neglect their children, this affect their self-concept because it makes them feel unloved, and insecure as well as having a feeling of not belonging in the family causing them to always feel withdrawn, and isolated leading to to develop low self-esteem and having negative image about themselves as they may see themselves as being useless, not wanted and not worth of living hence leading to suicide attempt and children who think poorly about themselves always have a hard time on finding solutions to problems. Education education is another factor that influences the way we feel about ourselves in the way that the person’s idea of how they are is strongly influenced by the experience at school and later experiences at college or university can also change what we think about ourselves. However this depends on which school we have attended, which experiences we have faced and how successful we have been because when we perform well in school and be praised for that which we have achieved, it develops a sense of confidence in ourselves as well as making us feel good about ourselves by making us feel that we are important people to the society thereby creating a positive self-image. But when we do not meet the expectations of education, we tend to develop negative attitudes about ourselves, for example we begin doubting our abilities to progress, we get discouraged, we loose confidence and self-esteem thereby making us become, withdrawn, and have a feeling of not belonging especially when with those who have achieved careers through education hence affecting our self concept. Also educational achievement is a positive influence on self-image because it increase out self-esteem as well as forming a positive self-image leaving a person with confidence feeling in our abilities and rise to challenges. It also influences us because it involves mixing with other people and we may compare our selves with them, learn theories and new ideas from them something which can help us to understand our lives. Peer pressure During adolescent stage, teenagers rely much on their friends and most of them follow what their friends do hence friends becoming a major influence on the development of the person’s self-concept because they can support their friend’s existing attitudes and values thereby making him/her feel good about his/her self and gaining confidence as well as making you feel you belong to their group as they support you. Also peer pressure can lead to the development of a positive image by encouraging you on how to dress nicely as well as helping you to choose which outfit can make you look nice because if you are smartly dressed, it can make you feel good inside and have confidence in what ever you do. Peer pressure also influence the way we behave in society by making us copy their behaviours whether they are good or bad just because we want to fit in their group and a sense of belonging and if you do not behave the way they want you, they may exclude you from a certain social group making you feel bad, unacceptable or failure and as a result you become withdrawn and isolated hence affecting our social development. Conclusion: there are different factors that can influence the development of individual’s self-concept and they can be influenced positively or negatively it all depends on the individual. When it comes to children and teenagers the parents have an important role to play in their children’s life; you as a parent suppose to set up a high standard behaviour and self-discipline because your children will be watching if you are a parent that wants to live life any how that will play a big role on your child/children’s behaviour; they will never respect you as a parent and they will start to look up to other people outside and also look for a role model that will be a big influence in their lives making you a second class citizen. It is therefore important to train yourself to live a good and valued life style so that you can be respected by your children, family and other people outside. You as an adult, and your children will feel good and proud when you are respected and at the same-time you are a role model to your children.