On This Page:ToggleDefinitionSelf-Image vs. Self-ConceptImplicationsImproving Self-ImageExamples
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Key Takeaways
While self-image is how we see and evaluate ourselves. In contrast, self-concept is a broader idea that includes our beliefs, expectations, and knowledge about ourselves.
Definition & Characteristics
Suzaan Oltman, for example, says that the three elements of self-image are (Oltman, 2014):
The Physical Dimension: how someone evaluates their appearance.The Psychological Dimension: how someone evaluates their personality.The Intellectual Dimension: how someone evaluates their intelligence.The Skills Dimension: how someone evaluates their social and technical skills.The Moral Dimension: how someone evaluates their values and principles.The Sexual Dimension: how someone feels they fit into society’s masculine and/or feminine norms.
Influences
Self-image is the product of thought patterns developed through the social influences of those around someone from childhood on.
Self-image is a product of learning. Early childhood influences, as well as one’s experiences with others on the individual and societal scales, can influence one’s image of themselves.
How someone relates to their peers can often influence self-image. For example, a child who was bullied in school due to an unusual physical trait may develop a self-image of unattractiveness that carries with them into adulthood.
Nonetheless, self-image can be altered and improved through techniques such as non-judgemental thinking, meditation, and taking steps to cultivate unconditional positive regard for others.
Self-Image vs. Self-Concept
Self-image has been defined as the total subjective perception of oneself, including an image of one’s body and impressions of one’s personality, capabilities, and others.
This definition equates self-image with self-concept. Meanwhile, other psychologists have said that one’s self-image is one’s mental picture, one’s physical appearance, and the intersection between one’s experiences, desires, and feelings (Bailey, 2003).
Bailey (2003) has argued that the difference between self-image and self-concept lies in how self-image pertains to the (measurable) concrete things that one does, how one appears, and the material things that one has.
These measurable characteristics of a person can include:
Self-image can also factor in the things that someone does that can be measured, such as achievements at work and in sports (Bailey, 2003).
Theself-conceptis a more overarching concept than self image: it involves how you see yourself, how you think about yourself, and how you feel about yourself. Self-image is just one component of several that make up self-concept.
Meanwhile, self-concepts are qualities present in oneself and can be assessed through estimates rather than measurement.
These qualities can concern what one does — such as often using compassion and consideration — as well as non-measurable aspects of how one appears, such as how attractive one thinks they are.
Similarly, a delinquent teenager may take the position of their peer group that being academic is not “cool.”
The ideal self is an idea deriving fromCarl Rogers’s humanistic psychology. Rogers proposed that the personality is composed of the real and ideal self.
While the real self is the person that someone believes they actually are, the ideal self is an idealized self-image created out of what they have learned from their life experiences, the demands of society, and what they admire in their role models.
Self-image can often exist in relation to one’s ideal self. Usually, there is an incongruence between one’s real and ideal selves and one’s self-image.
Implications of (in)congruence and between self-image and ideal-self
Someone who believes that they are far from their ideal self may, in turn, develop a low self-image. Conversely, the closer our self-image and ideal self are to each other, the more consistent or congruent we are and the higher our sense of self-worth.
Someone is said to be incongruent if they see some of their experience as unacceptable to them and are denied or distorted in their self-image.
As a result, psychologists have theorized the discrepancy between the real and ideal self as a motivating force for entering psychotherapy. Rogers (1980) calls this gap between the real and ideal self incongruence and believes this can lead to maladjustment.
According to Schmitt (1980), people who are accepted and prized tend to develop a more caring attitude toward themselves.
Improving Self-Image
In doing this, the person doing the conversion can build self-confidence in one area that is important to them.
Having a positive self-image involves having a good view of oneself. For example, someone who has a positive self-image may:
Meanwhile, someone who has a negative self-image may:
Self-image is changeable and can be built up. Numerous researchers have conducted studies on how groups of people such as students, musicians, and people with disabilities can improve their self-image.
These studies have used methods such as:
Researchers have also proposed methods through which others can improve the self-image of those they interact with. These include (Campbell, 1981):
Examples
Body Dysmorphic Disorder
When self-image is greatly detached from reality, serious emotional and psychological problems can result. One such example of this is Body Dysmorphic Disorder.
As a result, those with Body Dysmorphic Disorder may engage in the following:
Body Dysmorphic Disorder is a result of an incongruency between one’s self-image — how they believe they look — and their real self.
As numerous researchers have shown, those who have Body Dysmorphic Disorder develop drastically reduced self-esteem as a result (Phillips, Pinto, & Jain, 2004).
Negative Self-Image In Therapy
The thought patterns behind negative self-image are characteristic of several mental health disorders, such as depression (Patton, 1991). Researchers such as Stinkens, Lietaer, and Leijssen (2012) have discussed how self-image impacts the relationships between patients and their therapists.
The researchers warn that clients with a negative self-image often decline to discuss topics in therapy. Often, those with negative self-image take one of two views: that they cannot solve their problems themselves or that their therapist cannot contribute to them solving their problems.
Oftentimes, clients with negative self-image avoid directly asking for attention and compassion due to feelings of insignificance; instead, they may profile themselves as a victim (Stinkens, Lietaer, & Leijssen, 2012).
These conflicting and indirect interactions often push therapists to suggest impossible solutions, further confirming the client’s dependence and strengthening their conviction that they cannot deal with their problems.
To break through these habitual patterns with clients who have a negative self-image, Stinkens, Lietaer, and Leijssen suggest therapists must balance displaying empathy and concern with attempts to gradually confront clients with the conflicts in their communication, guiding them toward directly asking for attention, and affirming their desire for love and affirmation and their inability to receive these (Stinkens, Lietaer, & Leijssen; 2012).
Bailey 2nd, J. A. (2003).Self-image, self-concept, and self-identity revisited.Journal of the National Medical Association, 95(5), 383.Campbell, L. P. (1981). Every student a success: Improving self-image to increase learning potential.NASSP Bulletin, 65(441), 76-78.Hutcherson, C. A., Seppala, E. M., & Gross, J. J. (2008). Loving-kindness meditation increases social connectedness.Emotion, 8(5), 720.Oltman, S. (2014). Investigation on self-image in young people. Cumbria.Patton, W. (1991). Relationship between self-image and depression in adolescents.Psychological reports, 68(3), 867-870.Phillips, K. A., Pinto, A., & Jain, S. (2004). Self-esteem in body dysmorphic disorder.Body image, 1(4), 385-390.Schmitt, J. P. (1980). Unconditional positive regard: The hidden paradox.Psychotherapy: Theory, Research & Practice, 17(3), 237.Stinckens, N., Lietaer, G., & Leijssen, M. (2013). Working with the inner critic: Therapeutic approach.Person-Centered & Experiential Psychotherapies, 12(2), 141-156.
Bailey 2nd, J. A. (2003).Self-image, self-concept, and self-identity revisited.Journal of the National Medical Association, 95(5), 383.
Campbell, L. P. (1981). Every student a success: Improving self-image to increase learning potential.NASSP Bulletin, 65(441), 76-78.
Hutcherson, C. A., Seppala, E. M., & Gross, J. J. (2008). Loving-kindness meditation increases social connectedness.Emotion, 8(5), 720.
Oltman, S. (2014). Investigation on self-image in young people. Cumbria.
Patton, W. (1991). Relationship between self-image and depression in adolescents.Psychological reports, 68(3), 867-870.
Phillips, K. A., Pinto, A., & Jain, S. (2004). Self-esteem in body dysmorphic disorder.Body image, 1(4), 385-390.
Schmitt, J. P. (1980). Unconditional positive regard: The hidden paradox.Psychotherapy: Theory, Research & Practice, 17(3), 237.
Stinckens, N., Lietaer, G., & Leijssen, M. (2013). Working with the inner critic: Therapeutic approach.Person-Centered & Experiential Psychotherapies, 12(2), 141-156.
Saul McLeod, PhD
BSc (Hons) Psychology, MRes, PhD, University of Manchester
Saul McLeod, PhD., is a qualified psychology teacher with over 18 years of experience in further and higher education. He has been published in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Clinical Psychology.
Charlotte NickersonResearch Assistant at Harvard UniversityUndergraduate at Harvard UniversityCharlotte Nickerson is a student at Harvard University obsessed with the intersection of mental health, productivity, and design.
Charlotte NickersonResearch Assistant at Harvard UniversityUndergraduate at Harvard University
Charlotte Nickerson
Research Assistant at Harvard University
Undergraduate at Harvard University
Charlotte Nickerson is a student at Harvard University obsessed with the intersection of mental health, productivity, and design.
