By Charlotte Nickerson, published April 28, 2022 | Fact Checked by Saul Mcleod, PhD
One's self-image is their view or concept of themself. Self-image is a fundamental aspect of someone's personality that can determine the success of relationships and a sense of general well-being. A negative self-image can be caused by self-abuse, self-defeating, or self-destructive behavior.
Suzaan Oltman, for example, says that the three elements of self-image are (Oltman, 2014):
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 psychical 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 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).
The self-concept is 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.
The assessments placed on these qualities may be significantly influenced by one's immediate environment as well as society at large.
For example, Bailey (2003) mentions how institutionalized racism in America may lead to black Americans internalizing stereotypes of inferiority presented by whites. 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 from Carl Roger'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 their self image.
That is to say, how someone imagines themself to be in an ideal life may differ from how they see themselves, which, in turn, can differ from who that person actually is and is perceived by others. While someone may believe that they
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 believed that this can lead to maladjustment.
Research studies have attempted to measure levels of real-ideal self congruence through having participants sort cards describing themselves as they would like to be and as they are. This is called the self-ideal Q sort.
Therapists have attempted to improve self-ideal congruence in their treatments by emphasizing one's positive characteristics and how they can move toward expressing more of these characteristics.
Parents can also help their children achieve a greater congruence between their real and ideal selves by giving them unconditional positive regard, or unconditional love.
According to Schmitt (1980), people who are accepted and prized tend to develop a more caring attitude towards themselves.
A good self-image can be built by routinely converting setbacks into accomplishments. People would typically call this "turning a lemon into lemonade."
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):
When self-image is greatly detached from reality, serious emotional and psychological problems can result. One such example of this is Body Dysmorphic Disorder.
Body Dysmorphic Disorder is a body-image disorder characterized by persistent and intrusive preoccupation with an imagined or slight defect in one's appearance.
As a result, those with Body Dysmorphic Disorder may engage in:
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).
The thought patterns behind negative self-image are characteristic to 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 heir 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 solutions that are impossible, further confirming the client's dependence and strengthening their conviction that they cannot deal with their problems.
In order to break through these habitual patterns with clients who have 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).
Charlotte Nickerson is a member of the Class of 2024 at Harvard University. Coming from a research background in biology and archeology, Charlotte currently studies how digital and physical space shapes human beliefs, norms, and behaviors and how this can be used to create businesses with greater social impact.
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Nickerson, C. (2022, April 28). What is Self-Image and How Do We Improve it? Simply Psychology. www.simplypsychology.org/self-image.html
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.