Chapter 7 Self-Concept and Communication Person to Person Self-Concept and Communication Person to Person

What is self-concept?  Self-concept is your picture of yourself, based on your own perceptions and experiences and on the reactions of others.

 Self-concept is difficult to change once it is formed unless you work hard to change it.

Self-concept is built on  Information from ourselves  Information from others  Information from ourselves  Information from others

 To explore your perceptions of yourself, you have to get down to “Who are you?”  To explore your perceptions of yourself, you have to get down to “Who are you?”

 And, to better understand the factors that make up you, you need to know the needs all people have.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs  Developed by psychologist Abraham Maslow  Shows people have to satisfy very basic needs before they can satisfy higher needs  Developed by psychologist Abraham Maslow  Shows people have to satisfy very basic needs before they can satisfy higher needs

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs  Is often depicted as a pyramid.  Shows that needs start with obvious things (ex. food and shelter), then move to higher needs (ex. relationships and fulfillment)  Is often depicted as a pyramid.  Shows that needs start with obvious things (ex. food and shelter), then move to higher needs (ex. relationships and fulfillment)

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs The following slide shows a typical representation of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. The following slide shows a typical representation of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.

Remember To be a fully satisfied person, all needs should be met, but you can’t meet the higher level needs until the more basic ones have been met.

 Now is the time to think about your communication style.

How would you describe your communication skills  with your family and friends?

How would you describe your communication skills  with your family and friends?  on a job application?  with your family and friends?  on a job application?

How would you describe your communication skills  with your family and friends?  on a job application?  to a teacher, counselor or school administrator?  with your family and friends?  on a job application?  to a teacher, counselor or school administrator?

 How does your national, racial or religious background affect your communication?

 Very often, people find “parts” of themselves are more important  in different situations  at different times  with different people  Very often, people find “parts” of themselves are more important  in different situations  at different times  with different people

 Some of the information you have about yourself comes from the way you talk to yourself.

 Intrapersonal communication is self-talk or internal dialogue.

 Every time you talk to yourself, you are putting meanings on things based on your past experiences.

 Part of your self-concept is based on words you use to describe yourself.

 If you think of yourself with a label, you will probably act in a way that communicates that image about yourself.

Sources of Behavior  The way you communicate to other people is through your behavior, which supposedly reflects your values, beliefs, attitudes and feelings.

Sources of Behavior  Values refer to your relatively permanent ideas of what is good or bad, worthless or worthwhile.

Sources of Behavior  You place values on such things as  principles  objects  experiences  people  You place values on such things as  principles  objects  experiences  people

Sources of Behavior  Beliefs refer to what you think is true.

Sources of Behavior  Beliefs may not be based on total logic but may be  what you wish to believe  what you are taught to believe  what you think ought to be true.  Beliefs may not be based on total logic but may be  what you wish to believe  what you are taught to believe  what you think ought to be true.

Sources of Behavior  Attitudes refer to more specific applications of values.

Sources of Behavior  Attitudes depend on your values and are demonstrated by your tendency to respond in a particular way.

Sources of Behavior  Feelings refer to your emotional responses to things such as  events  people  places  Feelings refer to your emotional responses to things such as  events  people  places

 A receiver can learn about a sender only through the sender’s verbal and nonverbal behavior.

 You have to express your feelings or discuss the attitude for another person to know it exists; thus, behavior is the key.

What a receiver “sees” as he or she tries to understand you.  feeling  attitude (values and beliefs)  behavior  feeling  attitude (values and beliefs)  behavior

 Part of the self-concept you use in your communication experiences depends on how you think others see you.

 There are sides of each person that become more or less important in different situations.

 Very often other people have a great influence on how you see yourself and how you act.

 Usually people change their communication behavior in response to the situation in which they find themselves.

 The ability to adapt to change is critical to our communication effectiveness.

 As you think of yourself in different roles, you can begin to see how your communication behavior changes due to the feedback of other people.

 Individuals and groups of people can affect the way people act in certain situations.

 Information from ourselves and information from others can help you to understand yourself as a communicator.