# Self image, self concept, and self confidence. difference?



## hkfiesta (Nov 21, 2004)

hello

what is the difference between self image, self concept and self confidence?

its all under self esteem, but are there differientiating factors for each sub-category?


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## David Baxter PhD (Nov 21, 2004)

*self image, self concept and self confidence. difference?*

"Self Image" and "Self Concept" are pretty much the same thing: this is the way you view yourself, your image of who you are as a person, your vision of your "identity", "the self", the core of your personaility.

Self-esteem is how you value the self-concept, the "valence" attached to your self-concept: For example, low self-esteem may result from someone who has a self-image or self-concept that is largely negative ("a bad person", "a loser", "stupid", "ugly", "clumsy"), whereas high self-esteem results from a positive self-concept ("a good peson", "a winner", "intelligent", "good-looking", "popular", "graceful").

Self-confidence is related to all three of these other terms but is independent and may be different in different situations: It's basically how capable or effective or likely-to-succeed the person believes  himself or herself to be. For example, if I see myself (have a self-concept of myself) as capable and skilled and knowledgeable, I would probably feel confident at the beginning of an athletic competition or music competition or public speaking event; if I see myself as not very capable or skilled or knowledgeable, I would likely not feel very confident at all in such activities. On the other hand, I might have a lot of self-confidence in certain activities and low self-confidence in others.


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## hkfiesta (Nov 22, 2004)

*self image, self concept and self confidence. difference?*



> It's basically how capable or effective or likely-to-succeed the person believes himself or herself to be.



How great a chance can this create possible conflicts?
that is, self-confidence is so strong, that the person sets limits too high for him/herself, don't meet personal goals, and actually decrease self esteem?


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## David Baxter PhD (Nov 22, 2004)

*self image, self concept and self confidence. difference?*

That is certainly possible, although there are other variables that come into play -- for example, if uou set unrealistic goals and fail to achieve them, do you interpret that as a personal failure, bad lick, or the fault of other people? Depending on which one is operative, your self-esteem may or may not be affected.


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## mentalbrain (Oct 13, 2010)

*Re: self image, self concept and self confidence. difference?*

people use the words self image, self concept and self confidence interchangeably but it isn't correct

in my opinion, and with the definitions I've been using:

self image: these are about the images which play in your subconscious mind

self concept: this is the overall psychological make up, and has self image as a component of it. self image is not the same as self concept as such. self concept also contains things like self-ideal and self esteem

self confidence - this is your beliefs about your abilities and what you think you are capable of achieving. 

on a side note:

self esteem - this is another aspect of self-concept: it is to do with your emotions and how you feel on the inside. These feelings affect your interpretation of yourself ie how much you like or dont like yourself in all its walks and forms

hope this helps - and feel free to correct me - but once again there are slightly different definitions and interpretations of these words


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