The 5 differences between self-concept and self-esteem

The concepts of self-esteem Y selfconcept They serve to refer to the way in which we construct an idea of ​​ourselves and how we relate to it, but the truth is that many times they can be confused with each other.

It is convenient to be clear about the differences between the two to know how we think of ourselves.

The main differences between self-esteem and self-concept

In a way, self-esteem and self-concept are theoretical constructs that help us understand how our mind works, how we see ourselves and how the opinion of others influences our idea of ​​our own identity. This means that they are not "pieces" that can be found in one place in our brain, components that are easy to recognize and isolate from the rest of the brain. mental phenomena that take place in our mind, but are useful labels within that very complex sea that is the psyche human.

However, that does not mean that it is not important to distinguish between these concepts. In fact, if we confuse them, we run the risk of not understanding many things; For example, it would lead us to believe that seeing oneself in a certain way (overweight, tall, pale, etc.) indicates that inevitably that image of one's own identity is seen as something negative or positive, just because socially there are more valued attributes than others.

Below you can see the basic points that serve to distinguish self-esteem from self-concept.

1. One is cognitive, the other is emotional

The self-concept is, basically, the set of ideas and beliefs that constitute the mental image of who we are according to ourselves. Therefore, it is a web of information that can be expressed more or less textually through affirmations about oneself: "I am moody", "I am shy", "I do not serve to speak in front of many people", etc.

Self-esteem, on the other hand, is the emotional component that is linked to self-concept, and therefore cannot be dissected into words, because it is something totally subjective.

2. One can be put into words, the other cannot

This difference between self-esteem and self-concept is derived from the previous one. Our self-concept (or, rather, part of it) can be communicated to third parties, while the same does not happen with self-esteem.

When we talk about those things about ourselves that make us feel bad (are they more or less real and exact or no), we are actually talking about our self-concept, because self-esteem cannot be reduced to words. However, our interlocutor will gather that information that we give him about self-concept and from there he will imagine the self-esteem that is associated with it. However, this task will be to actively recreate the other person's self-esteem, not to recognize it in the verbal information that arrives.

3. They appeal to different types of memory

Self-esteem is a basically emotional response to the idea we have of ourselves, which means that it is related to a memory type implicit: emotional memory. This kind of memory is especially related to two parts of the brain: the hippocampus and the amygdala.

The self-concept, however, is associated with a different type of memory: the declarative, which is more related to the hippocampus and the associative cortex areas that are distributed throughout the cerebral cortex. It is made up of a series of concepts that we have learned to associate with the idea of ​​"I", and that can contain all kinds of concepts: from joy or aggressiveness to the name of certain philosophers or the idea of ​​certain animals that we identify with U.S. Of course, certain concepts will be more related to the core of our self-concept, while others will be part of the periphery of it.

4. One has a moral component, the other does not

Self-esteem is the way we judge ourselves, and therefore it depends on the similarity that we perceive between our self-concept and the image that we have created of the "ideal self".

Therefore, while self-concept is outside of value judgments, self-esteem is based on the fundamental value judgment about what one is worth. The same: it depends on the extent to which we believe we are close to “the good”, and therefore it traces a path that will tell us if we are getting closer to or away from what we should be.

5. One is easier to change than the other

Being part of emotional memory, self-esteem can be very difficult to change, since it does not obey the criteria of logic, in the same way as phobias, which also depend on the emotional memory, make us fear stimuli and situations that, based on reason, should not give us afraid.

Self-concept, although it is related to self-esteem and therefore its changes correspond in part to those of it, it is somewhat easier to change, because it can be directly modified through cognitive restructuring: if we stop to think about the way we see ourselves It is very easy for us to detect inconsistencies and parts that fail, and to replace them with more viable beliefs and ideas when explaining who are.

For example, if we believe that we are markedly shy but later we realize that in the past we have come to be very safe and confident by giving talks in front of many people in an exhibition on a topic that we are passionate about, it is easy for us to think that our shyness is somewhat more moderate and circumstantial. However, this does not have to translate into improved self-esteem, or at least not immediately.

It may be that in future occasions we will remember that we are not so shy after all and that, therefore, we do not behave so shy, which would make others give more importance to our presence and, yes, our self-esteem could improve, seeing real changes in the real world that tell us the value we can achieve to have.

A very blurred border

Although there are differences between self-concept and self-esteem, it must be clear that both are theoretical constructs of psychology, that help to understand how we think and how we act, but they do not describe clearly distinguishable elements of reality.

In reality, both occur together; Like practically all mental processes and subjective phenomena that we experience, they are the result of a looping system of parts of the brain that work at incredible speed and that are constantly interacting with our environment by coordinating each. That means that, at least in human beings, there can be no self-concept without self-esteem, and vice versa.