SELF ASSESSMENT CONGRUENCE

 

Abstract

Considering the previous researches which had already been undertaken, this research was mainly focused on the congruence which transpires in-between the ideal and real self-image of both the male and female undergraduate of the university.  The ideal life and the real life of the students were taken into consideration through the use of personalized domains (Roberts, 1993). Typically, the ‘self’ is perceived as being the humanistic parameter which is used to display the true character of an individual. Regardless of that, such experiences ought to have the capacity of reflecting what a person desires to be like i.e. an ideal self-individualized image (Neisser, 1997). This shows that the closer an individual’s ideal-self and self-image is, the more consistent it is to the higher level of self-worth.

Contrary to that, a person desires to behave, feel or experience certain ways that are ultimately consistent with his or her self-image. A sample of 20 undergraduate students who attended the school were voluntarily ready to take part in the exercise.  Although the questions which were used in this research comprised of two parts, the truth is that all of them were mainly based on the adjectives which describes the ideal or real life of the participants. The congruency result obtained was for all the 20 interviewers who participated in this research. 

Result collected indicated that the male participants had a mean congruency of 54.8 while that of female participants had a congruency mean of 59.76. This then means that in case the congruency mean which was obtained was closer to 100, it means the students real and ideal self life had a relative resemblance. Moreover, the result obtained from this research indicates that there is a broad congruency between the ideal life and the real life for both the male and female students. Through the use of the Carl Rogers’ personality theory as well as other self-concepts, it is evident from this research that there is an extensive alignment between the ideal self-life and real-life of the students.

                                    Students self perception and ideal self perception

In this research, there was the need of investigating the student’s congruency which exists between their ideal lifer and real life. The reason for that is because these parameters has already been tested and validated by various researches. According to Carl Rogers, an individuals’ personality comprises of ideal and real self life. This shows that a person can be said to be in a state of incongruence if only some of the totality of his or her personal experiences are unacceptable to them ((Neisser, 1997). This is what denies or distorts one’s self image.

The self assessment values obtained shows that the humanistic approaches comprises of concepts which are typically unique to an individual. The main components of self-concept include; self worth, self-image, ideal self. This shows that the feelings regarding self worth are mainly developed by an individual during his or her childhood (Goswami, 2011). This comprises of the interaction which existed between existed between his or her parents. In most cases the ideal life of a person consists of good traits for instance intelligence, hard working, independence, and so on.  In most cases, individuals are inclined to various social media and are always concerned with the lifestyle of others hence resulting to the incongruence which exists between ideal and real self.  The main reason for that is because such sources tend to portray the life of others as being amazing while the truth is that that may not be the case (Crouch, 2004).

In connection to that, the ideal scores obtained indicate that self-worth is typically an ultimate continuum which varies from high to low. For instance, a person with relatively high self-worth is perceived as having a high level of positive feelings and confidence about his or her life. In return, the truth is that he or she has the potential of accepting or facing life challenges, acknowledging failure and unhappiness and being open to all community members(Dennis & John, 2015).

Method

Participants

The participants who voluntarily took part in this research consisted of students who mainly take weekend classes. They were 20 students in numbers in which 7 of them were males while 1 of them were female. There ages ranged from 18 to 30 years.

                                                Settings and Materials

Students were requested to go all round the school requesting other students to participate. Those who were willing to participate were given a sheet which contained 20 adjectives. The sheet consisted of a number of adjectives. Part A and B of the sheet instructed the students to select and list at least 10 adjectives which described the way they perceived themselves. The participants were the requested to hand in their results and then proceed to part B of the research. Part B of the experiment entailed ranking at least 10 adjectives. In repeating the whole exercise, the students were requested to describe themselves. Ranking entailed listing the most important ten adjectives which describes their real and ideal self.  Section A and section B of the experiment consisted of 26 adjectives. The participants were also requested to include their names on the form.

Procedure

This experiment used 20 participants. The students were given enough time to complete the task. Part A of the experiment was focused on the most important adjectives regarding how the students perceived themselves. Part B consisted of least adjectives which describes the manner in which they perceived themselves. For the values which did not appear in list A was assigned to list B. After assigning the appropriate formula, the following hold;

 (Sum of list A + sum of list B)/ (1.1) =score).

Results

The result of this experiment indicates that female had an average of 59.6 while the male had a score value of 54. 8. Conversely, when looking at the congruence level between ideal and real self, it ranges from 9.0 to 95.3. That of the males ranges from 19 to 85 while that of female ranges 10 to 96. This then shows that the lower the score the lesser the congruent relationship and vice versa. The scores handed in indicated that the students’ self and ideal self was the same. In case 5 out of 10 adjectives appeared in part A or B of the experiment, it was a true reflection of the one’s self and ideal self.

Discussion

From the result obtained above, it indicates that people always tries to portray themselves commensurate with their personal experiences. The self assessment values obtained shows that the humanistic approaches comprises of concepts which are typically unique to us (Nicholas, 2008). The main components of self-concept include; self worth, self-image, ideal self. This shows that the feelings regarding self worth are mainly developed by an individual during his or her childhood. This comprises of the interaction which existed between existed between his or her parents (Roberts, 1993).

On the other hand, self image as it is displayed is typically an important aspect of enhancing good better psychological well-being of an in individual.  This includes the influence a person has with his or her bodily image with regard to the innermost personality. On a simplex level, this shows that a person can be in the position of perceiving himself as being a good or an influential person as compared to other traits (Dennis & John, 2015). This affects the manner in which a person thinks, behaves, or feels about all that he or she could have encountered in life.

In connection to that, an ideal life is typically what a person would become in connection to his or her life encounters. This mainly comprises of ambitions and goals a person wishes to achieve in life as well as other dynamics which are forever changing (Coon & Mitterer, 2013). This indicates that the ideal life of a child cannot be the ideal life of teenagers at the age of twenty years and above. The basic needs that a person has in life consist of the positive considerations from community members and self worth. Regardless of that, the manner in which a person perceives about his or her life indicates the feelings of self worth are the basic psychological and well-being of an individual. This is what enables a person to achieve goals as well as other life ambitions which in return enhances self actualization (Dennis & John, 2015).

In connection to that, the ideal scores obtained indicate that self-worth is typically an ultimate continuum which varies from high to low. For instance, a person with relatively high self-worth is perceived as having a high level of positive feelings and confidence about his or her life (Coon & Mitterer, 2013). In return, the truth is that he or she has the potential of accepting or facing life challenges, acknowledging failure and unhappiness and being open to all community members (Williams & Ebrary, 2002). On the other hand, an individual who has low self esteem or self-worth always escapes or avoids life challenges. The reason for that is because at times life can either be painful or unhappy hence the need for seeking protection and guidance from others. Since the feeling s of worth re developed through parenting, the truth is that as a child grows his or her interactions with others negatively or positively impacts his or her feelings of self-worth (Dennis & John, 2015).

In accordance to that, it is evident that it is essential to ensure that a person has been highly regarded by others. Naturally, a person needs to feel loved, valued, treated with affection, and respected. Consequently, positive considerations concerning the manner in which individuals evaluate or judge other is perceived as being a social interaction (Williams & Ebrary, 2002). Thus, a clear distinction ought to be made between conditional positive regard and unconditional positive regard.

This is to say that unconditional positive regards for an individual is ultimately accepted for what he or she is or the kind of characters he or she display in the society at large. It should be noted that positive regard is not usually drawn in case a person makes societal mistakes of does something wrong (Nicholas, 2008). The consequence which encompasses wrong doing is that a person feels free to do what he or she desires regardless of the situation he can be in. this then indicates that a person who might have had the capacity of receiving unconditional positive considerations from the society only occurred in childhood (Nicholas, 2008).

Conditional positive considerations entail approving and praising a person. For instance, such regards involves behaving in ways that people especially the parents acknowledges as being the correct way. This shows that a person at childhood is not loved for what he or she is but on condition that he or she manages to behave in the manner which is approved by his or her parents. This is to say that, at the extreme an individual who continuously seeks approval for the society has the likelihood of experiencing conditional positive considerations not only during childhood but throughout his or her life (Coon & Mitterer, 2013).

The above explanation shows that the ideal life of a person cannot be consistent to what he or she encounters in life. The only difference which can be perceived is between personal actual experience and ideal self actualization. For example, when the ideal life of a person and actual experience remains to be similar or consistent, typically a state of resemblance exists (Dennis & John, 2015). Although it is rare to have a total state of congruence in a person, the truth is that the majority of individuals do experience a certain degree of incongruence. 

                        Incongruent                                                   Congruent

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Considering the two images, the fact is that in incongruent case, there is a little overlap thus indicating g the incongruence is typically difficulty to obtain in a person. For the incongruence case, the image has a huge overlap, thus indicating that a person can have a larger extent of self actualization (Dennis & John, 2015). Therefore, the general development of congruence in an individual is typically dependent on some unconditional positive considerations or regards. In order for a person to the in the position of achieving self-actualization, he or she ought to be in the state of congruence (Coon & Mitterer, 2013). The reason for that is because in most cases people desire to experience, feel or behave in ways that are absolutely consistent with their own self-image. This is what reflects what he or she desires to be in life i.e. ideal-self image.

Nevertheless, the closer an individual’s ideal-self and self-image is to each other, the more they become congruent, or consistent he or she is to the higher senses of self-worth. Contrary to that, a person can be perceived to be in the state incongruence in only some of the totalities of his or her life experiences are unacceptable to him or her (Wylie, 1900). Equally that is acknowledged when such experiences are distorted or denied in his or her self-image. This then indicates that incongruence is basically a discrepancy which exists between the self-image of an individual and his actual life experiences.

Lastly, as a person always prefers to see him or herself in ways which are typically consistent with their self-image, there is the need of using defense mechanisms for instance repression, denial and so on (Wylie, 1900). The effectiveness of these mechanisms is that they assist a person to feel threatened or burdened with some of the undesirable feelings. Consequently, an individual whose self-image is perceived as being incongruent with his or her ideal experiences and feelings will ultimately defend themselves because denial or the truth hurts.

                                                Appendix

List A

Mean score for female =

                                    = (58+21+11+47+5+26+11+33+41+45+55+50+14+50)/13

                                    = 35.9

Mode= 11

Mean score for male =

                                    = 50+14+50+42+11+19+37+33)/9

                                    =28.44

            List B

Mean score for female =

                                    = (45+21+10+42+5+26+11+33+55+35)/10

                                    = 28.3

Mode= none

Mean score for male =

                                    = (50+45+14+43+24+11+19+41+33)/9

                                    =34.78

Mode = none

   Score = (sum of list A + sum of list B)/1.1

            = [(58+21+11+47+5+26+11+33+41+45+55+50+14+50) + (50+14+50+42+11+19+37+33)] + [(45+21+10+42+5+26+11+33+55+35) + (50+45+14+43+24+11+19+41+33)]

            = 1333/1.1

            =1211.82

 

 

References

Neisser, U. (1997). The conceptual self in context: Culture, experience, self-understanding. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press.

Goswami, U. C. (2011). The Wiley-Blackwell handbook of childhood cognitive development. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.

Crouch, G. I. (2004). Consumer psychology of tourism, hospitality, and leisure: Volume 3. Wallingford, Oxon, UK: CABI Pub.

Roberts, R. C. (1993). Taking the word to heart: Self and other in an age of therapies. Grand Rapids, Mich: Eerdmans.

Williams, L. C., & Ebrary, Inc. (2002). Creating the congruent workplace: Challenges for people and their organizations. Westport, Conn: Quorum Books.

Wylie, R. C. (1900). The self-concept. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.

Nicholas, L. J. (2008). Introduction to psychology. Cape Town: UCT Press.

Coon, D., & Mitterer, J. O. (2013). Introduction to psychology: Gateways to mind and behavior. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Dennis C & John O. M (2015). Introduction to Psychology: Gateways to Mind and Behavior. Cengage Learning Press