Who Am I? Self-Concept, Identity, and How They Change Over Time

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Who Am I? Self-Concept, Identity, and How They Change Over Time

Educational Psychology · Chapter 7: Individual Differences, Intelligence, and Inclusive LearningSection 7.4 · lesson 62 of 1009 min · free with a free account

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In this lesson

The beliefs a student holds about themselves, and what those beliefs do to achievement.

  • Distinguish global from domain-specific self-concept
  • Relate self-esteem to self-concept and to competence
  • Describe Erikson and Marcia on identity formation
  • Explain stereotype threat and how to reduce it

Transcript

Everything said in the video, section by section (1,203 words). Read along, or search it.

Individual Differences, Intelligence, and Inclusive Learning

Who Am I? Self-Concept and Identity

What a student believes about themselves is not decoration on top of learning. It is one of the strongest predictors of whether learning happens. This section is about those beliefs, and where they come from. We start with self-concept, and the useful split inside it. Then self-esteem, and why praise alone does not work. Then identity, through Erikson and through James Marcia. Then stereotype threat, which is the most practically important idea here. And finally the Pygmalion effect, which is about you rather than the student. Two of these findings are genuinely counter-intuitive. Anxious, uncommitted students often do better than settled ones. And stereotype threat hurts the students who care the most.

Self-Concept

One Self-Belief, or Many?

Self-concept is the totality of beliefs a person holds about themselves. All the perceptions, taken together. Researchers split that totality into two useful pieces. Global self-concept is a general sense of overall worth and capability. Domain-specific self-concept is narrower and more interesting. It is what you believe about your ability in one particular area. Mathematics, or athletics, or social relationships. A student can hold very different beliefs in different domains. Academic self-concept is the one educational psychology cares about. That is the belief in one's own ability to succeed academically. It has been consistently identified as a powerful predictor. A predictor of both achievement motivation and actual performance.

Self-Esteem

Liking Yourself Is a Different Measurement

Self-esteem gets used interchangeably with self-concept in everyday speech. But in research it means something narrower and more specific. It is the evaluative, or affective, component of self-perception. Put plainly, how much a person likes or values themselves. High self-esteem is generally associated with positive mental health. Also with greater persistence in the face of challenges. And with a willingness to take academic risks. So far, so encouraging. Now the complication. Research has cautioned against programs that simply inflate self-esteem. That is, programs that raise it without any corresponding competence. Genuine achievement-based confidence produces more durable positive effects. Generic praise does not. The order of operations turns out to matter.

Erikson

Identity Versus Role Confusion

Erik Erikson's theory of psychosocial development frames the next part. He describes identity formation as the central developmental task of adolescence. Not one task among many. The central one. He called the stage identity versus role confusion. During it, adolescents explore different roles, beliefs and commitments. All of that exploration is in search of a coherent sense of self. Now consider what that means for a teacher of that age group. The developmental task is happening during your lesson. It happens whether or not you planned any room for it. A student trying on an identity in your classroom is not off-task. They are doing the work their stage of development requires.

Marcia

Four Statuses on Two Questions

James Marcia extended Erikson's work with a sharper instrument. He asked two separate questions about any adolescent. First, has this person actually explored alternatives? Second, has this person committed to something? Those two questions, crossed, produce four identity statuses. Picture exploration running along the bottom, and commitment up the side. Achievement sits in the top corner, with both exploration and commitment. Foreclosure has commitment, but no exploration behind it. Moratorium has active exploration, but no commitment yet. And diffusion has neither one. Splitting one question into two is what makes this framework useful.

The Four

What Each Status Looks Like

Take the four statuses one at a time. Diffusion means no exploration and no commitment. Such a student is apathetic, with no investment in a future direction. Foreclosure means commitment without any exploration. The identity was assigned by others and simply accepted. Moratorium means active exploration, without commitment yet. That student is actively questioning, with anxiety but growing self-knowledge. Achievement means commitment that followed genuine exploration. A resolved identity: confident, autonomous, and highly motivated. And here is the result that surprises people. Moratorium and achievement students both show higher academic motivation. And higher psychological well-being, than the other two statuses. So the anxious, questioning student is doing better than the settled one.

School's Role

Exploration Needs Somewhere to Happen

If exploration is what produces the good statuses, it needs somewhere to happen. Schools play a critical role by providing structured opportunities for it. Extracurricular activities are the obvious example. So is exposure to diverse career paths. Service learning, and simple subject-matter exploration, do the same work. Teachers matter here in a specific way. Those who take an active interest in students' developing identities help. So do those who create environments where diverse identities are affirmed. Both support healthier and more rapid identity resolution. There is an additional layer for students from minoritized groups. Ethnic and racial identity development runs alongside everything else. And school climate has a measurable impact on that process.

Stereotype Threat

The Risk of Confirming the Stereotype

Stereotype threat was first described by Claude Steele and Joshua Aronson. That was in nineteen ninety-five. It is the risk of confirming a negative stereotype about your own group. Suppose a student is aware of a stereotype about their group. A stereotype suggesting that group performs poorly in some domain. Girls in mathematics, or Black students in academic testing. The awareness itself can impair performance. Nobody has to say anything for the effect to operate. It works through three mechanisms worth naming. Anxiety, which rises in exactly the situation that punishes it. Divided attention, spending working memory on monitoring the threat. And effort withdrawal, which protects the self and guarantees the low score.

Who It Hits

It Targets the Students Who Care Most

Now the detail that changes how you should read a low score. Stereotype threat effects are strongest among the most motivated students. Specifically, those most highly identified with the group in question. Read that again, because it inverts the usual intuition. The students who care most about the domain are hit hardest. A student underperforming under threat is not showing you indifference. They are showing you the cost of caring while carrying a stereotype. And there is a further problem for anyone reading the data. The effect is completely invisible on the score sheet. A suppressed score looks exactly like low ability. Nothing on the page marks it as anything else.

What Helps

Four Practices That Reduce the Threat

The good news is that several practices reduce this effect. All four are evidence-based, and all four are cheap. Affirming students' values before high-stakes testing. Presenting role models who contradict the stereotype. Emphasizing that intelligence is malleable, which is growth mindset framing. And reducing identity salience in testing situations. Consider what the first of those looks like in practice. Before a high-stakes mathematics exam, a teacher runs a brief written activity. Students identify and write about what they personally care most about. Research shows this takes roughly fifteen minutes. And it significantly reduces the performance gap associated with stereotype threat. A culture where mistakes are normalized and risk-taking is valued protects too.

Pygmalion

What a Teacher Expects, a Student Becomes

We finish with the influence you have most direct control over. Teacher expectations are among the most powerful influences on academic self-concept. The evidence is called the Pygmalion effect. It was demonstrated by Rosenthal and Jacobson. When teachers hold higher expectations for students, something measurable happens. Those students show measurable increases in academic performance. But the effect is not one-directional, and that is the uncomfortable part. Communicating low expectations can depress self-concept and achievement. And it does so even when the communication is non-verbal. You do not have to say it for a student to receive it. Which means the belief you hold privately is already teaching.

About Educational Psychology at UPI Study

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Universities that work with NCCRS

Educational Psychology carries a NCCRS credit recommendation. These universities work with NCCRS; some are UPI Study's signed partners. ACE and NCCRS have over 2,100 cooperating colleges that will consider accepting credits; the final decision is with the universities.

Thomas Edison State UniversityThomas Edison State UniversitySigned partnerUniversity of the PeopleUniversity of the PeopleSigned partnerCharter Oak State CollegeCharter Oak State CollegeSigned partnerStrayer UniversityStrayer UniversitySigned partnerColumbia Southern UniversityColumbia Southern UniversitySigned partnerIndiana TechIndiana TechSigned partnerPenn StatePenn StateWorks with NCCRSSouthern New Hampshire UniversitySouthern New Hampshire UniversityWorks with NCCRSSUNYSUNYWorks with NCCRS +many more cooperating universitiesFind my college →

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FAQ

Questions students ask us

About Who Am I? Self-Concept, Identity, and How They Change Over Time

What is the difference between global and domain-specific self-concept?
Global self-concept is a general sense of overall worth and capability, while domain-specific self-concept is what a person believes about their ability in one area, such as mathematics, athletics or social relationships. A student can hold very different beliefs across domains. Academic self-concept, the belief in one's ability to succeed academically, is a powerful predictor of achievement motivation and actual performance.
Do self-esteem programs improve student achievement?
Not when they simply inflate self-esteem without building real competence. Self-esteem, how much a person likes or values themselves, is associated with positive mental health, persistence and willingness to take academic risks. But research shows confidence grounded in genuine achievement produces more durable effects than generic praise, so building real skill comes first and lasting self-esteem tends to follow.
What are Marcia's four identity statuses?
James Marcia's four identity statuses are diffusion, foreclosure, moratorium and achievement, based on whether an adolescent has explored alternatives and whether they have committed. Diffusion has neither; foreclosure has commitment without exploration, often accepting an identity assigned by others; moratorium is active exploration without commitment yet; and achievement is commitment after genuine exploration. Moratorium and achievement are linked to higher academic motivation and well-being.
What is stereotype threat?
Stereotype threat, first described by Claude Steele and Joshua Aronson in 1995, is the risk of confirming a negative stereotype about one's own group, such as girls in mathematics. Simply being aware of the stereotype can impair performance through anxiety, divided attention and effort withdrawal. Its effects tend to be strongest among students who care most about the domain, and brief values-affirmation writing before a test can reduce them.

About the Educational Psychology course

How many college credits is Educational Psychology?
Educational Psychology (Psychology 120) carries a NCCRS credit recommendation for 3 semester credits. ACE and NCCRS have over 2,100 cooperating colleges that will consider accepting credits; the final decision is with the universities.
How much does Educational Psychology cost and what is included?
$250, paid once, with lifetime access: all 100 video lessons, a practice quiz after each, the graded work and final exam, and an official transcript when you finish. Students who want several courses choose UPI Study PRO instead.
Which universities accept UPI Study credits?
UPI Study has signed partner agreements with universities such as Thomas Edison State University, University of the People and Charter Oak State College, and works with universities such as Penn State, SNHU and SUNY. ACE and NCCRS have over 2,100 cooperating colleges that will consider accepting credits; the final decision is with the universities. Use "Find my college" on this page to check yours.
How long does Educational Psychology take?
It is self-paced with no deadlines. The 100 lessons total about 15 hours of video; most students add reading and practice time and finish in a few weeks to a few months, on their own schedule.
How are the exams done?
Quizzes and assignments are online in the course. The final exam is taken online with proctoring; a person on the UPI Study team checks assignments, usually within two days.
How do my credits reach my college?
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Ready for the full course? Earn 3 credits in Educational Psychology.

100 video lessons, a quiz after each one, and the graded work that earns the credit. Recommended for credit by NCCRS.

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