

Maybe you and your spouse are considering adopting. But are there times when you are not so sure about who you are? The answer is likely yes. If you are incredibly talented at football, you may go out for the team but will not likely try out for the baseball team. Some classes you cannot avoid, and so in these instances you will seek out extra help so that you are successful with the class. If you are not talented at writing, you will likely avoid writing intensive classes as a student. This view is probably clear most of the time. If asked who you are by another person, how would you describe yourself? Are you smart, resourceful, compassionate, petty, empathetic, self-serving, or optimistic? Are you good at sports or do you write poetry well? Should any singing you do be reserved for the shower? These descriptors are what make up our self-concept or the way we see ourselves. Quite possibly the fundamental question of human existence is who we are.


Self-esteem across the life span and gender and cross-cultural differences will be examined. Then we will tackle the issue of self-esteem and its two forms – global and domain specific. We will also discuss self-perception theory, possible selves, the self-reference effect, self-discrepancies, how others affect our sense of self, and cultural differences of the self. We will start by focusing on the self-concept or who we are and self-schemas. Module 3 will cover some of the ways this occurs. Human beings, by their very nature, are prone to focus on the self and to engage in behavior to protect it.
