Theories of the self in a social world

Theories of the self in a social world What shapes your self-concept of who you are? Discuss in relation to theories of the self in a social world. The question of what actually shapes the self-concept of a person is one of the most complex topics in Psychology. The self and the development of the self-concept can be broken down in a series of explanations, which also depend on a number of characteristics such as social norms, gender roles, culture and many more. The essay will comprehend a number of explanations of how theories try to analyze the driving force or reasons behind the formation of the self-concept. According to Murphy (1947) the self is the individual known to the individual. The perceptions and attitudes one holds towards oneself is what would define the self-concept. Psychologists have proposed various explanations of what the self-concept in fact is and what forms it. Higgins (1987) put forward the self-discrepancy theory which states that the difference between the actual, ideal and ought self forms the self. The actual self is the current self we are at present, whereas the ideal self strives to achieve the goals we think of as ideal and the ought self represents the self of how others would like us to be. The aim is to make ourselves feel good about us by erasing the differences between the actual self and our ideal/ought self (Dunning and Hayes, 1996). Higgins (1998) also suggested that the ought self also acts as a prevention of what not to do, therefore not expected by others. Mertons self-fulfilling prophecy (1984) showed that others expectations can indeed change our behaviour, supporting the idea of the ought self. It is also supported by research out by Steele and Aronson (1995) who found that African-American students actually reduce effort and did not perform as well as they could have, because of less academic expectations put into them. Stainton Rogers (2003) presented a similar theory to Higgins (1987) but suggested that the self can be divided into three parts which mainly are: the personal self (an individuals own conscious of oneself), the social self (classified by the social background the individual is in) and the relation self which relates to the relationships others have with the individual. On the other hand, the explanation of possible selves by Markus and Nurius (1986) state that self consists of 2 parts: the vision of the self you dream of becoming i.e. the rich, successful etc. and the one you fear of i.e. the unemployed, the poor etc. This helps in having a specific goal to motivate us and to work towards to in order to achieve it. Lockwood and Kunda (1999) carried the idea further and found that models can inspire us to choose who we would like to be but also one should make sure that the model representing is indeed achievable. The image of a future model can also motivate us to make changes to one self e.g. quit smoking. However, Baumeister (1991) feared that not succeeding in who we want to be can have a negative effect on oneself, such as high levels of alcohol consumption. Introspection is also put forward as an explanation to learn about oneself in which one privately thinks of who they are. Nisbett and Nilson (1977) emphasized on the fact that in reality we do not know why we act in a particular way in a specific situation but after the deed, we create logical theories explaining why we acted that way. It is misleading as Wilson and Kraft (1993) found that by creating reasons for their actions changed their behaviour, to match their stated reasons. As when introspecting we do not focus on the main driving force for the actions so it is likely to mislead our predictions about our actions in future. Another distinctive theory put forward by Festinger (1954) relates the formation of the self-concept to something more complex rather than the theories explained so far. The social comparison theory proposes that in order to form ones self-concept, individuals self-evaluate their behaviour by comparing their own behaviour to either a similar or dissimilar individual or to ones own behaviour in the past, which in turn helps feeling affirmative about their own behaviour therefore reinforcing it. The temporal comparison describes the comparison of ones present condition to the past. In social comparison, on the other hand, the individual compares their behaviour to others, referred to as the reference group. People mostly compare themselves to similar people to get approval for their own behaviour and to protect and boost ones self esteem (Leary, 2001). It consists of two parts: downwards comparison and upwards comparisons (Bunk and Oldersma, 2001). Downwards comparison happens when one compares oneself to someone who is not doing as well as the individual, which as a result makes the individual feel better oneself. Upwards comparisons though occurs when the reference group is someone who is doing better, but also making the individual feel better, in a way to try and improve their own situation. However, Taylor and Lobel (1989) goes against this as they said that the individual will feel depressed and anxious if the reference group will always have someone more successful, rich, clever etc. in it. Social identification theory (Tajfel and Turner, 1979) proposing that the membership of social groups affects our behaviour and relates to who we are contradicts the social comparison theory as it states that we are mainly representing our social group of how we interact and identify ourselves rather than relating each other to individuals on a one-to-one basis. Furthermore, Tajfel et al. (1979) state that identifying oneself with a social group gives one positive self-esteem. Self-esteem also plays an important part in forming the self-concept, discussed in following research. Higgins (1987) found that people with low self-esteem often give up quickly and are more likely to be depressed if they fall short of their hopes. Also, people are more likely to be anxious if they feel they fell short of what they ought to be. Similarly, low and high self esteem can be linked to low and high self-efficiency, respectively. The self-efficiency theory (Bandura, 1989) states that it is not only determined by past interactions of what we are able to accomplish but also current interactions to the environment and people. This idea is supported by Collins (1982) as he looked at children with varying mathematical skills and either were low or high self efficient. He asked them to do a mathematical task and found that those who had a high level of self-efficiency performed better and did not give up if stuck, whereas this was less true for the children with low self-efficiency levels as they gave up quickly and were slower in solving the problem regarding their skills they h ad. Furthermore, Weinberg et al. (1979) carried out a study in which they raised or lowered participants self-efficiency beliefs by giving them fake feedback on how well they performed on competitive tasks. They found that in following physical endurance tasks, those with a higher feedback did clearly better and tried to succeed even if problems aroused, whereas in the other group participants gave up much quicker and were not so enthusiastic about succeeding. This supports the self-efficiency theory and also supporting the belief that the levels of self-efficiency we have can give us a mental image of what we are and how we will act or perform. Nevertheless, the self-perception theory (Bem, 1972) suggests that we learn about ourselves by observing how we act and that self-concept is developed through social impact behaviour. If there is no force to choose a particular behaviour and one does it with their own consent, one draws conclusions that this is what we are like and therefore the behaviour reflects us. However, Markus (1977) said that it is the reflection of past experiences, which form through the self-schema model, that are useful in processing information relevant to the self. It also proposed that information learned from the treatment of people towards us, makes us perceive specific behaviour about ourselves, e.g. being funny because people laughed wherever I go. This process is called reflected appraisal. Cooley (1902) put forward the looking glass theory suggesting for developing oneself it is crucial to get feedback from others. Also, Mead (1934) called this process the reflexive self, as one observes, reacts to and plans subsequent behaviour. An important part of how we perceive ourselves also relates to gender differences, which none of the theories above mentioned. Guimond et al. (2007) stated that gender is not only important for differentiating between genders but gender also plays an important part in determining for we respond, interact and most importantly perceive ourselves. In addition, Cross and Madson (1977) noted that one of the most basic gender differences relating to self-concept is that women are more likely to develop as being interdependent, whereas men are more likely to develop independence. However, a weakness of this model is that it does not state a specific reason to why men and women differ in self-construal. Last but not least, one could argue that behaviour vary mostly among cultures so theories or explanations for the self described so far are not taking culture into account so it cannot represent everyone. As Marsella et al. (1994) argues that despite much the psychological research into the self, it is still irrelevant to a large part of the world. G.H. Mead (1934) expressed the importance of social interaction in developing the self as he belies that social interaction does form the self-concept, however, it is not only the interaction that helps, but also the social norms, personal beliefs and cultural patterns. Moreover, research carried out by Simpsons (2000) found that 85% of people believe that it is possible to be whoever one wants to be in American culture. American culture which is an individualistic society gives more value to independence and freedom, which gives it more freedom to choose how you want to see yourself. But this is less true for a collectivist society as in Korea, people rate tradition and shared practices as being more important in contrast to developing a unique self-concept (Choi and Choi, 2002), supporting the belief of how cultural differences can affect the formation of ones self-concept. Likewise, Markus (2001) supported the idea as well, as Korean ads are more likely to feature people together rather than giving importance on a personal choice or uniqueness of oneself. Also emphasizing the differences, Boneva and Frieze (2001) found that people from individualistic culture value work and achievement more, thereby giving more importance to forming a self-identity and uniqueness, when resettling in a new country rather than being interested for relationships and family. In addition, self-esteem, which leads to the formation of ones self-concept, does also vary among different cultures. Gray-Little and Hafdahl (2000) carried out comparisons of 261 studies of more than half a million of people and found that black people had higher self-esteem scores than for people. However, high levels of self-esteem can also cause problems. Baumeister, Campbell, Krueger and Vohs (2003) emphasized on the fact that low self-esteem can lead to aggression and negativity towards others wh ereas, however high self esteem can lead to bullying, narcissism etc. (Baumeister, Campbell, Krueger and Vohs (2005). Such behaviour triggered by the levels of self-esteem can result in what we are and how we perceive ourselves, thus forming our self-concept.

Regulatory Competition Among Accounting Standards Within and Across International Boundaries

Financial statements that are simple and comparable to the general public may not be in the best interest of the managers. Managers like to manipulate ?nancial reports to suit their own interests. Financial reporting would be easy to just report whatever is in the cash till. Despite the fact that financial reporting would be simplistic, it is better to have complex account than a simple financial reporting. There is no perfect standard for any corporations in the world. An ever changing corporate world makes it harder to ascertain for the prefect standard.However, experimentation with alternatives in a competitive regulatory environment generates data to help identify with the most wanted accounting standards. No single set of standards has been shown to be the best suited for all ?rms. The argument for regulatory monopoly in accounting is often based on the assumption that in the absence of such regulation, there will be no standards. Financial reporting standards act as a template to prevent managers from taking advantage of the shareholders cost of capital and fraudulent behaviour or thoughts.Despite being a set of rules, the financial reporting standards still has its leeway from country to country. With a centrally planned accounting standards, standards setters are susceptible to lobbying pressure especially when disagreement arises between varies interest party. On the contrary, with regulatory competition, standards setters can avoid the lobbying pressure. This is because those who do not like the standard can freely choose another one that is suitable. Analysis For the first claim above, I agree that a simple financial report is favourable to the public but not so to the managers.However, this may not always hold true as it may paint a biased picture favourable towards the managers. This is mainly attributed to the manipulations of the financial report for their own interest. In addition, a financial reporting that only reports the cash in the till wou ld eliminate all the complexity of financial reporting. However, I feel that a complex financial report that depicts the true situation of a company is better than a simple financial statement that just only accounts for whatever is in the till.Having guidelines may be easier for financial reporting but it may leave out certain â€Å"hard to count† assets and liabilities which are crucial in preparing an impartial financial report for the public. Therefore, I agree with the author that a complex financial report that may arise from regulatory competition is better and more precise compared to a guided and simple financial report. Secondly, my apprehension with the experimentations of alternatives is that in reality, corporation may not have the time or resources to try out different alternatives.A failed experimentation with an alternative accounting standard may negatively affect the capital that will be invested in the company by investors. However, I do agree with the auth or that experimentation with different standards through regulatory competition will eventually lead to the perfect accounting standard for every corporation. This is due to the ever changing rules selected in accounting standards through regulatory competition. 3 No single standard setter knows the perfect standards for different industries and circumstances.Hence, I believe that in order to have the perfect standards it is for the best to leave it to the market. Like I have mentioned above, accounting rules are always carefully chosen according to different regulatory competition. Just like the laissez faire concept. Hence, with regulatory competition, the market will decide which standards are the best by allowing corporations to experiment with alternatives. Subsequently, the main argument favouring the harmonisation of accounting tandards is the fear of having no standard with competitive regulations. However, better firms can engage the best quality of audit as an attempt to c onvey their quality over to investors. 2 Firms can convey such message by paying a price premium charged by audit ?rms, which are perceived to provide services of higher quality. This further proves that even without regulations there will still be standards; in fact the reports prepared will be better quality as better audit firms are employed.The up side of using accounting standards set by standard setters is that it is prescriptive. I agree with the writer that in this case, by having prescriptive standards are actually positive as it restricts managers from exploiting the cost of capital belonging to the shareholders. In addition, not all standards that are prescriptive lack flexibility which will hinder professional judgement. An example would be the flexibility between UK GAAP, US GAAP as well as International GAAP despite all coming under the same accounting standards.Finally, I disagree with the author to a certain extend that it will lessen the lobbying pressure. I believe that having regulatory competition may provide for more lobbying opportunities as pressure to conform to authorities who are usually the big corporations or political government are futile to resist. 4 Nevertheless, I agree with the author that regulatory competition will not eliminate lobbying pressure but lessen it. With regulatory competition, accounting standards are diversified hence reducing its vulnerability to lobbyist.Critical appreciation Throughout the whole paper, the author has a strong stand on the differentiation of accounting standards by putting more weight on discussing on the advantages of regulatory competition that arises from differentiated accounting standards. Even though there are discussions on the advantages of having standards towards the end of the paper, there is not much emphasis. However, I agree with the author that his arguments for regulatory competition are not for the elimination of accounting standards.I strongly believe in the Pareto efficient solution for setting accounting standards; for every accounting standards set it will not benefit everyone but as long as it benefits the majority it will be a considerably good standard. Overall, I love this article as it opens up my mind regarding the benefits we can get by adopting regulatory competition by having different accounting standards at the same time emphasised about the consequences of just having regulatory competition.

Environmental Ethical Issues Essay

The world has over the last few years been witnessing a remarkable rise in awareness in philosophical ideologies that are geared towards the environment. A number of theories such as animal rights, eco-feminism, deep ecology, bio-centric ethics and other theories have been proposed with the main aim of providing value to the environment. Environmental philosophies have helped in exploring various causes of environmental destruction and the proposals they put across that would help to reverse the trend of destruction and restore the environment to an acceptable level. Most of the practices that these theories try to raise are geared towards grappling with the effects produced by the industrial and economic cultures that thrive in most countries. However, a variety of issues arise pertaining to the applicability of environmental ethics and whether the theoretical outcomes are attainable (Brennan and Lo, 2009). Nature has always been an important aspect of human life, this is evident with the recent surge of focus in the subject as more and more people become aware of the environment. The issue of environmental ethics came into being as a discipline in schools in the 1970’s. Philosophies during the 1960’s had the perception that the late 20th century would witness a ‘population time bomb†. Rachael Carol was one of the vocal scientists who drew much attention to the issue of an environmental crisis by detailing the impact that pesticides would have on the environment. Lynn White jr. also did a masterpiece essay that traced the roots of environmental crisis by arguing that Judeo-Christian thinking was a major contributor in the over-exploitation of nature. He argues that the thinking was that human beings were superior to nature, which is a theory that is widely discussed in theology and history. This as he argues tends to cause a kind of arrogance towards nature and this tends to be a cause environmental crisis (Brennan and Lo, 2009). Polluting or destroying the environment is behaviors that are considered as immoral and this perception proves that human beings are embracing the concept that a sustainable environment is necessary for survival. However, the process of keeping a sustainable environment may mean culling animals, destroying overpopulated species, putting out natural fires and this often leads to some issues such as the morality of the actions taken. Another issue that arises is the restoration of an environment after destruction such as when a mining company restores a land after working on it for a while which begs the question of whether there is a â€Å"difference between restoring an environment or a natural one† (Brennan and Lo, 2009). Modern day scientists have often argued that finding a distinction between â€Å"instrumental values and intrinsic values† is of great importance (Brennan and Lo, 2009). Instrumental values mean that are usable while on the other hand, intrinsic values are not reusable are an end to their survival. Fruits are considered to be of instrumental value to bats that feed on them since this makes the bats survive. The fruits on the other hand are not widely regarded as having an intrinsic value for themselves. This debate has been one of the contentious environmental ethics issues. Things considered being of intrinsic value demand protection morally with regard to those that are instrumental. Most traditional thinkers often tagged the term intrinsic value only to humans with a renowned philosopher Aristotle arguing that â€Å"nature has made all things specifically for the sake of man† which means that everything else is classified as instrumental (Keller 2010). However, with the advent of the environmental ethics, the issue of man’s moral superiority to other species in the planet is been challenged. The other borne of contention that is trying to be tackled, is the classification of intrinsic and instrumental values among various species. Modern scientists have often argued that the main essence of environmental ethics is directed towards providing moral grounds for policies that are aimed at protecting the planets environment and tackling issues of environmental degradation before they get out of hand (Keller, 2010). The fate of the outcomes that environmental ethics aims to fulfill lies in how various laws will be enacted. A considerable number of philosophers have come up with ideologies and they should be used in order to formulate laws so as to promote environmental values that are acceptable and also attainable. Everybody should be part of ensuring that the environment is being conserved so as to ensure survival of for the present and future generations. It cannot escape out attention that we are living in a nuclear age where we heavily depend on energy that produces waste which some of it is hazardous to the environment and even unrecyclable. These types of waste require careful management in getting rid off, so as to ensure that they do not pose significant threats to the environment. Although these types of waste may not have short-term effects at the present, they may be catastrophic for the future generation and thus the need to practice wise environmental ethics at the present to ensure survival and a future for the planet. References: Keller, D. R. (2010). Environmental Ethics: The Big Question. New York: John Wiley and Sons. Brennan, A. and Lo, Y. (2009). â€Å"Environmental Ethics†, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2009 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed. ), derived on August 16, 2010 http://plato. stanford. edu/archives/win2009/entries/ethics-environmental/ .

Level 3 diploma in health and social care unit 80 - 878 Words

Unit 80 Outcome 1 1.1 Understand the legislative framework for the use of medication in social care settings. 1. Identify legislation that governs the use of medication in social care settings. The Medicines Act 1968 The Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (and later amendments) The Misuse of Drugs (Safe Custody) Regulations 1973 (and later amendments) The Health and Safety at Work Act (1974), COSHH The Mental Capacity Act (2005) The Access to health records Act (1990), The Data Protection Act (1998) plus equality legislation. 1.2 Outline the legal classification system for medication. The classification of medicines are all related to the medicines act 1968, while working with medication it is good to have an understanding and working†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¢ Painkillers †¢ Antidepressants †¢ Antibiotics †¢ Antipsychotic †¢ Aspirin †¢ Diabetes Medications †¢ Beta-blockers †¢ Laxatives 2.2 List conditions for which each type of medication may be prescribed? Painkillers: Painkillers are medicines that are used to treat pain. There are a large number of painkillers available and they all come in various different brand names. They can be taken by: mouth as liquids, tablets, or capsules, by injection, or via the rectum (back passage) - for example, suppositories. Some painkillers are also available as a creams or an ointment. Antidepressants: Antidepressants are a type of medication used to treat depression or prevent it recurring. They can also be used to treat a number of other conditions, including: obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) Antidepressants are also sometimes used to treat people with long-term (chronic) pain. Antipsychotic: Antipsychotics (also known as neuroleptics or major tranquilizers) are a class of psychiatric medication primarily use to manage psychosis (including delusions, hallucinations, or disordered thought), in particular in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, and are increasingly being used in the management of non-psychotic disorders. Aspirin: Aspirin also known as acetylsalicylic acid is a salicylate drug, often used as an analgesic to relieve minor aches and pains, as an antipyretic to reduce fever, and as anShow MoreRelatedLeadership for Health and Social Care and Children65584 Words   |  263 PagesQUALIFICATION HANDBOOK Level 5 Diploma in Leadership for Health and Social Care and Children and Young People’s Services (England) (3978-51/52/53/54/55/56) December 2011 Version 2.1 (July 2011) Qualification at a glance Subject area City Guilds number Age group approved Entry requirements Assessment Fast track Level 5 Diploma in Leadership for Health and Social Care and Children and Young People’s Services (England) 3978 19+ There are no entry requirements Portfolio of Evidence, PracticalRead MoreChildcare: Education and Subject Code Essay43120 Words   |  173 PagesAscentis Level 3 Award in Supporting Teaching and Learning in Schools Subject Code: 501/1289/2 Ascentis Level 3 Certificate in Supporting Teaching and Learning Subject Code: 501/1706/3 Level 2 Certificate in Cover Supervision Subject Code: 501/1718/X Ascentis Level 3 Diploma in Specialist Support for Teaching and Learning Subject Code: 501/1719/1 Level 3 Award/Certificate/Diploma Level 3 Award in Supporting Teaching and Learning in Schools Level 3 Certificate in Supporting Teaching and LearningRead More‚Äà ºa Contemporary View on Health Care System in Bangladesh.‚Äà ¹14806 Words   |  60 PagesCHAPTER - 1 Introduction 1.0 origin and background of the report The report ‘‘A Contemporary view on Health Care System in Bangladesh’’ is the outcome of Internship Program which is a precondition for acquiring MBA Degree. 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