self and interpersonal communication

What is the concept of self in interpersonal communication

Introduction.
Self is easily define as it is our beliefs, attitudes, feelings and values. It is who we and what we stands for. Self-concept, is a relevantly stable set of perceptions and emotional states. It is the way we sees and understands ourself, and contributes to how we perceives ourself and perceives situations. Self-concept affects our perception, attitude and behavior, which can be demonstrated during the process of interpersonal communication. Aspects of our life influence their self-concept, which not only affect how people perceive them but how they perceive themselves. Such things are gender, motivational level and psychological type. It is widely known that in order to communicate with others one must first understand ourself. This is self-concept, and affects the way one communicates. In the process of communication, self-knowledge and the way our feel about ourself is revealed to others, and affects how others react to them. Consequently, the perceptions one believes others have of them affect how they receive their communication, which influences their response. subjective self awareness.
Subjective self-awareness is the ability that people have to differentiate themselves from their environment. You are a separate being apart from your surroundings. It is so basic an awareness that it may even seem not worth talking about. You know, for example, that you’re not physically attached to the chair you may be sitting in. You are a separate entity from all that is around you.
Objective Self-Awareness.
Objective self-awareness is the ability to be the object of one’s own thoughts and at- tention. You (and, based on research, some primates) have the ability to think about your own thoughts as you are thinking about them. Not only are you aware that you’re separate from your environment (subjective self-awareness), but you can also ponder the distinct thoughts you are thinking. Of course, objective self-awareness, like subjec- tive self-awareness, can be “turned on” and “turned off.” Sometimes you are aware of what you are thinking, sometimes you’re unaware of what you are thinking or on what you are focusing.
Symbolic Self-Awareness
Symbolic self-awareness
, unique to humans, is our ability not only to think about ourselves, but to use language (symbols) to represent ourselves to others. For example, you have the ability to think about how to make a good impression on others. In an effort to make a positive impression on someone, you may say, “Good evening,
Mrs. Cleaver. You look nice this evening,” rather than just saying, “Hiya.” You make conscious attempts to use symbols to influence the way you are perceived by others.
The Spiritual Self.
Your
spiritual self consists of all your internal thoughts and introspections about your values and moral standards. It is not dependent on what you own or with whom you talk; it is the essence of who you think you are, and of your feelings about yourself, apart from external evaluations. It is an amalgam of your religious beliefs and your sense of who you are in relation to other forces in the universe. Your spiritual self is the part of you that answers the question, “Why am I here?”
Interaction with Individuals.
In 1902, Charles Horton Cooley first advanced the notion that we form our self-concepts by seeing ourselves in a kind of figurative looking glass
: we learn who we are by interacting with others, much as we look into a mirror and see our reflection.
5: This is also referred to as reflected appraisal
. In other words, we develop self concepts that often match or correspond to the ways in which we believe others see us. Like
Cooley, George Herbert Mead also believed that our behaviour and our sense of who we are, are a consequence of our relationships with others.

6: Harry Stack Sullivan theorized that from birth to death, our self changes primarily because of how people respond to us.

7: The process begins at birth. Our names, one of the primary ways we identify our- selves, are given to us by someone else. During the early years of our lives, our parents are the key individuals who shape who we are. If our parents encouraged us to play the piano, we probably play now. As we become less dependent on our parents, our friends become highly influential in shaping our attitudes, beliefs, and values. Friends continue to provide feedback on how well we perform certain tasks. This, in turn, helps us shape our sense of identity as adults—we must acknowledge our talents in math, language, or art in our own minds before we can say that we are mathematicians, linguists, or artists. Fortunately, not every comment affects our sense of who we think we are or our own self-worth. We are likely to incorporate the comments of others into our self-con- cept under three conditions:
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First, we are more likely to believe another’s statement if he or she repeats some- thing we have heard several times. If one person casually tells us we have a talent for singing, we are not likely to launch a search for an agent and a recording con- tract. However, if several individuals tell us on many different occasions that we have a talent for singing, we may decide to do something about it.