The Importance Of Self-Concept In The Development Of Human Relations

The self-concept is an important model in the development of human relations. It has been studied by many researchers for a long time. It is used to understand oneself, and to explain human behaviour and unique characteristics of individual.

Firstly, self-concept is highly related to intrapersonal communication interdependently. Intrapersonal communication can be defined as communication that happens within one’s self including self-talk, memory recall, visualization and imagination.Self-concept can affect intrapersonal communication, and likewise be affected by it. For example, if an individual perceives him/herself as a shy and timid person, he/she might want to adjust his/her personality by developing his/her self-concept. Using intrapersonal communication like self-talk, the individual train him/herself mentally to become more open and be able to communicate with others comfortably. Hence, the self-talk intrapersonal communication has developed a better self-concept for that individual.

Secondly, self-concept helps people better understand their relationship not only with themselves but also with others. The Johari Window is one technique that was created from the study of self-concept. This model was initially created by Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingham as a heuristic exercise. The diagram below shows simple Johari Window model used to improve self-awareness:In the Johari Window model, individual selects a number of adjectives regarding his or her own personality. Then, all the adjectives will be divided into four panes according to their attributes. All four panes represent different “self” in one individual. For example, an individual’s open self might be quiet and introverted, while his/her blind self could be calm and intelligent.

Thirdly, self-concept has a significant effect on human motivation. Motivation is defined as the reasons and factors that stimulate desire and energy in people to act or behave in a particular way. Robert Franken suggested that the self-concept is the foundation for all motivated behaviour and action. It is the self-concept that gives rise to possible selves, and it is possible selves that create the motivation for behaviour. For example, an individual in school will be motivated to work hard in achieving good grades when he/she perceives him/herself as a good performing student.Lastly, self-concept has significant effects on organizational behaviour.

Self-concept can affect organizational citizenship behaviour in an individual. Organizational citizenship behaviour or OCB is an employee’s willingness in an organization to perform tasks that are not part of his/her job responsibilities. OCBs are not required for an employee’s job performance, but are beneficial for the organization. Depends on how the employee perceives his or her role in the organization, it may greatly affects his/her OCB. For instance, an employee who identify with the role of a supportive colleague will be committed to make extra effort in fulfilling that particular role by assisting his/her co-workers in their task even though it is not his/her responsibility.