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2 Self, perception and communication

An exercise: “Who am I?” ■ Ask yourself this question. ■ Answer on a piece of paper. ■ Write as much as possible ■ Share with the class p/s: Is it a difficult question? Why? 3

Self-sabotage or self-fulfillment ■ “You are what you think”; thoughts are the seeds of actions. ■ The true sabotage lies within communication with oneself, in thoughts and in words ■ Intra personal communication is the communication is the communication you have with yourself about yourself and others. (Perkins, page 2-3) 4

“Who am I?” ■ We are a complex person. ■ Difficult to answer accurately or completely. ■ Our life begins and we started to learn who we are, through our interactions with the people around us. ■ Most of us has a constant image of ourselves. ■ The image of ourselves also varies with different situation. 5

Our interactions ■ How others treat us affect how we view ourselves. ■ Also we can “hide” some parts of ourselves or features to prevent rejection. 6

Intrapersonal communication ■ Communication with oneself is the basis of all other communication experiences. ■ We “create” our own “movie of life” ■ Thoughts and words are the tools of creation of our “movie of life”. ■ “Labels” about life comes from inside us. 7

Understanding self-concept ■ Our self concept or self identity is our perceived self, which consists of an organised collection of beliefs and attitudes about self. ■ Who we perceive ourselves to be is determined by our experiences and communication with others. ■ This include the roles and values we have selected for ourselves, and how we believe others see us. 8

Understanding self concept ■ Self concept consists of 2 subcomponents, closely related: 1.Self image The mental picture of self 2. Self-esteem Our feelings and attitudes towards ourselves including our evaluation of ourselves 9

Dive into your life: How clean is your lake ? 10 (Perkins, 2008, page 6 )

Self-concept as a process ■ Communication is a dynamic process and so is our self-concept. ■ Self perception and the perception of others have of us differ from time to time, from situation to situation and from person to person 11

Self-concept and communication ■ The perception we believe others have on us affect our communication. ■ Our view of ourselves influences how we communicate with others. ■ Communication and self concept are inseparable and both involve process. 12

Culture, gender and self-concept ■ Does culture and gender influence our self-concept? 13

Individual Assignment ■ Do you think you can improve your self-concept? ■ If you think so, please explain why and how. ■ If you think that you cannot improve your self-concept, please also explain why. ■ Marks : 5% ■ No of pages, not less than 3 pages excluding the front page, the table of contents, references and appendices (if any) 14

References: ■ Seiler, W. J and Beall, M. L ( 2008). Communication. Making Connections ( 7 th ed). Boston: Pearson ■ Perkins,P. S ( 2008). The Art and Science of Communication. Tools for Effective Communication in the Work Place. New Jersey: Wiley. ■ Hybels, S., and Weaver II, R. L ( 2004). Communcating Effectively ( 7 th ed). Boston: Mc Graw Hill ■ Verdeber, R. F. and Verderber, K.S ( 2005).Communicate( 11 th ed). CA: Thomson/Wadsworth 15