Residual Self Image

Residual Self Image

A person's self-image is the mental picture, generally of a kind that is quite resistant to change, that depicts not only details that are potentially available to objective investigation by others (height, weight, hair color, gender, I.Q. score, etc.), but also items that have been learned by that person about himself or herself, either from personal experiences or by internalizing the judgments of others. A simple definition of a person's self-image is their answer to this question - "What do you believe people think about you?".

Many individuals have a self- image, which is excessively high. These kinds of people have exaggerated sense of self worth and also they feel superior to others. Such feelings, which are experienced among many individuals, can lead to arrogance and self-indulgence. Therefore making the person believe that they deserve extraordinary privileges.

Self-image may consist of three types:

1. Self-image resulting from how the individual sees himself or herself.
2. Self-image resulting from how others see the individual.
3. Self-image resulting from how the individual perceives others see him or her.

These three types may or may not be an accurate representation of the person. All, some or none of them may be true.

A more technical term for self-image that is commonly used by social and cognitive psychologists is self-schema. Like any schema, self-schemas store information and influence the way we think and remember. For example, research indicates that information which refers to the self is preferentially encoded and recalled in memory tests, a phenomenon known as "Self-referential encoding".