Self-concept is the whole, not one part
Self-concept — the whole set of beliefs a person holds about themselves; the container, not one part. Two directions: Lewis (1990) — how it begins (existential then categorical self); Rogers (1959) — what it contains (self-image, self-esteem, ideal self, whose fit gives congruence). Asked to define it, candidates give one component (usually self-esteem) — like answering what is a car? with an engine. Define the whole, then the parts.
Lewis: existential vs categorical self
Lewis (1990) builds the self in two steps. a. Existential self — knowing you exist as a separate individual; the first to develop, holding no content (no name or qualities). b. Categorical self — knowing you are an object with properties, so you place yourself in categories (age, sex, skills), from about age two. The categorical self needs the existential self first. Hook: existential = that I am; categorical = what I am.
Rogers: self-image, self-esteem, ideal self
Rogers (1959) makes the self-concept three parts, easily confused. c. Self-image — how you see or describe yourself: a description, not a valuation. d. Self-esteem — how much you value or like yourself: the judgement. e. Ideal self — who you want to be: a target. The engine: self-esteem comes from the distance between self-image and ideal self — the closer they are, the higher it tends to be.
Congruence, incongruence, self-actualisation
g. Congruence — self-image and ideal self match closely: high self-esteem and growth. h. Incongruence — a large gap between them: low self-esteem and anxiety. f. Self-actualisation — achieving full potential, reachable only when congruent, since incongruence spends effort defending a disliked self-image. It is a degree, not two boxes — the same person can be congruent about school, incongruent about looks.
Drawn from real examiner reports.
Self-image written as the ideal self
The most recorded error here. Wrong: self-image is the person you would like to be — that is the ideal self. Right: self-image is how a person sees or describes themselves now. Tense test: I am… = self-image; I want to be… = ideal self; I am happy with… = self-esteem.
Self-image is confused with the ideal self (June 2023 P2 Q14).
Incongruence must contain the mismatch
Asked for incongruence, candidates hand back congruence or self-actualisation. Both score nothing. The mark needs the mismatch: a gap between self-image and ideal self — say gap or does not match explicitly. It is not self-actualisation (which incongruence blocks), not disagreement, and not simply low self-esteem (that is its consequence).
Incongruence answered as congruence or self-actualisation (June 2024 P2 Q15); the report mislabels its own Q15 heading, but the question is incongruence, confirmed from the scripts.
Congruence answered by word association
Recorded answers to a congruence question included congregate, congregation and compliance — the sound of the word, not its meaning, all scoring nothing. Compliance is a real social-influence term (publicly agreeing while privately disagreeing) with nothing to do with Rogers. Congruence is when self-image and ideal self match or overlap closely.
Congruence answered as "congregate", "congregation" and as compliance (June 2022 P2 Q14).
A calculated figure is a result
A calculated figure — a percentage or mean — is a result, not a conclusion. A result reports what the data show; a conclusion is the inference you draw from it. 65% had a large self-image to ideal-self gap is a result; incongruence appears common in this year group is a conclusion. Rewording the figure when a conclusion was asked scores nothing.
A result offered where a conclusion was asked scored zero (June 2023 P2 Q1f; June 2024 P1 Q5a).
Self-image is your OWN view, not others'
Do not add and how others see you to the definition of self-image. The self-image is the person's own view of what they are like — the internal picture they hold. How other people respond can feed into it over time, but the term itself is internal, so a definition that builds in other people's opinions has changed what the word means and can lose the mark.
Two-mark terms need the consequence too
On a two-mark item the definition earns one mark and many stop there. Add the consequence for the second. Congruence is when self-image and ideal self match earns one; …linked to high self-esteem and allowing self-actualisation earns the second. The same holds for incongruence (gap, then low self-esteem). Definition plus consequence, every time.
A 2-mark answer needs two unique points (June 2023 P2 Q22).
Self-esteem is not confidence
"Self-esteem just means confidence." Confidence is what you can do; self-esteem is how much you value yourself. Giving confidence, self-concept (the whole) or positive regard (from others, 7.1.3) scores nothing. The existential self is not philosophical: it is the early awareness that you exist as a separate individual, from the first year.
Self-esteem confused with self-concept, with confidence and with positive regard (June 2019 P2 Q16). The existential self was answered poorly (Nov 2021 P2 Q16), a small cohort.
Congruence is a degree, not a category
Congruence is a degree, not a category. The two selves overlap more or less, so it differs across areas and shifts with time — one reason it is hard to measure reliably. A high ideal self is not automatically bad: incongruence comes from a large gap, so close it from either end — build the self-image, or make the ideal self realistic — not lower ambition.
This links to the recorded confusion of congruence with self-actualisation and compliance (June 2022 P2 Q14; June 2024 P2 Q15). Top-band answers are lost for want of developed, balanced AO3 (June 2023 P1 Q22; June 2024 P1 Q26).
Match the command word
Match the command word: define/state wants one clean sentence; describe (2) wants two unique points; describe the difference needs a connective; explain is knowledge plus a scenario link; assess needs balanced AO3 and a conclusion.
Four sentence stems, then apply
Four stems identify every term: I am shy = self-image; I want to be… = ideal self; I am happy with who I am = self-esteem; those two are far apart = incongruence (close = congruence). Apply with the scenario's own detail, not the name or stem.
The 9-mark Assess: hit all three AOs
The 9-mark Assess is AO1 3 / AO2 3 / AO3 3, and the band is lost for weak AO3. Define the terms the question needs, apply the scenario's own detail, then one strength and one weakness, then a conclusion. AO3 needs AO2; write in prose.
Eight terms from two psychologists. Every one of them is a one-sentence definition worth a mark, and they are confused with one another more often than anything else in Topic 7.
Self-concept — everything a person believes about themselves. It is the whole, and the terms below are its parts.
Lewis (1990) — how the self begins
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