Self-concept and gender

Pages: 1036-1039
Archana Mishra, Deepa Punetha, and Supriya Dwivedi (Department of Psychology, University of Allahabad, Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh)

The present research attempts to study self-concept as a function of gender. Throughout the years, the construct of self-concept has played a significant role in understanding human development and behavior. The awareness of self comes through the gradual process of adaptation to the environment (Piaget, 1969). Physical changes, skill developments, skill evaluations and multiple role expectations are the main source for the development and evaluation of self. Thus age and gender of a person is considered to be very important factor in self-concept. Therefore this study attempts to understand the function of gender on the self-concept. The data is collected on 140 participants (74 males & 68 females) the independent variable was gender, males and females. The dependent variable was self-concept, measured in terms of five categories (social identity, ideological beliefs, interests, ambitions, & self-evaluations) and the number of subs- categories (e.g., self- identity, group identity, gender role). Participants were requested to write twenty statements that describe themselves responding to the question “Who I am?” in a free format. Findings of this study show that there is a difference in self-evaluations of both genders; male participants have made more statements related to their self-evaluation than female participants.