5 Steps to a 5: AP Psychology - McGraw Hill 2021

Self-Concept and Self-Esteem
11 Motivation, Emotion, and Personality
STEP 4 Review the Knowledge You Need to Score High

Our self-concept is our overall view of our abilities, behavior, and personality or what we know about ourselves. Self-esteem is one part of our self-concept, or how we evaluate ourselves. Our self-esteem is affected by our emotions and comes to mean how worthy we think we are. The self-concept is immature in youth but broadens and becomes more complex and individualized as we get older. For example, we understand that we can be attractive physically, but that we have strengths and weaknesses in many diverse areas beyond physical and mental abilities. Parents and educators can help children increase their self-worth and raise their self-esteem by highlighting the youngsters’ strengths. Low self-esteem can lead to depression when a person thinks he or she is unable to realize his or her hopes, whereas it can lead to anxiety when a person thinks he or she is unable to do what he or she should.