Running head: ties to adler s tasks of life

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be developed in our minds.  “It can take two forms: the “actual self” and the “ideal self’ The 

actual self is based on the perceived reality of oneself, whereas the ideal self is shaped by 

imagination of ideals and goals related to what a person believes that he or she would like to be 

or aspire to become. (p. 36)  

There are many components to the thought “who you think you are.”   

The self-concept is comprised both of the familiar, the home environment, as well as of 

the strange and the unknown. It is within this tension that humans develop a self concept: 

the secure home environment provides the base for self confidence and self actualization, 

the strange and the unknown provides a platform for fears and threats to the self system. 

(Joerchel, 2007, p. 257)   

Self-concept is forever evolving based on environment and challenges in life.   “The self concept 

is made up of various specific views about the self, called “self-conceptions” these self-

conceptions vary in their accessibility or degree of activation. Possible selves are a type of self-

conception about both what an individual hopes to become and what he or she is becoming 

(Knox et al., 1998, pp. 64-65).   

 

What do you want to be when you grow up?  This is an age-old question that almost 

every child is asked throughout childhood and into adulthood.  Often society will influence the 

answer: “I want to be a firefighter, a teacher, a doctor, or a lawyer” are common answers.  But at 

the heart of the question is the intention for really deep thinking about the answer.  What do you 

really want to be?  Who do you think you can be?   

Whereas the self can be defined as a person’s knowledge about him or herself, 

comprising the attributes that the person thinks he or she actually possesses; the ideal self 

is a representation of the attributes the person would like to have – an image of the person 

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to be ideally. The ideal self is recognized as important for at least two reasons. First, the 

ideal self is a motivator that functions as an incentive for future behavior, a self “to be 

approached or avoided.” Second, the ideal self is an evaluator of the actual self” (Zentner 

& Renaud, 2007, p. 557). 

The ideal self can be dreamed about and worked towards but others often influence it.  

Individuals create self-statements such as “I should be ______.”  “One’s convictions about what 

should be are not necessarily reality based. They are not learned from direct experience” 

(Carlson, 1985, p. 56).  Our beliefs come out through a distorted idea of an ideal self.  “The ideal 

self is shaped by imagination of ideals and goals related to what a person believes that he or she 

would like to become” (Malar et al., 2011, p. 36).  Self-ideal is also described as “the term used 

to denote the self-concept which the individual would most like to possess, upon which he places 

the highest value for himself” (DeRobertis, 2006, p. 180).   

 

The self-ideal can be a source of struggle and conflict between what a person truly thinks 

and wants as their self-ideal versus what society or family believes for their self-ideal.  

“Numerous studies have provided compelling evidence for the role of discrepancies between 

ideal and actual views of the self in accounting for emotional distress, in particular, depressive 

disorders” (Zentner & Renaud, 2007, p. 557).  

Summary 

The self is comprised of many components including self-esteem, self-concept, and self-

ideal.  The development of the self starts at an early age and is continually changing and 

evolving.  It is important to identify how you feel about yourself, how and where those feelings 

develop from, and what importance that takes into interactions with others.  Schimel, Pyszcznski, 

Arndt and Greenberg (2001) look to research from Carl Rogers about self-esteem “Rogers 

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suggested that people who experience unconditional positive regard in their relationships with 

others develop a healthy self-structure and feel satisfied and confident in their value as persons” 

(p. 35).   

 

Throughout life the question of “who am I?” occurs often.  This is the cornerstone 

question of the self-concept.  It can develop through interactions with others, the home 

environment, challenges in life, and life circumstances.  It is important to be aware of the self-

concept and how it is affecting life and also self-esteem.  The question “who am I not?” also 

come up when dealing with self-concept and trying to identify true identity.  Both of these 

questions can and will have an impact on who the individual becomes and what they do with 

their life.      

Society currently puts a lot of pressure on the self-ideal because it is usually the focus. 

Who are you going to be?  What are you going to do?  These questions start at an early age and 

can be seen when children start to interact with each other.  One child who is in dance class may 

not understand why her friend does not want to do dance and it may over time cause tension.  Or 

later in life teachers may have an ideal for a student and the student wants nothing to do with 

those hopes and dreams.  As children grow up into adulthood there may come a point where the 

self-ideal needs to be reevaluated.  Am I who I really want to be?  If not, how will I get there?  

The self-ideal can be very motivating or very damaging if not addressed.  This paper will 

continue to explore other facets of the self; including personality, strengths, and social style.    

Myers-Briggs 

What is personality?  How does one figure out what one is made of and how one operates 

in the world?  One method is to find out the four-letter code determined by the Myers-Briggs 

Type Indicator.  “The aim of type theory is to encourage people to value their type and to 

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