Assessing and changing self-concept: guidelines from the memory system.

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Assessing and changing self-concept: guidelines from the memory system.

|Regarding the self-concept:~ What began as an apparently singular, static, lump-like entity has become a multi-dimensional, multi-faceted dynamic structure that is systematically implicated in all aspects of social information processing.

H. Markus and E. Wurf, 1987

Adding to a long-standing appreciation of the enormously influential role of the self-concept in our individual constructions of reality, the epigraph reflects significant changes in our understanding of the forms that role takes. Earlier work has discussed the difficulties in concretely grounding and operationalizing the elusive self-concept as well as the limitations imposed when such a central feature of social functioning remains vaguely defined (Nurius, 1989, 1993). Recent advances in allied fields regarding understanding of the human memory system provide promising approaches to better understanding the self-concept.

This article extends prior work by focusing on implications for self-concept change and interventions designed to facilitate therapeutic self-concept change goals. Although the clinical focus of this article is the self-concept, the linkages described here generalize to many other clinical loci as well. Memory structures and processes related to self-identity information function in essentially the same fashion as do memory structures and processes related to other types of information about the person or about his or her social world. Thus, change goals that involve developing substantially new memory structures or working differently with memory structures, such as enhancing problem-solving, coping, and relapse prevention patterns, can apply many of the recommendations offered here.

Architecture of Memory

As seen in Figure 1, human memory is a highly interactive system. Long-term memory is what most people think of when ...

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