Читать книгу Becoming an Invitational Leader - William W Purkey - Страница 14

The concept of self has dominated the thinking of American scholars for many decades. In their review of the literature regarding self, social psychologists Banaji and Prentice reported finding more than 5,000 books, monographs, and articles on the subject. Obviously, our overview of self-concept will be restricted to its relationship to Invitational Leadership.

Of all perceptions, none seems to affect our search for personal significance and identity more than our self-concept — our awareness of our own personal existence and how we fit into the world. In our own research we have also concluded, as other theorists above, that the maintenance, protection, and enhancement of the perceived self is the basic motive behind all human behavior. Use of this assumption, organized into what is generally known as self-concept theory, helps to clarify and integrate seemingly unrelated aspects of human behavior. For example, individuals who see themselves as leaders are likely to respond by providing direction in difficult situations, just as soldiers who see themselves as defeated are likely to run from battle. The dynamics are the same, even if the resulting behaviors are sharply different.

One of the most interesting aspects of self-concept is that it has an innate integrity. If a new idea is congruent with beliefs already present in the self-concept, it is easily assimilated. If the new conception has no relevance, it is ignored; and if it is in opposition with other beliefs already present, it is immediately rejected. This organized self is worth considering more closely.