ADHD glossary · Family perspectives
Self-concept: what a description of yourself includes
The APA Dictionary describes self-concept as one's description and evaluation of oneself, including characteristics, skills, qualities, and roles. [1]
General education and practical perspectives. Editorial standards.
That definition includes evaluation; it is not a perfectly neutral inventory. For everyday reading, however, distinguish an account of who someone thinks they are from a statement about their overall worth. “I am a beginner at sewing” and “I am not worth listening to” are not equivalent claims, even if they occur in the same conversation.
One sentence may be too small
Imagine an adult filling out a short introduction for a community sewing group. They start with “I am not a practical person.” Looking at the form again, they realize they have repaired bicycle tires for years and enjoy making small shelves. They have simply never learned to sew.
They change the introduction to say they are new to sewing and interested in making a cloth tool roll. This fictional revision does not prove that an exercise improved their self-concept. It makes the public description more specific to the activity and avoids letting one unfamiliar task stand for every practical skill.
The earlier sentence may still describe how the person felt. Replacing it on a form does not oblige them to stop discussing that feeling. Accuracy in a short introduction and the larger question of how someone sees themself can be considered separately.
Include context without writing a permanent label
Descriptions can identify a role, an interest, a preference, or experience with a task. Ask which of those a sentence is doing. “I like observing before joining in” is different from “I never contribute.” “I coordinate our trips” names current work, not an irreversible family position.
An optional private page might have two columns: “A description I use” and “What I mean by it here.” There is no list of approved traits. Do not fill it out for another person, demand a positive answer, or use it to score identity.
Other people have descriptions, too
A parent's description of a child is the parent's account. It is worth listening when the child says that a familiar description no longer fits. A sibling may know someone in one setting but not another. A partner can ask whether “the organized one” is a welcome description or an unwanted assignment of all future planning.
A grandparent recalling a family member's childhood can offer a memory without treating it as the definitive explanation of the adult. None of these conversations needs to settle who the person really is for all purposes.
The boundary of the term
Self-concept is not the same question as whether someone expects to succeed at a particular task; that is the focus of self-efficacy. Identity development concerns forming and revising an account across time. This page concerns the account itself.
A glossary definition cannot reveal hidden traits, establish a diagnosis, or decide which self-description is psychologically correct. It provides language for making descriptions precise and leaving their authors room to clarify them.
Sources
1. American Psychological Association. Self-concept. APA Dictionary of Psychology. Updated April 19, 2018. Accessed September 6, 2026. Complete entry; opening descriptive definition adopted, not the claims about nonconscious processes. Retrieved through the publisher application's public definition endpoint. Entry.
Related guides
Sources and what they support
These sources support the specific statements identified below. Our practical exercises are suggestions to consider, not evidence of a treatment effect.
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self-concept — American Psychological Association — APA Dictionary of Psychology
Source type: professional reference.
Updated . Accessed .
Source check, September 6, 2026: Scoped source check. Passage: Opening definition; full entry read, including nonconscious-process discussion excluded from the draft. Limits: No implicit-process, causal influence, test, fixed trait, clinical or developmental trajectory claim. The source includes evaluation; the draft does not falsely define self-concept as wholly non-evaluative.
Supports: The APA Dictionary describes self-concept as one's description and evaluation of oneself, including characteristics, skills, qualities, and roles.
Correction check: Complete current publisher entry and its Updated on field inspected September 6, 2026. No separate correction or withdrawal notice appeared in the entry response. No publisher version archive or exhaustive correction-database search was available or performed; recorded status only describes material checked.
Updates and corrections
Published .
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