The self-schema refers to a long lasting and stable set of memories that summarize a person's beliefs, experiences and generalizations about the self, in specific behavioral domains.
A self schema can be good or bad depending on what that person talks to themselves about and in what kind of tone.
The self-schema is then stored in long-term memory, which both facilitates and biases the processing of personally relevant information.
A few examples of self-schemas are: exciting or dull; quiet or loud; healthy or sickly; athletic or nonathletic; lazy or active; and geek or jock.
Their concern with being healthy would then affect everyday decisions such as what groceries they buy, what restaurants they frequent, or how often they exercise.
[7] It is in childhood that we begin to offer explanations for our actions, which reasoning creates the more complicated concept of the self: a child will begin to believe that the self caused their behaviors, deciding on what motivations to offer as explanations of behavior.
They also activate specific cognitive, verbal, and behavioral action sequences – called scripts and action plans in cognitive psychology – that help people meet goals efficiently.
Generally, it refers to a person's concept of his or her own body, where it is in space, what it looks like, how it is functioning, etc.
People who possess this self schema might tell themselves negative things to make them feel bad about themselves.
This has been documented in patients suffering from such illnesses as depression and irritable bowel syndrome.