Self-image

Self-image is the mental picture, generally of a kind that is quite resistant to change, that depicts not only details that are potentially available to an objective investigation by others (height, weight, hair color, etc.

[3][4] Poor self-image may be the result of accumulated criticisms that the person collected as a child which have led to damaging their own view of themselves.

Children in particular are vulnerable to accepting negative judgments from authority figures because they have yet to develop competency in evaluating such comments.

[5][6][full citation needed] This is because such people constantly set the standard for success high above a reasonable, attainable level.

This study showed evidence that increased prejudice can result from a person's need to redeem a threatened positive perception of the self.

[10] Residual self-image is the concept that individuals tend to think of themselves as projecting a certain physical appearance,[11][full citation needed][12] or certain position of social entitlement, or lack thereof.

[13] The term was used at least as early as 1968,[14] but was popularized in fiction by the Matrix series, where persons who existed in a digitally created world would subconsciously maintain the physical appearance that they had become accustomed to projecting.

The psychological profile of victimisation includes a pervasive sense of helplessness, passivity, loss of control, pessimism, negative thinking, strong feelings of self-guilt, shame, self-blame and depression.

Two factors thought to increase concomitantly with maturity were capacity for guilt and ability for cognitive differentiation.

Several ways to strengthen a child's self-image include communication, reassurance, support of hobbies, and finding good role models.

An article published in the journal, Psychology of Men & Masculinity, analyzed how (perceived) penile size affected body satisfaction in males.