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Kinship is Central to Self-Concept

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Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science

Synonyms

Self-concept and family; Self-concept determined by relatives

Definition

Self-concept refers to an individual’s collection of thoughts and beliefs about themselves. It is comprised of multiple mental templates that the individual uses to organize information about the world. These templates include information about the groups one is a member of and central to these are the bonds of kinship.

Introduction

Self-concept describes an individual’s collection of thoughts and beliefs about themselves. These self-perceptions involve empirical evaluations, identification with groups and social roles, judgments of personal attributes and abilities, and a concept of the ideal self. Self-concept begins development during infancy and is considerably influenced by an individual’s interactions with significant others throughout the lifetime. As such, a person’s self-concept continues to develop and change as one ages. This is done through the formation of cognitive structures representing...

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Correspondence to Shane Westfall .

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Westfall, S., Barton-Stewart, R., Desmond, R.L. (2020). Kinship is Central to Self-Concept. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1509-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1509-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

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