Self-Concept Schemata Organization to Cope With Social Stressors: A Chronometric Assessment

Abstract

A sample of 583 individuals of different ages and from different social and cultural backgrounds took part in a semantic priming study to explore their self-concept and self-esteem mental organization and structure in the human lexicon. Findings yielded by separating the sample into four groups showed that age and cultural background affect how humans organize self-esteem content and structure. Specifically, word recognition of physical attributes related to self-esteem provides support for the idea of a fractured mental representation of the self to cope with demands of ideal body stereotypes. It is suggested that meaning formation related to physical self is different from that based on abstract self-concept and self-esteem. This conceptual organization seems to help individuals to cope with ideal body stereotype demands and to avoid possible psychological disorders related to self-esteem affecting the so-called schematic individuals.