Self‐concept: Autopoiesis as the Basis for a Conceptual Framework

John Devlin Smith

Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 2014, vol. 31, issue 1, 32-46

Abstract: This paper examines the proposition that self‐concept exists as a networked modular structure in which the modules, consisting of actual or current self‐concept and a number of possible selves, are held together as a dynamical system through an autopoietic process of self‐regulation. In this context, the whole lifeworld of an individual can be thought of as a field that is maintained and/or changed through engagement in various kinds of developmental tasks controlled through self‐regulation. A ‘morphology’ of self‐concept defined in this way involves a dimension ranging from the internal (the person) to the external (the environment) passing through some form of interface. As a system, like any other system, self‐concept is characterized by structure, pattern, and process elements. Self‐concept, therefore, can change and develop yet ‘stay the same’, thus providing the individual, in a reflective and reflexive way, with a personal sense of history, growth, continuity, and change. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Date: 2014
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.1002/sres.2168

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:srbeha:v:31:y:2014:i:1:p:32-46

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.blackwell ... bs.asp?ref=1092-7026

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Systems Research and Behavioral Science from Wiley Blackwell
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Wiley Content Delivery ().