Introduction
Self-concept, by its very own logic, is the understanding of a person about him/herself. This understanding is influenced by certain dimensions that are both coming from the internal and external elements of the environment. Urie Bronfenbrenner in his ‘bio-ecological systems model’ proposed that these factors could be categorized into certain systems ranging from the ones that have direct influence to the elements that have indirect relations on the person growing up, such that the understanding of the self is a continuous process of development regardless of its flows and progression- ‘continuity and discontinuity. Bronfenbrenner labeled the systems as amicrosystem , comprising the immediate influences of the child’s spectrum i.e. family, school, friends, etc.; mesosystem , acting as the interrelationships among the components of the child’s microsystem; exosystem , the indirect environments like mass media; macrosystem , social ideologies and values of cultures and sub-cultures; and chronosystem , or the time and historic influences (Elliot & Davis, 2020).
Because of these complexities, varied theorists and theories have established concepts that set up torches to understand the matter resulting in great variations of claims that are piling up. Among these theories, the top of the list placed the psychosocial development theory of Erik Erikson that had become one of the cornerstones in the study of personality development. To wit, in his work on “Childhood and Society” which won a Pulitzer award, the Eriksonian psychosocial development theory highlighted the influence of one’s environment, particularly on how earlier experiences gradually build upon the next and result in one’s personality. Delicately, it delved into how personality was formed and believed that the earlier stages served as a foundation for the later stages (Feist, Feist & Roberts, 2018).
This study had evolved from personal insights gained from rigorous study and lectures of the Eriksonian theory for seven years in the university in which it has been noticed that it always ignite interest among the students as it dealt primarily on how their personalities have become and are becoming beginning from infancy to the present stage they are in, and as it tackles the relationships they have had with the significant persons in their lives- their parents, guardians and/or carers.
Given that self-understanding predisposes its ultimate relevance to all persons, this study involved 10 informed individuals through naturalistic observations and individualistic interviews in which questions were patterned from that of Erikson’s theory. Such that throughout the papers Erikson’s theory acts as a pedestal of exploring and capturing the meanings of the data collected on the matter of the informants’ self-concept.