Wednesday, May 02, 2007

Concept is signs and symbols in the mind. Thinking is working by using those signs and symbols of a certain thing so that there’s no need to manifest the actual thing in the place in which the thinking person is present. In his mind, one can present so many things, beyond space and time. There are, however, people who can think big, and people who can think in a limited way. By thinking, we can answer questions, making decisions, and create new things.

Self-concept is one’s view and feeling about himself or herself. Self-concept may be physical, psychic, and social. For example, a girl who thinks she’s pretty confidently enters a party room, but a female-student that is lazy although beautiful feels unconfident when entering an examination room. A governor’s son doesn’t seem to be worry when he was stopped by a policeman for violating a traffic sign, but a “ojeg” driver soon asks for “underhand settlement” after stopped by a policeman. One, who feels that he is able to solve a problem, will probably actually solve the problem, while one who often thinks that he’s stupid will probably be a real stupid person.

Two things influence the development of self-concept:
First, people in general. For example, one who is often praised as a clever man and had received many certificates will develop a strong self-confidence and will be really a clever man. Meanwhile, another person who is often regarded as stupid and embarrassed in front of public will probably be a real stupid person who often feels inferior to others.

Second, reference groups. For example, some time in the past I was lacking of self-confidence in introducing Islamic (indigenous) psychology, since a lot of my Western psychologists friends regarded Islamic psychology as doesn’t exist. At that time I was only able to introduce a Psychology that adopts Islamic notions not exactly an Islamic indigenous Psychology. After I had been inaugurated as a Professor of Islamic Psychology and had been appreciated by the President of The International Association of Moslem Psychologist, Prof Malik Badri, who regarded me as the first Professor around the world on the subject of Islamic Psychology, I have enough self-confident to introduce and spread the notion of Islamic Psychology. Now I even intend to promote Islamic Psychology to be the Psychology’s Fifth School of Thought after previous schools of psychology: Psychoanalysis, Behaviourism, Cognitism, and Humanistic Psychology