Self-perception of some variety

Everybody and their mother seems to have a theory or definition for self-perception, and all of them seem to include "self" in the definition, which seems counter-productive. However, Daryl Bem (1972) seemed to have a better grasp on the idea of self-perception when he described it as way that people come to terms with their thoughts, behaviors, and emotions through observing either their own overt actions or the actions of others. In college, one way we come to know ourselves is based on our success and how successful we're going to be in the future. Grades are one thing, but if there is anything we have learned while we've been in school, it's gain some sort of experience, mainly through internships. It seems like the more internships a person has, the more successful they will be in getting accepted into graduate programs or getting a job. So, when someone is successful and gets a job based on their internships, it freaks my shit out because I haven't been able to do any internships due to my financial situation. I actually had a small mental breakdown a couple weeks ago (and by small, I  mean I FUCKING PANICKED) because I figured success was based off internships because that seemed to be the typical pattern, meaning I was going to be unsuccessful. Because of this, I am heavily relying on my charisma to carry me in job interviews...cross your fingers for me.

Extending on that idea, Hazel Markus (1977) theorizes that people tend to build ideas of themselves based off of self-schemata, or generalizing, yet important descriptive adjectives that are imperative to our own self-image. We then have a tendency to compare ourselves to others based on what we find important.
This idea is totally valid. In the modeling world, this shit happens on the daily, which is why if you're ever going to go into the entertainment industry, grow a thick skin immediately because you're constantly judging yourself and others. I hate to sound overly cocky, but one of my schematic traits is that I'm pretty. Say what you will, but I guess when you hear it enough, it becomes a hard thing to ignore (which is another idea governing self-concept, says our lecture last Tuesday). So, when you walk into a casting call, photo shoot, or casting call with a group of beautiful, think, Amazon women, the first thing you do is compare yourself to them and try to evaluate where it is you stand in the group. When you go to these things, the women are generally not only schematic for attractiveness, but for competitiveness, so we all turn into catty bitches sitting in corners quietly scanning the room trying to figure out how it is you can shank a bitch without causing a scene.

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Works Cited

Bem, D. J. (1972). Self-perception theory. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 6, 1-62.

                Retrieved from http://www.dbem.ws/SP Theory.pdf

Markus, H. (1977). Self-schemata and processing information about the self. Journal of Personality and

                Social Psychology, 35(2), 63-78.