what is self schema

A self-schema is a cognitive structure that involves some aspect of the self that is considered important to the individual, such as exercising or participating in a sport. It is a long-lasting and stable set of memories that summarize a persons beliefs, experiences, and generalizations about the self in specific behavioral domains. Self-schemas are categories of knowledge that reflect how we expect ourselves to think, feel, and act in particular settings or situations. They are cognitive generalizations about oneself, gained from experiences, which guide the processing of self-related information. Self-schemas are not only an important part of our overall self-concept but they also serve to facilitate the processing of incoming information and to guide behavior. Once people have developed a schema about themselves, there is a strong tendency for that schema to be maintained by a bias in what they attend to, in what they remember, and in what they are prepared to accept as true about themselves. In other words, the self-schema becomes self-perpetuating. Self-schemas vary from person to person because each individual has very different experiences and beliefs about themselves.