Chapter 14 offers an overview of empirical and theoretical work at the interface of personality and the self. The authors begin be reviewing work on self-concept, the descriptive component of the self. Self-concept is the basis for our self-understanding, and it forms the answer to the question, "Who am I?" In this section, the authors review work on the development of the self-concept, and address shyness and self-schema, including differentiating among possible selves, ought selves, and undesired selves.

Next, the authors review theory and research on self-esteem, the evaluative component of the self. Self-esteem refers to your general evaluation of your self-concept along a good-bad or like-dislike dimension. The authors review the results of recent empirical work on self-esteem, including reactions to criticisms and failure feedback. Also in this section, the authors distinguish between protecting versus enhancing the self and discuss research on self-esteem variability. The authors include a review of work on the self-esteem of minority group members, such as women and African Americans.

The authors then turn to a review of theory and research on identity, the social component of the self. Social identity is the self that is shown to other people; it is the part of the self that we use to create an impression, to let other people know who we are and what they can expect from us. Finally, the authors review work on the nature and development of identity and the experience and resolution of identity crises.