How can association influence an individuals self-concept?? ?

Question

i know that peers/family/friends and any association on a whole can influence a persons self-conception but its hard to explain, please anyone help :]

Answer 1

e.g. If you associate with gangland low life's, you will believe you are one of them. You will be one of the gang and one of the criminals.

If you associate with law abiding business people, you will become  one.

Err, I think.

Answer 2

The feedback that people give us concerning how we behave influences strongly the way we see ourselves. People's self-concept does not coincide completely with what other people think, because we have a different view of ourselves than what others have of us.  But our self-concept does reflect the way we see the world and act in it and it is influenced by how we perceive people react to us, because our self-concept is made up of a combination of how we see ourselves and our perception of the way people see us..