Understanding the Self

Lesson 3: The Self as Cognitive Construct

Lesson Objectives
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

1. Identify the different ideas in psychology about the “self’;

2. create your own definition of the “self’ based on the definitions from psychology;
and
3. analyze the effects of various factors identified in psychology in the formation of
“self.”

INTRODUCTION
As discussed in the previous lesson, every field of study, at least in the social sciences,
have their own research, definition, and conceptualization of self and identity. Some are similar
while some specific only in their field. Each field also has thousands of research on self and
identity as well as related or synonymous terms. The trend of the lessons also seems to define
the concept of the “self” from the larger context (i.e., culture and society) down to the
individual. However, it must be pointed out that modern researches acknowledge the
contributions of each field and this is not some sort of a nature vs. nature, society/culture vs.
individual/brain, and the other social sciences vs. psychological debate. Psychology may focus
on the individual and the cognitive functions, but it does not discount the contacts and other
possible factors that affect the individual. For students to take up psychology, discussions on
theories, and development, among others actually take at least one semester and there are still
more to be learned about the concept of “self.” This lesson provides an overview of the themes
of psychology regarding the said concept.

ABSTRACTION
In confidence or in an attempt to avoid further another analytical discussions, a lot of
people say, “I am who I am.” Yet, this statement still begs the question “If you are who you are,
then who are you that makes you who you are?”

As mentioned earlier, there are various definitions of the “self” and other similar or
interchangeable concept in psychology. Simply put “self’ is the sense of personal identity and
who we are as individuals (Jhangianai and Tarry 2014).”
 William James (1890) was one of the earliest psychologist study the self and
conceptualized the self as having two aspects-the “I” and “me.” The “I “ is the thinking, acting ,
And feeling self ( Gleitman, Gross, and Reisberg 2011; Hogg and Vaughan 2010). The “me” on
the other hand, is the physical characteristics as well as psychological capabilities that makes
who you are (Gleitman, Gross, and Reisberg 2011; Hogg and Vaughan 2010). Carl Rogers (1959)
theory of personality also use the same terms, the “I” as the one who acts and decides while
the “me” yes what do you think or feel about yourself as an object (Gleitman, Gross, and
Reisberg 2011; Hogg and Vaughan 2010).

Other concepts similar to self our identity and self-concept. Identity is composed of
personal characteristics, social roles, and responsibilities, as well as affiliations that define who
won is (Oyserman, Elmor, and Smith 2012). Self-concept is what basically comes to your mind
when you are asked about who you are (Oyserman, Elmor, and Smith 2012).

Self, identity, and self-concept are not fixed in one timeframe. For example, when
you’re asked about who you are, you can say “I was a varsity player in fifth grade” which
pertains to the past, “A college student” which may be the present and “Future politician”
which is the future. They are not also fix for life nor are they ever changing at every moment.
Thank of a malleable metal, strong and hard but can be bent and molded in other shapes. It is
still the same element.

Carl Rogers captured this idea and his concept of self-schema or are organized system or
collection of knowledge about who we are (Gleitman, Gross, and Reisberg 2011; Jhangiani and
tarry 2014). Imagine an organize list or a diagram similar to the below:
 Hobbies

Family Self Religion

Nationality

The schema is not limited to the example above. It may also include your interests,
work, course, age, name, and physical characteristics, among others. As you grow and adapt
the changes around you, they also change. But they are not passive receivers, they actively
shape and affect how you see, think, and feel about things (Gleitman, Gross, and Reisberg 2011;
Jhangiani and tarry 2014).

For example, when someone states your first name even if they are not talking about
you, your attention is drawn to them. If you have provincial language and you hear someone
using it, it catches your attention. If you consider yourself a book-lover, a bookstore may always
intice you out of all other stores in the mall.

Theories generally see the self and identity as mental constructs, created and re-created
in memory ((Oyserman, Elmor, and Smith 2012). Your searches going to the frontal Lobe of the
brain is the specific area in the brain associated with the process concerning the self
(Oyserman, Elmor, and Smith 2012).

Several psychologists, especially during the field’s earlier development. Follow this trend
of thought, looking deeper into the mind of the person to theorize about the self, identity, self-
concept, and in turn, ones personality. The most influential of them is Sigmund Freud.
Basically, Freud so the self, it’s mental processes, and once behavior as he result of the
interaction between the Id, and echo and the Superego.

However as mentioned earlier, what can I fully discount the facts of the society and
culture on the formation of the self, identity, and self-concept. Even as Freud and other
theories and researchers try to understand the person by digging deeper into the mind, they
cannot fully discount the huge important effects of the environment. As in the above
mentioned definitions of the self, social interaction always has a part to play in who we think
we are. This is not nature vs. nature but instead of nature-and-nature perspective.

Under the theory of symbolic interactionism, G.H. Mead (1934) are you that the south
was created and developed through human interaction (Hogg and Vaughan 2010). Basically,
there are three reasons why self and identity our social product (Oyserman, Elmore, Smith
2012):

1. We do not create ourselves out of nothing. Society help in creating the foundations
of who we are and even if we make our choices, we will still operate in our social at
historical context in one way or the other you may, of course, transfer from one
culture to another, but parts of who you were will still affect you and you will also
have to adapt to the new social contexts. Try looking at your definition of who you
are and see where society had affected you.

2. Whether we like to admit it or not, we actually need others to a friend and reinforce
we think we are. We also need them as a reference points about our identity. One
interesting example is the social media interactions we have. In the case of
Facebook, there are those who will consciously or unconsciously try to garner more
“likes” and/or positive “reactions” and that can and will reinforce their self-concept.
It’s almost like a battle between who got more friends, more views, and trending
topics. If one says he is a good singer but his performance and evaluation of his
audience size otherwise, that will have an effect on that person’s idea of himself,
one way or another.

3. What do you think it’s important to us may also have been influenced by what is
important in our social or a historical context. Education might be an important
thing do your self-concept because you grew up in a family that valued education.
Money might be imported to some because they may have grown in a low income
family and realize how important money is in addressing certain needs like medical
emergencies. Being a nurse or a lawyer can be a priority in your self- schema is the
and demand course during your time.

Social interaction and group affiliation, therefore, why the factors in creating our self-
concept especially in the aspect of providing us with our special identity or our perception of
who we are based on our membership to certain groups (Jhaingiani and Tarry 2014). It is also
an invisible that we can have several social identities, that those identities can overlap, and that
we automatically play the rules as we can interact with our groups. You study because it is your
role as a student but you prefer to study with your friends and your study pattern changes
when you are with your friends than when you do it alone.

There are times, however, when we are aware of our self-concept; this is also called
self-awareness. Carver and Scheier (1981) two types of self that we can be aware of: (1) a
private cell or your internal standards and private thoughts and feelings, and (2) the public self
or your public image commonly geared toward having a geared presentation of yourself to
others (Hogg and Vaughhan 2010).

Self-awareness also presents us with at least three other self-schema: the actual, ideal,
ought self. The “actual” self is who you are at the moment, the “ideal” self is who you like to be,
and that “ought” self is who you think you would be (Higgins 1997 in Hogg and Vaughn 2010).
An example is that you are a student interested in basketball but is also academically
challenged in most of your subject. Your ideal self might be to practice more and play with the
varsity team but ought to pass your subjects as I responsible student. One has find a solution to
such discrepancies the voice agitation, dejection, or other negative emotions. In some
instances, however, all three may be in line with one another.

Self-awareness may be positive or negative depending on the circumstances and our

next course of action. Self-awareness can keep you from doing something dangerous; it can
help remind you that there is an exam tomorrow in one of your subjects when you are about to
spend time playing computer games with your cousins, among others. In other instances, self-
awareness can be too much that we are concerned about being absurd and criticized by others,
also known as the consciousness (Jhangiani and Tarry 2014). At other times, especially with
large crowds, we may experience individuation or ” the loss of individual self-awareness and
individual accountability and groups” (Festinger, Pepitone, and Newcomb 1952; Zimbaro 1969
in Jhaniani and Tarry 2014). A lot of people will tune themselves with the motions of their
group and because the large crowd also provide some kind of anonymity, we may lessen our
self-control and act in ways that we will not do when we are alone. A common example is a
mass demonstration irrupting into a riot.

Our group identity and self-awareness also has a great impact on our self-esteem, one
of the common concept associated with the “self.” It is defined as are all positive or negative
perception or evaluation of ourselves (Jhangiani and Tarry 2014; Gleitman, Gross, and Reisberg
2011).

One of the ways in which our social relationship affects our self-esteem is true social
comparison. Social comparison theory, we learn about ourselves, the appropriate Ness of our
behaviors, as well as our social status by comparing aspects of our self with other people
(Jhangiani and Tarry 2014; Hogg and Vaughan 2010).
 Did our social comparison is the more common type of comparing ourselves with others
as the name implies, because we create us a positive self-concept by comparing a selves with
those who are worse off than us (Jhangiani and Tarry 2014). Having the advantage, we can raise
our self-esteem. Another comparison is the upward social comparison which is comparing our
services those who are better than us (Jhangiani and Tarry 2014). Well it can be form of
motivation for some, a lot of those who do this actually felt lower self-esteem as they highlight
more of their weaknesses or uniqueness inequities.

Social comparisons also and entails what is called self-evaluation maintenance theory,
which states that we can feel threatened with someone performs us, especially when that
person is close to us (i.e., a friend or family) (Tesser 1988 in Jhagiani and Tarry 2014). In this
case, we usually react and she ways. First, we distance ourselves from the dead person or the
define undulation ship with them (Jhagiani and Tarry 2014). Some will resort to the silent
treatment, change of friends, while some may also re-define by being close to that person,
hoping that some association may give him a certain kind of acknowledgment also. Second, we
may also reconsider the importance of the affect our scale in which you were outperformed
(Jhagiani and Tarry 2014). Got bitten in drawing competition, am I think the drawing is not
really for you and you will find a hobby where you could excel, toss preserving your self-
esteem. Lastly, we may also can strengthen I resolve them prove that certain aspects of
ourselves (Jhagiani and Tarry 2014). Instead of quitting drawing, you might join seminars,
practice more often, read books about it, and add some elements in your drawing that makes it
unique, among others. Achieving a goal to hard work but increase your self-esteem, too.

However, in the attempt to increase our maintain self-esteem call Ma some people
become narcissistic. Narcissism is a “trait characterized by overly high self-esteem,
self-administration, and self-centeredness” (Jhagiani and Tarry 2014). They are often
charismatic because of how they take care of their image. Taking care of that image includes
their interpersonal relationships thus they will try to look for a better partners, better
acquaintances, as well as people who will appreciate them a lot. This makes them a bad partner
or friend since they engage in relationships only to serve of themselves (Jhagiani and Tarry
2014).

Sometimes, there is a thin line between high self-esteemand narcissism and there are a
lot of tests and measurements for self-esteem like the Rosenberg scale but the issue is that
there is a can be affected by the desire of the person to portray herself in a positive or
advantageous way (Jhagiani and Tarry 2014). In case you want to take a test and find a
numerical value or levels of yourself esteem, try to be honest and objective about what you feel
and see about yourself. And though self-esteem is a very important concepts related to self,
studies have shown that it only has a correlation, not causality, positive outputs and outlook
(Jhagiani and Tarry 2014). It can be argued that high or healthy self-esteem Marisol to an
over all good personality but it is not, and should not be, the only source of a person’s healthy
perspective of herself.
 People with high self-esteem are commonly described as outgoing, adventurous, and
adaptable in a lot of situations. They also initiate activities and building relationships with
people. However, they may also dismiss other activities that do not conform to their self-
concept or boost their self-esteem. They may also be bullies and experiment or abusive babies
with drugs, alcohol, and sex (Jhagiani and Tarry 2014).

This duality is a behavior and attitudes only proves that above mentioned correlation.
Baumeister, Smart, and Boden (1996) in their research on self-esteem concluded that
programs, activities, and parenting styles the boost self-esteem should only be for rewarding
good behavior and other achievements and not for the purpose of merely trying to make
children feel better about themselves or to appear them when they get angry or sad (Jhagiani
and Tarry 2014).