Lesson 3: The Self as Cognitive Construct

INTRODUCTION The schema is not limited to the example above. It may also
As discussed in the previous lessons, every field of study, at include your interests, work, course, age, name, and physical
least in the social sciences, have their own research, definition, and characteristics, among others. As you grow and adapt to the
conceptualization of self and identity. Some are similar while some changes around you, they also change. But they are not passive
specific only in their field. Each field also has thousands of research receivers, they actively shape and affect how you see, think, and
on self and identity as well as related or synonymous terms. The feel about things.
trend of the lessons also seems to define the concept of the “self”
from a larger context (i.e., culture and society) down to the For example, when someone states your first name even if they
individual. However, it must be pointed out that modern researches are not talking about you, your attention is drawn to them. If you
acknowledge the contributions of each field and this is not some have a provincial language and you hear someone using it, it
sort of a nurture vs. nature, society/culture vs. individual/brain, and catches your attention. If you consider yourself a book-lover, a
other social sciences vs. psychology debate. Psychology may focus bookstore may always entice you out of all the other stores in a
on the individual and the cognitive functions, but it does not mall.
discount the context and other possible factors that affect the
individual. For students who take up psychology, discussions on Theories generally see the self and identity as mental
theories, and development, among others actually take at least one constructs, created and recreated in memory. Current researches
semester and there are still more to be learned about the concept point to the frontal love of the brain as the specific area in the brain
of “self”. This lesson provides an overview of the themes of associated with the processes concerning the self.
psychology regarding the said concept.
ABSTRACTION Several psychologists, especially during the field’s earlier
In confidence or in an attempt to avoid further analytical development, followed this trend of thought, looking deeper into
discussions, a lot of people say, “I am who I am.” Yet, this statement the mind of the person to theorize about the self, identity, self-
still begs the question “if you are who you are, then who are you concept, and in turn, one’s personality. The most influential of them
that makes you who you are?” is Sigmund Freud. Basically, Freud saw the self, its mental
As mentioned earlier, there are various definitions of the “self” and processes, and one’s behavior as the results of the interaction
other similar or interchangeable concepts in psychology. Simply put, between the Id, the Ego, and the Superego.
“self” is “the sense of personal identity and who we are as
individuals”. However, as mentioned earlier, one cannot fully discount the
effects of society and culture on the formation of the self, identity,
William James (1890) was one of the earliest psychologists to and self-concept. Even as Freud and other theories and researchers
study the self and conceptualized the self as having two aspects– try to understand the person by digging deeper into the mind, they
the “I” and the “me”. The “I” is the thinking, acting, and feeling self. cannot fully discount the huge and important effects of the
The “me” on the other hand, is the physical characteristics as well environment. As in the abovementioned definitions of the self,
as psychological capabilities that makes who you are. Carl Rogers’s social interaction always has a part to play in who we think we are.
(1959) theory of personality also used the same terms, the “I” as This is not nature vs. nurture but instead a nature-andnurture
the one who acts and decides while the “me” is what you think or perspective.
feel about yourself as an object.
Other concepts similar to self are identity and self-concept. Identity Under the theory of symbolic interactionism, G.H. Mead (1934)
is composed of personal characteristics, social roles, and argues that the self is created and developed through human
responsibilities, as well as affiliations that define who one is. Self- interaction. Basically, there are three reasons why self and identity
concept is what basically comes to your mind when you are asked are social products:
about who you are.
1.We do not create ourselves out of nothing. Society
Self, identity, and self-concept are not fixed in one-time helped in creating the foundations of who we are and even if we
frame. For example, when you are asked about who you are, you make our choices, we will still operate in our social and historical
can say “I was a varsity player in 10th Grade” which pertains to the contexts in one way or the other. You may, of course, transfer from
past, “a college student” which may be the present, and “a future one culture to another, but parts of who you were will still affect
Nurse” which is the future. They are not also fixed for life nor are you and you will also have to adapt to the new social context. Try
they ever-changing at every moment. Think of a malleable metal, looking at your definition of who you are and see where society had
strong and hard but can be bent and molded in other shapes. Think affected you.
about water. It can take any shape of the container, but at its core, 2. Whether we like to admit it or not, we actually need
it is still the same element. others to affirm and reinforce who we think we are. We also need
them as reference points about our identity. One interesting
Carl Rogers captured this idea in his concept of self-schema or example is the social media interactions we have. In the case of
our organized system or collection of knowledge about who we are. Facebook, there are those who will consciously or unconsciously try
Imagine an organized list or a diagram similar to the one below: to garner more “like” and/or positive “reactions” and that can and
 will reinforce their self-concept. It is 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 the evaluation of his
audience says otherwise, that will have an effect on that person’s
idea of himself, one way or another.
3. What we think is important to us may also have been
influenced by what is important in our social or historical context.
Education might be an important thing to your self-concept because
you grew up in a family that valued education. Money might be
important to some because they may have grown in a low-income
family and realized how important money is in addressing certain
needs like medical emergencies. Being a nurse can be priority in
your self-schema because it is the in-demand course during your
Social interaction and group affiliation, therefore, are vital time.
factors in creating our self-concept especially in the aspect of
providing us with our social identity or our perception of who we Social comparison also entails what is called self-evaluation
are based on our membership to certain groups. It is also inevitable maintenance theory, which states that we can feel threatened
that we can have several social identities, that those identities can when someone out-performs us, especially when that person is
overlap, and that we automatically play the roles as we interact close to us (i.e., a friend or family). In this case, we usually react in
with our groups. For example, you are a student who is also part of three ways. First, we distance ourselves from that person or
a certain group of friends. You study because it is your role as a redefine our relationship with them. Some will resort to the silent
student but you prefer to study with your friends and your study treatment, change of friends, while some may also redefine by
pattern changes when you are with your friends than when you do being closer to that person, hoping that some association may give
it alone. him a certain kind of acknowledgement also. Second, we may also
reconsider the importance of the aspect or skill in which you were
There are times, however, when we are aware of our self- outperformed. If you got beaten in a drawing competition, you
concepts; this is also called self-awareness. Carver and Scheier might think that drawing is not really for you and you will find a
(1981) identified two types of self that we can be aware of: (1) the hobby where you could excel, thus preserving your self-esteem.
private self or your internal standards and private thoughts and Lastly, we may also strengthen our resolve to improve that certain
feelings, and (2) the public self or your public image commonly aspect of ourselves. Instead of quitting drawing, you might join
geared toward having a good presentation of yourself to others. seminars, practice more often, read books about it, and add some
elements in your drawing that makes it unique, among others.
Self-awareness also presents us with at least three other self- Achieving your goal through hard work may increase your self-
schema: the actual, ideal, and ought self. The “actual” self is who esteem, too.
you are at the moment, the “ideal” self is who you like to be, and
the “ought” self is who you think you should be. An example is that However, in the attempt to increase or maintain self-esteem,
you are a student interested in basketball but is also academically some people become narcissistic. Narcissism is a “trait
challenges in most of your subject. Your ideal self might be to characterized by overly high self-esteem, selfadmiration, and self-
practice more and play with the varsity team but ought to pass your centeredness”. They are often charismatic because of how they
subjects as a responsible student. One has to find a solution to such take care of their image. Taking care of that image includes their
discrepancies to avoid agitation, dejection, or other negative interpersonal relationships thus they will try to look for better
emotions. In some instances, however, all three may be in line with partners, better acquaintances, as well as people who will
one another. appreciate them a lot. This makes them a bad romantic partner or
friend since they engage in relationships only to serve themselves.
Self-awareness may be positive or negative depending on the
circumstances and our next course of action. Self-awareness can Sometimes, there is a thin line between high self-esteem and
keep you from doing something dangerous; it can help remind you narcissism and there are a lot of tests and measurements for self-
that there is an exam tomorrow in one of your subjects when you esteem like the Rosenberg scale but the issue is that the result can
are about to spend time playing computer games with your cousins, be affected by the desire of the person to portray herself in a
among others. In other instances, self-awareness can be too much positive or advantageous way. In case you want to take a test and
that we are concerned about being observed and criticized by find a numerical value or level of your self-esteem, try to be honest
others, also known as selfconsciousness. At other times, especially and objective about what you feel and see about yourself. And
with large crowds, we may experience deindividuation or the “loss though self-esteem is a very important concept related to the self,
of individual self-awareness and individual accountability in studies have shown that it only has a correlation, not causality, to
groups”. A lot of people will attune themselves with the emotions positive outputs and outlook. It an be argues that high or healthy
of their group andbecause the large crowd also provides some kind self-esteem may result to an overall good personality but it is not,
of anonymity, we may lessen our self-control and act in ways that and should not be, the only source of a person’s healthy perspective
we will not do when we are alone. A common example is a mass of herself.
demonstration erupting into a riot.
 Our group identity and self-awareness also have a great impact People of high self-esteem are commonly described as
on our selfesteem, one of the common concepts associated with outgoing, adventurous, and adaptable in a lot of situations. They
the “self”. It is defined as our own positive or negative perception also initiate activities and building relationship with people.
or evaluation of ourselves. However, they may also dismiss other activities that do not conform
to their self-concept or boost their self-esteem. They may also be
One of the ways in which our social relationship affects our bullies and experiment on abusive behaviors with drugs, alcohol,
self-esteem is through social comparison. According to the social and sex.
comparison theory, we learn about ourselves, the appropriateness
of our behaviors, as well as our social status by comparing aspects This duality in the behavior and attitudes only proves the above-
of ourselves with other people. mentioned correlation. Baumeister, Smart, and Boden (1996) in
their research on self-esteem concluded that programs, activities,
The downward social comparison is the more common type of and parenting styles to boost self-esteem should only be for
comparing ourselves with others. As the name implies, we create a rewarding good behavior and other achievements and not for the
positive self-concept by comparing ourselves with those who are purpose of merely trying to make children feel better about
worse off than us. By having advantage, we can raise our self- themselves or to appease them when they get angry or sad.
esteem. Another comparison is the upward social comparison
which is comparing ourselves with those who are better off than us.
While it can be a form of motivation for some, a lot of those who do ABSTRACTION
this actually felt lower self-esteem as they highlight more of their
weakness or inequities
There are actually a lot of sources in which you can analyze the
perspective of each culture and country about the concept of “self”.
Take note that this occurs not only between individuals but also
You can see it in their literature like how one culture depicts a hero
among groups. Thus, if a person’s group is performing better and is
or a villain in their stories. You can see it in their social organization
acknowledged more than the other group, then his self-esteem may
like how they see their boss or their subordinate. Artworks, dances,
also be heightened.
even clothing may show you clues about the “self”. In this lesson,
we will look at religious beliefs and political philosophies that
greatly influenced the mindset of each nation or culture. Since
Lesson 4: The Self in Western and Eastern Thoughts almost all the theories about the self, which were discussed in the
previous lessons, also came from Western scientific research, we
will highlight the Eastern thoughts in this lesson.
INTRODUCTION
First is Confucianism. Confucianism can be seen as a code of
Different cultures and varying environment tend to create ethical conduct, of how one should properly act according to their
different perceptions of the “self” and one of the most common relationship with other people; thus, it is also focused on having a
distinctions between cultures and people is the Eastern-vs-Western harmonious social life. Therefore, the identity and selfconcept of
dichotomy wherein Eastern represents Asia and Western represents the individual are interwoven with the identity and status of his/her
Europe and Northern America. It must be understood that this community or culture, sharing its pride as well as its failures.
distinction and the countries included was politically colored at the
time that aforementioned concepts were accepted and used in the Self-cultivation is seen as the ultimate purpose of life but the
social sciences. Furthermore, it must be reiterated that while characteristics of a chun-tzu, a man of virtue or noble character, is
countries who are geographically closer to each other may share still embedded in his social relationships. The cultivated self in
commonalities, there are also a lot of factors that create Confucianism is what some scholars call a “subdued self” wherein
differences. In the Philippines alone, each region may have similar personal needs are repressed (subdued) for the good of many,
or varying perception regarding the “self” making Confucian society also hierarchal for the purpose of
maintaining order and balance in society.
The second philosophy is Taoism. Taoism is living in the way of the
Tao or the universe. However, Taoism rejects having one definition Several studies showed that Americans, for example, talk more
of what the Tao is, and one can only state clues of what it is as they about their personal attributes when describing themselves while
adopt a free-flowing, relative, unitary, as well as paradoxical view of Asians in general talk about their social roles or the social situations
almost everything. Taoism rejects the hierarchy and strictness that invoked certain traits that they deem positive for their selves.
brought by Confucianism and would prefer a simple lifestyle and its Evaluation of the self also differs as Americans would highlight their
teachings thus aim to describe how to attain that life. personal achievements while Asians would rather keep a low profile
as promoting the self can be sees as boastfulness that disrupts
The self is not just an extension of the family or the community; it social relationships.
is a part of the universe, one of the forms and manifestations of the
Tao. The ideal self is selflessness but this is not forgetting about the The Western culture is what we would call an individualistic
self, it is living a balanced-life with society and nature, being open culture since their focus is on the person. Asian culture, on the
and accepting to change, forgetting about prejudices and egocentric other hand, is called a collective culture as the group and social
ideas and thinking about equality as well as complementarity relations that is given more importance than individual needs and
among humans as well as other beings. In this way, you will be able wants.
to act spontaneously because you will not be restricted by some
legalistic standards but because you are in harmony with By valuing the individual, Westerners may seem to have loose
everything. associations or even loyalty to their groups. Competition is the
name of the game and they are more likely straightforward and
The third belief is Buddhism. There are various groups who forceful in their communication as well as decision-making. Eastern
have adopted Buddhism; thus, you may find differences in their or oriental persons look after the welfare of their groups and values
teachings with our discussion but more likely, their core concepts cooperation. They would also be more compromising and they tend
remained the same. The self is seen as an illusion, born out of to go around the bush in explaining things, hoping that the other
ignorance, of trying to hold and control things, or human-centered person would “feel” what they really want to say.
needs; thus, the self is also the source of all these sufferings. It is,
therefore, our quest to forget about the self, forget the cravings of Westerners also emphasize more on the value of equality even
the self, break the attachments you have with the world, and to if they see that the individual can rise above everything else.
renounce the self which is the cause of all suffering and in doing so, Because everyone is on their own in the competition, one can say
attain the state of Nirvana. that they also promote ideals that create “fair” competition and
protect the individual. Asians, with their collectivistic culture, put
The self or the individual is not the focus of the more emphasis on hierarchy as the culture wants to keep things in
abovementioned Asian or Eastern philosophies or beliefs. Even with harmony and order. For example, Westerners would most likely call
extended discussions about how the self should work, Confucianism their bosses, parents, or other seniors by their first name. The boss
and Taoism still situate the self within a bigger context. In striving to can also be approached head-on when conflicts or problems about
become a better person, one does not create a self above other hum arises. For Asians, we have respectful terms for our seniors and
people or nature but a self that is beneficial to his community as a lot of workers would not dare go against the high-ranking officials.
well as in order and harmony with everything else. As for Buddhism,
the self, with all the connections and selfish ideas, is taken not just It must be emphasized, however, that these are general
out of the center of the picture, but from the whole picture entirely. commonalities among Western cultures as compared to Asian or
Oriental cultures. In the case of the Philippines, we can also
As previously discussed, Western perspective does not consider the colonization experience for differences and similarities
discount the roles of environment and society in the formation of with our Asian neighbors. We might also find variation among
the self but focus is always looking toward the self. You compare provinces and regions due to geographical conditions.
yourself in order to be better; you create associations and bask in
the glory of that group for your self-esteem; you put primacy in With the social media, migration, and intermarriages, variety
developing yourself. between the Western and Asian perceptions may either be blurred
or highlighted. Whereas conflict is inevitable in diversity, peace is
also possible through the understanding of where each of us is
One can also describe that the Western thought looks at the coming from.
world in dualities wherein you are distinct from the other person,
the creator is separate from the object he created, in which the self
is distinguished and acknowledged. On the other hand, the Eastern
perspective sees the other person as part of yourself as well as the
things you may create, a drama in which everyone is interconnected
with their specific roles.