Understanding the self - lecture 3 HAND-OUT

1. LECTURE 3: THE SELF as a COGNITIVE CONSTRUCT THIS LESSON

PROVIDES AN OVERVIEW OF THE THEMESOF PSYCHOLOGY REGARDING
THECONCEPT OF “SELF”.

Cognitive psychology - concerned with mental processes(as

perception, thinking, learning, and memory) especially with
respect to the internal events occurring between sensing and the
expression of behavior.

Cognition - the mental processes involved in gaining knowledge &

comprehension. Itincludes thinking, knowing, remembering,
judging and problem-solving.

These are higher-level functions of the brain and encompass

language, imagination, perception, and planning.

In psychology, the self is defined as: “the sense of personal

identity and of who we are as individuals.”

William James(1890) conceptualized the self as:

“I” – the thinking ,acting, and feelingself.

“Me” – the physical characteristics; capabilities.

In Carl Rogers’(1959) theory of personality:

“I” – the one who acts and decides

“Me” – what you think or feel about yourself

Another conceptof the self is IDENTITY/SELF-CONCEPT:

Identity –composed of personal characteristics, social roles,

responsibilities.

Self-concept – it is what comes to your mind when asked about

who you are.

– it is not fixed in one time frame Rogers captured this idea in

his concept of SELF-SCHEMA, our organized system or collection
of knowledge about who we are.
 The self-schema includes your hobbies, family, religion,
nationality, interests, work, course, age name, etc, As you grow
and adapt to the changes around you, they also change.

They actively shape and affect how you see, think, and feel
about things.

Psychological theories see the self and identity as mental

constructs, created and recreated in memory.

Current researches point to the frontal lobe of the brain as the

area associated with processes concerning the self.

One Influential psychologist of our generation is Sigmund Freud,

he sees the self and the mind as a result of interaction between
these 3 parts:

Id - the instinctual part of the mind that contains sexual and

aggressive drive sand hidden memories. It is selfish and wishful
in nature. Illogical and fantasy oriented.

Ego - the realistic part that mediates between the desires of

the id and the super-ego. Modified by the direct influence of
the external world. The decision-making component of
personality.

Superego - operates as a moral conscience. Applies the values of

society which are learned from one's parents and others.

The theory of symbolic interactionism (G.H.Mead) argues that the

self is created & developed through human interaction.

We are social products because:

1. We do not create ourselves out of nothing.

2. We need others to affirm and reinforce who we think we are.

3. What’s important to us is influenced by our social/historical

context. When we are aware of our self-concepts, that is called
SELF- AWARENESS.

The 2 types of self we can be aware of are:

1. The private self – your internal private thought sand
feelings

2. The public self/image –geared to having a good presentation

of yourself to others. - Carver & Scheier (1981)

Self-awareness presents us three other self- schema:

1. Actual self – who you are at the moment

2. Ideal self – who you like to be

3.Ought self – who you think you should be(responsibilities,

etc)

Self-awareness may be positive or negative. At other times, we

may experience“ loss of individual self- awareness and
accountability in groups.

A lot of people at tune themselves with the emotions of their

group.

Being in a large crowd may lessen our self-control.

Social relationships affect or self-esteem through social

comparison. In this theory, we learn about ourselves, the
appropriateness of our behaviors, as well as our status, by
comparing ourselves to other people.

Downward social comparison –is a common type of comparing

ourselves to others. We create a POSITIVE self-concept by
comparing ourselves with those who are WORSE than us.

Upward social comparison –is comparing ourselves with those who

are better than us. It can be MOTIVATION for some, but it could
also LOWERYOURSELF-ESTEEM because it shows your weaknesses.
These also occur not only in individuals but also in groups.

Social comparison is connected to the self-evaluation

maintenance theory, which states that we feel THREATENED when
someone out-performs us, or does better than us. Especially when
that person is a close peer/ partner/ friend.

We usually act in 3 ways in these situations:

1. we distance ourselves from the person.

2. we reconsider the aspect or skill you were out performed in.

3. we try to improve that aspect of ourselves. But then,

sometimes to increase or maintain self-esteem, some may become
NARCISSISTIC.

Meaning: overly high self-esteem, self- admiration, self-

centeredness. There is a difference between self-esteem and
narcissism People with high self-esteem are usually outgoing,
adventurous, adaptable in a lot of situations. But they could
also be bullies and experiment on abusive behavior, drugs,
alcohol, etc