Central Luzon State University

Science City of Muñoz 3120

Nueva Ecija, Philippines

Instructional Module for the Course

PSYCH 1100 (Understanding the Self)

Module 1: The Self from Various

Perspectives

Topic 3 – The Self as Cognitive Construct

Overview

Every field of study have their own research, definition and

conceptualization of the self and identity. This lesson provides an overview of
the themes of psychology regarding the self. It also defines the concept self
from a larger context down to the individual. It will focus on the individual
and the cognitive functions, but it does not discount the context and other
possible factors that affect the individual.

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
the “self.”

• According to Jhangiani and Tarry (2014) there are various definitions of the
“self” and other similar or interchangeable concepts in psychology.
• Other concepts similar to self are identity and self-concept:
o Identity is composed of personal characteristics, social roles, and
responsibilities, as well as affiliations that define who one is.
o Self-concept is what basically comes to your mind when you are asked
about who you are.
• Self, identity, and self-concept are not fixed in one-time frame (Oyserman,
elmore and Smith, 2012).
• Carl Rogers (1959) captured this idea in his concept of self-schema or our
organized system or collection of knowledge about who we are.
• Theories generally see the self and identity as mental constructs, created and
recreated in memory.
• Freud saw the self, its mental processes, and one’s behavior as the results of the
interaction between the Id, the Ego, and the Superego.
• According to G.H. Mead (1934) as cited by Oyserman, elmore and Smith, 2012,
There are three reasons why self and identity are social products:
o We do not create ourselves out of nothing. Society helped in creating the
foundations of who we are.
o Whether we like to admit it or not, we actually need others to affirm and
reinforce who we think we are.
o What we think is important to us may also have been influenced by what
is important in our social or historical context.
• Social interaction and group affiliation are vital factors in creating our self-
concept especially in the aspect of providing us with our social identity;
• There are times when we are aware of our self-concepts; this is also called self-
awareness (Jhangiani and Tarry, 2014);
• Carver and Scheier (1981) identified two types of self that we can be aware of:
o the private self or your internal standards and private thoughts and
feelings; and
o the public self or your public image commonly geared toward having a
good presentation of yourself to others.
• Self-awareness also presents us with at least three other self-schema:
o The “actual” self is who you are at the moment
o The “ideal” self is who you like to be
o The “ought” self is who you think you should be
• Self-awareness may be positive or negative depending on the circumstances and
our next course of action (Gleitman, Gross and Reisberg, 2011).
• Our group identity and self-awareness also has a great impact on our self-
esteem, defined as our own positive or negative perception or evaluation of
ourselves
• According Hogg and Vaughan (2010) one of the ways in which our social
relationship affects our self-esteem is through social comparison:
o The downward social comparison is the more common type of
comparing ourselves with others, by comparing ourselves with those who
are worse off than us.
o The upward social comparison which is comparing ourselves with
those who are better off than us.
• Social comparison also entails what is called self-evaluation maintenance theory,
which states that we can feel threatened when someone out-performs us,
especially when that person is close to us.
• In the attempt to increase or maintain self-esteem, some people become
narcissistic, a “trait characterized by overly high self-esteem, self-admiration, and
self-centeredness.”
 • There is a thin line between high self-esteem and narcissism and there are a lot
of tests and measurements for self-esteem like the Rosenberg scale.
• Though self-esteem is a very important concept related to the self, studies have
shown that it only has a correlation, not causality, to positive outputs and
outlook.
• Programs, activities, and parenting styles to 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 appease them
when they get angry or sad (Jhangiani and Tarry, 2014).

References

Alata, E.J., et. Al. (2018) Understanding the Self. Rex Books Store. ISBN.
13:9789712386701

Elmore, K., Smith, G., and Oyserman, D. (2012). Self, Self-Concept and Identity.
Handbook of Self and identity. 2nd Ed. Edited by Mark R. Leary and June Price
Tangney: 69-95. New York: The Guilford Press.

Gleitman, H., Gros, J., and Reisberg, D. (2011). Psychology. 8th Ed. Canada:
W.W. Norton and Company.

Hogg, M., and Vaughan, G. (2010). Essentials of Social Psychology. Italy:

Pearson Education Limited.

Jhangiani, R. and Tarry, H. (2014). Principles of Social Psychology. 1st Ed.

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