Self, Self- Concept, and Identity: Handbook of Self and Identity

Metacognitive Reading Report #1

1. Three (3) things that you significantly learned from the readings.

Before reading the article, I used to think that we have our own identities. We all have different
perspectives in life. Therefore, every one of us has the personality that makes us unique in our own
particular way. Our characters and traits define who we are and are instilled in us from the moment
we are born. After reading the article, I now think that, aside for having our own way of being who
we are, self-concepts and identities, in my opinion, are the result of a variety of factors that
impacted us in many ways, such as; our conduct, decision-making, and how we think and interpret
circumstances. We are a combination of all the individuals we’ve met, and the experiences we’ve
been through that have created who we are right now.

Before reading the article, I used to think that self and identity are just something how we are
supposed to know ourselves of what we want to be. It is just a reflection on what we in ourselves
as a being. After reading the article, I now think that thinking this way limits yourself on how you
are supposed to be. You might also have a societal viewpoint on yourself. One’s identity may be
defined as who you are now, who you used to be, and who you might become or fear of becoming
of. With this, we can claim that our identity and self are not stagnant, and they may be changing
without realizing it, although we are the ones who are supposed to know ourselves best.

Before reading the article, I used to think that when you’re introspecting, you only think about
yourself in terms of who you think you are and what you can understand about yourself. In a way,
that “self” is simply perceived as a being that exists. After reading the article, I now see and realize
that “self” is just a simple word, but as we go deeper, there are many ideas to be considered from
a broader perspective of oneself.

2. What three (3) things about the reading are unclear to you?
 In the part of the article “Is the Self Stable?”, it was unclear when the person will be considered
himself/herself an unstable one.

In the part of the article “The self as Context Sensitive”, it was quite confusing for me to know
whether an effective self would be able to maintain sense of worth and should be able to know
new information and so be malleable and variant across change in both features of internal and
external.

In the part of the article “Dual-Processing Models”, it was mystifying for me when reflexive
processing will also become reflective processing or vice versa. I cannot figure out when the
thought of automatic processing is done by the person spontaneously.

3. What three (3) questions that you want to ask about the reading?

i. How do we know if we fully know ourselves?

ii. Is there any possibility that we can fully understand a person’s behavior and identity with
scientific proof?
iii. How would we recognize our real identity if we had various identities in different
situations?