THE SELF AS COGNITIVE IDENTITY AND SELF – CONCEPT

 Composed of personal characteristics,

CONSTRUCT
social roles, and responsibilities.
 it is what comes to your mind
COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY when asked about who you are.
 concerned with mental processes (as
 it is not fixed in one time frame.
perception, thinking, learning, and
memory) especially with respect to the
SELF-SCHEMA
internal events occurring between sensing
 Our organized system or collection of
and the expression of behavior.
knowledge about who we are.
 The self-schema includes your hobbies,
COGNITION family, religion, nationality, interests,
 the mental processes involved in gaining
work, course, age, name, etc.
knowledge and comprehension. It includes
 As you grow and adapt to the changes
thinking, knowing, remembering, judging,
around you, they also change.
and problem-solving.
 They actively shape and affect how you
 These are higher level functions of the
see, think, and feel about things.
brain and encompass language,
Psychological Theories see the self and identity as
imagination, perception, and planning.
mental constructs, created and recreated in
In Psychology, the self is defined as: “the sense of
memory. Current researches point to the frontal
personal identity and of who we are as
lobe of the brain as the area associated with
individuals.”
processes concerning the self.

William James (1890) SIGMUND FREUD

 “The deepest principle in human nature is
 “Unexpressed emotions will never die.
the craving to be appreciated.”
They are buried alive and will come forth
 He conceptualized the Self as
later in uglier ways.”
 (1) "I" -- the thinking, acting, and
 He sees the self and the mind as a result of
feeling self; and,
interaction between the parts:
 (2) "me" -- the physical
 Id - the instinctual part of the mind
characteristics; capabilities.
that contains sexual and aggressive
drives and hidden memories. It is
Carl Rogers (1959) theory of personality: selfish and wishful in nature.
 “The curious paradox is that when I accept Illogical and fantasy oriented.
myself as I am, then I can change.”  Ego - the realistic part that
 Theory of personality: mediates between the desires of the
 "I" is the one who acts and services id and the superego. Modified by
 "Me" is what you think or feel the direct influence of the external
about yourself
 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.
SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM
 GH Mead
 Argues that the self is created and
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.
SELF-AWARENESS
1. The private self - your internal private thoughts
and feelings.
2. The public self/image - geared to having a good
presentation of yourself to others.
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 to be - Who you think you should be
(responsibilities)
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 attune
themselves with the emotions of their group.
Being in a large crowd may lessen our self-
control.
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.
 Upwards Social Comparison – is
comparing ourselves with those
who are better than us. It can be
motivation for some, but it could
also lower your self-esteem because
it shows your weakness.
 These also occur not only in
individuals but also in groups.
SELF-EVALUATION MAINTENANCE
THEORY
 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 three (3) ways in these
situations:
 1. We distance ourselves from the
person.
 2. We reconsider the aspects or
skill you were outperformed 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 and etc.

“Each person is an island unto himself, in a very

real sense; and he can only build bridges to other
islands if he is first of all willing to be himself and
permitted to be himself.” --- Carl Rojers