LEYTE COLLEGES

Tacloban City

MODULE IN UNDERSTANDING THE SELF

Topics Covered
Chapter 1 Defining the Self: Personal and Developmental Perspectives on Self and
Identity

Lesson 3: The Self as a Cognitive Construct

I. INTRODUCTION
Psychology is a rather new field in the social sciences compared to the those
mentioned in the earlier lessons. Unlike sociology and anthropology that investigates the
structures of society as a whole and the culture of a large group of people, psychology mainly
focuses on the individual. It is interested in the functions and processes of the brain, the mind,
as well as the behaviors related to the mental functions of a person.
Using experimental and clinical observations and other specific techniques,
psychology have contributed to a lot of perspectives about the self. Theories about the self
and personality takes at least one semester for psychology students, but we take some time to
study the common concepts and theories.

II. Intended Learning Outcomes:

At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
a. enumerate the various psychological perspective and concepts about the
“self”;
b. analyze the effects of various psychological factors in the formation of the
“self”;
c. examine one’s “self” against the different perspective in this lesson and
various experience of your classmates.

KEY TERMS
Individual – refers to a unique distinct, and specific person. It signifies that each person’s
self-concept or self-identity is a product of their own cognitive processes, including thoughts,
beliefs, memories, and perceptions.
Functions - refers to the various mental and psychological processes that the self performs or
serves within an individual’s cognitive framework.
Mental functions - refer to the various cognitive processes, activities, and functions of the
mind that contribute to the formation and representation of one’s sense of self.
Experimental - typically refers to a methodological approach or research technique used to
study and understand how individuals perceive, construct, conceptualize the self in cognitive
terms.
Specific techniques - refer to the methods or approaches used to understand, study, or
manipulate the cognitive aspects of the self.

III. CONTENT The Self as a Cognitive Construct

On Self Within
William James was one of the earliest psychologists to study the self, and he
conceptualized the self as having two aspects-the “I” and the “me”. The “I” is the thinking,
acting, and feeling self (Gleitman, Gross, and Reisberg 2011; Hogg and Vaughan 2010). The
“me”, on the other hand, is the physical characteristics as well as psychological capabilities
that makes who you are (Gleitman, Gross, and Reisberg 2011; Hogg and Vaughan 2010).
Carl Rogers’ theory of personality also used the same terms, the “I” as the one who acts and
decides, while the “me” is what you think or feel about yourself as an object (Gleitman,
Gross, and Reisberg 2011).
Other concepts similar to self are identity and self-concept. Identity is composed of
one’s personal characteristics, roles and responsibilities, as well as affiliations that define
who one is (Elmore, Oyserman, and Smith 2012). Self-concept is basically what comes to
your mind when you are asked about yourself (Elmore, Oyserman, and Smith 2012).
Self, identity, and self-concept are not fixed. For example, when asked about who you
are, you can say, “I was a varsity player in Grade 5” which pertains to the past, “a college
student” which may be the present, and “a future politician” which is the future”.
While they are not fixed, they are also not very fluid. Think of a malleable metal,
strong and hard, that can be heated and hammered to any shape yet retain its core elements.

Carl Rogers captured this idea in his concept of self-schema-our own organized
system or collection of knowledge about who we are (Gleitman, Gross, and Reisberg 2011;
Jhangiani and Tarry 2014). Imagine an organized list or a diagram similar to the one below:
 The schema is not limited to the aforementioned example. It may also include your
interests, your work, you course, your age, your name, and your physical characteristics
among others. As you grow and adapt to the Hobbies
changes around you, they also change. But they
are not passive receivers as they actively shape and affect how you see, think, and feel about
other things or the people around you (Gleitman, Gros, and Reisberg 2011; Jhangiani and
Tarry 2014).
For example, when someone states your first name, even if not talking about you,
your attention is drawn. If you have a provincial language and you hear someone using it, it
catches you attention. If you consider yourself a booklover, a bookstore may always entice
you out of all the other
Family
behavior and attitudes.
Self
stores in a mall. These are all part of your schema
Religion working on your

Theories generally see these concepts of self and identity as mental constructs, created
and recreated in memory (Elmore, Oyserman, and Smith 2012). Current research points to the
frontal lobe of the brain as the specific area in the brain related with the processes of the self
(Elmore, Oyserman, and Smith 2012).
Several psychologists, especially during the field’s earlier development, followed this
Nationality
trend of thought by looking deeper into what they think was the mind. The most influential of
them is Sigmud Freud. Basically, Freud conceptualized the processes, contruct, and behavior
of the “self” as the results of the interaction between the Id, the Ego, and the Superego.
However, one cannot fully discount the effects of society and culture to the formation
of the self, identity, and self-concept. Even as Freud and other theories and researchers try to
understand the person by digging deeper into the mind, they cannot fully discount the huge
and important effects of the environment. This is not nature versus nurture, instead a nature-
and-nurture perspective.

Internal and External

If we can remember the previous lesson, George Herbert Mead of the symbolic
interactionism argued that human interaction helps develop the self (Hogg and Vaughan
2010). The result of this interaction between who we think we are and how others see us is
what others call “self-concept”. Sometimes we are aware about these things, a lot of times,
we do not know that we are actually doing what is expected to us.
Carver and Scheier identified two types of self that we can be aware of; 1) the private
self or a person’s internal thoughts and feelings, and 2) the public self or what a person
commonly shows to the others, specifically for creating a good public image (Hogg and
Vaughan 2010).
Self-awareness also presents us with at least three other self-schemas; the actual, the
ideal, and the ought self. The “actual” self is who we are at the present; the “ideal” self is
who we like to be, especially in the future; and the “ought” self is who we think should be in
contrast to the actual self (Higgins 1997 in Hogg and Vaughan 2010). Example is that you are
a student interested in basketball but are also academically challenged in most of your
subject. Your ideal self might be to practice more and play with the varsity team, but ought to
pass your subjects as a responsible student. One has to find solutions to such discrepancies in
order to avoid agitation, dejection, or other negative emotions. In some instances, however,
all three may be in line with one another.
Self-awareness may be positive or negative depending on the circumstances and our
next course of action. Self-awareness can keep you from doing something dangerous, it can
help remind you that there is an exam tomorrow in one of your subjects when you are about
to spend time playing computer games with your cousins, among others. In other instances,
self-awareness can be too much that we are concerned about being observed and criticized by
others, also known as self-consciousness (Jhangiani and Tarry 2014). At other times,
especially with large crowds, we may experience deindividuation or “the loss of individual
self-awareness and individual accountability in groups (Jhangiani and Tarry 2014). A lot of
people will attune themselves with the emotions of their group, and because the large crowd
also provides some kind of anonymity, they may lessen their self-control and act in ways that
they will not do when they are alone. A common example is a mass demonstration erupting
into a riot.

On Self-Esteem
Group identity and self-awareness also affect our self-esteem, which defined as our
personal positive or negative perception or evaluation of ourselves (Jhangiani and Tarry
2014; Gleitman, Gross and Reisberg 2011).
One of the ways in which our social relationship affects our self-esteem is through
social comparison. According to the social comparison theory, we learn about ourselves, the
appropriateness of our behaviors, as well as our social statuses by comparing aspects of
ourselves with other people (Jhangiani and Tarry 2014; Hogg and Vaughan 2010).
The downward social comparison is the more common type of comparing ourselves
with others. As the name implies, we create a positive self-concept by comparing ourselves
with those who are worse off than us (Jhangiani and Tarry 2014). By having the advantage,
we are able to raise our self-esteem. Another comparison is the upward social comparison
which is comparing ourselves with those who are better off than us (Jhangiani and Tarry
2014). While it can be a form of motivation for some, a lot of those who do this actually felt
lower self-esteem as we highlight more of our weakness or inequities.
Take note that this occurs not only between individuals, but also among groups. Thus,
if a person’s group is performing better and is acknowledge more than the other group, then
his or her self-esteem may also be heightened.
Social comparison also entails what is called self-evaluation maintenance theory,
which states that we can feel threatened when someone outperforms us, especially when that
person is close to us, that is, a friend or family (Tesser 1988 in Jhangiani and Tarry 2014). In
this case, we usually react in three ways.
First, we distance ourselves from that person or redefine our relationship with them
(Jhangiani and Tarry 2014). Some will resort to silent treatment or change of friends, while
some may also redefine by being closer to that person, hoping that some association may give
him or her a certain kind of acknowledgement also. Second, we may reconsider the
importance of the aspect or skill in which we were outperformed (Jhangiani and Tarry 2014).
If we got beaten in drawing, we might think that drawing is not really for us and we will find
a hobby where we could excel, thus preserving our self-esteem. Lastly, we may also
strengthen our resolve to improve that certain aspect of ourselves (Jhangiani and Tarry 2014).
Instead of quitting drawing, we might join seminars, practice more often, read books, about
it, add some elements in our drawing that makes it unique, and so on. Achieving your goal
through hard work may increase your self-esteem, too.
However, in the attempt to increase or maintain self-esteem, some people become
narcissistic. Narcissism is a “trait characterized by overly high self-esteem, self-admiration,
and self-centeredness” (Jhangiani and Tarry 2014). They are often charismatic because of
how they take care of their image. Taking care of that image includes their interpersonal
relationships, thus they will try to look for better partners, better acquaintances, as well as
people who will be appreciate them a lot. This makes them a bad romantic partner or friend
since they engage in relationships only to serve themselves (Jhangiani and Tarry 2014, 128).
Sometimes there is a thin line between high self-esteem like the Rosenberg scale, but
the issue is that the result can be affected by the desire of the person to portray himself or
herself in a positive or advantageous way (Jhangiani and Tarry 2014). In case you really want
to take a test and find a numerical value or level for your self-esteem, try to be honest and
objective about what you feel and see about yourself.
Though self-esteem is a very important concept related to the self, studies have shown
that it only has a correlation, not casually, to positive outputs and outlook (Jhangiani and
Tarry 2014). It can be argued that high or healthy self-esteem may result to an overall good
personality, but it is not, and should not be, the only source of a person’s healthy perspective
of himself or herself.
People with high self-esteem are commonly described as outgoing, adventurous, and
adaptable in a lot of situations. They also initiate activities and building relationships with
people. However, they may also dismiss other activities that does not conform to their self-
concept or boost their self-esteem. They may also be bullies and experiment on abusive
behaviors with drugs, alcohol, and sex (Jhangiani and Tarry 2014).
This duality in the behavior and attitudes only proves the abovementioned correlation.
Baumeister, Smart, and Boden (1996) in their research on self-esteem concluded that
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).

SUMMARY
In essence, the self as a cognitive construct emphasizes that our sense of self is a mental
representation shaped by cognitive processes, social influences, and personal experiences.
The self is not fixed or innate entity but rather a dynamic and cognitive construct. It involves
how individuals think about themselves, their self-identity, and their self-concept.
Understanding this concept helps us comprehend how individuals perceive and define
themselves, contributing to their identity and self-concept.

LEARNING ASSESSMENT
I. IDENTIFICATION.
Read the following sentences. Identify the correct word or words
by what is asked in the sentence.

1. He was one of the earliest psychologists to study the self, and he conceptualized the
self as having two aspects-the “I” and the “me”.

2. a rather new field in the social sciences compared to the those mentioned in the earlier
lessons.

3. composed of one’s personal characteristics, roles and responsibilities, as well as

affiliations that define who one is.

4. basically comes to your mind when you are asked about yourself.

5. argued that human interaction helps develop the self.

6. This states that we can feel threatened when someone outperforms us, especially
when that person is close to us, that is, a friend or family.

7. presents us with at least three other self-schemas; the actual, the ideal, and the ought
self.

8. This can be too much that we are concerned about being observed and criticized by
others, also known as self-consciousness.

9. this may be positive or negative depending on the circumstances and our next course
of action.

10. One of the ways in which our social relationship affects our self-esteem.
II. FILL IN THE BLANKS.
Read the sentence carefully and fill in the blanks the correct word or words
to complete the sentence.

1. Carver and Scheier identified two ______of self that we can be aware of; 1) the
private self or a person’s internal thoughts and feelings, and 2) the public self or what
a person commonly shows to the others, specifically for creating a good public image

2. This duality in the behavior and attitudes only ______the abovementioned correlation.

3. ______ with high self-esteem are commonly described as outgoing, adventurous, and
adaptable in a lot of situations.

4. According to the ______ __________ theory, we learn about ourselves, the

appropriateness of our behaviors, as well as our social statuses by comparing aspects
of ourselves with other people.

5. Several ____________, especially during the field’s earlier development, followed

this trend of thought by looking deeper into what they think was the mind.

6. ________ is composed of one’s personal characteristics, roles and responsibilities, as

affiliations that define who one is.

7. __________ is basically what comes to your mind when you are asked about
yourself.

8. George Herbert Mead of the symbolic interactionism ________ that human

interaction helps develop the self.

9. Our ____________ also presents us with at least three other self-schemas.

10. One of the ways in which our social relationship, affects our self-esteem is through
______________.

III. MULTIPLE CHOICE.

 Below are Multiple Questions. Read the questions carefully and choose the
correct answer. Encircle the letter of your choice.

1. He was one of the earliest psychologists to study the self, and he conceptualized the
self as having two aspects the “I” and the “me”.
a. Carl Rogers b. William James c. Carver and Scheier
2. a rather new field in the social sciences compared to the those mentioned in the
earlier lessons.
a. Sociology b. Anthropology c. Psychology
3. captured the idea in his concept of self-schema-our-own organized system or
collection of knowledge about who we are.
a. Carl Rogers b. William James c. Carver and Schiere
4. the symbolic interactionism argued that human interaction helps develop the self
(Hogg and Vaughan 2010). The result of this interaction between who we think we
are and how others see us is what others call “self-concept”.
a. William James b. Carl Rogers c. George Herbert
5. They identified two types of self that we can be aware of; 1) the private self or a
person’s internal thoughts and feelings, and 2) the public self or what a person
commonly shows to the others, specifically for creating a good public image.
a. William and Carl b. Carver and Scheier c. George and Herbert
6. One of the ways in which our social relationship, affects our self-esteem.
a. Social comparison b. social media c. socialization
7. He argued that human interaction helps develop the self.
a. George Herbert b. Carver c. Carl Rogers
8. A trait characterized by overly high self-esteem, self-admiration, and self-
centerdness.
a. Narcissist b. Narcissism c. Narcistic
9. Who we like to be in the future.
a. Ought-self b. ideal-self c. actual-self
10. Who we are at the present.
a. Ought-self b. ideal-self c. actual-self

IV. MATCHING TYPE.

Match the names in column A to Column B. Choose the correct answer.
 A. B.

______1. He was one of the earliest

psychologists to study the self, and he
conceptualized the self as having two a. George Herbert
aspects-the “I” and the “me”.
b. Carver and
_____2. He captured the idea in his
concept of self-schema-our-own Scheier
organized system or collection of
knowledge about who we are. c. Carl Rogers

_____3. He argued that human interaction d. William James

helps develop the self.
_____4. They identified two types of self e. Carver
that we can be aware of; 1) the private self
f. Private self
or a person’s internal thoughts and
feelings, and 2) the public self or what a
g. Ideal-self
person commonly shows to the others,
specifically for creating a good public
h. Public self
image.
_____5. A person’s internal thoughts and i. Narcissism
feelings.
j. Ought-self
_____6. A person commonly shows to the
others, especially for creating a good k. Self-awareness
public image.
_____7. Who we like to be, especially in
the future.
_____8. Who we think should be in
contrast to the actual self.
_____9. May be positive or negative
depending on the circumstances and our
next course of action.
_____10. A trait characterized by overly
high self-esteem, self-admiration, and
self-centerdness.
V. ENUMERATION

Give the correct answer in each item.

1. Enumerate the three other self-schemas.

a.
b.
c.
2. Enumerate the two other concepts similar to self.
a.
b.
3. Enumerate the two types of self that we can be aware of.
a.
b.
4. Enumerate the two psychologist who identified the two types of self that we can be aware of
a.
b.
5. Enumerate the two aspects of self, conceptualized by William James.
a.
b.
VI. DISCUSSION.
Read the Questions carefully and answer correctly.

1. How does our social relationship affects our self-esteem?

2. What three self-schemas, Self-awareness presents us?

3. What is self-esteem?

4. What is Narcissism?

5. What is the self as a cognitive construct?