THE SELF

AS
COGNITIVE
CONSTRUCT
TWO ASPECTS OF SELF
 THE “I”
• William James(1890) - The thinking,
acting, and feeling self.
• Carl Rogers(1959) – The one who
acts and decides.
THE “ME”

•William James(1890) - The

phyical characteristics as
well as the psychological
capabilities that makes who
you are.
THE “ME”

•Carl Rogers(1959) - What

you think or feel about
yourself as an object .
OTHER CONCEPTS OF THE SELF

Self-Concept
IDENTITY

It is composed of personal
characteristics, social roles, and
responsibilities, as affiliations that
define who one is.
SELF CONCEPT

It is what basically comes to

your mind when you are
asked about who you are.
•The self, identity, and self-concept
are not fixed in one time.
•Carl Rogers captured this in his
concept of self-schema or our
organized system or collection of
knowledge about who we are.
 hobbies

family SELF religion

nationality
•Theories generally see the self,
identity, and self-concept as mental
constructs, created and recreated
in memory. (Oyserman, Elmore,
and Smith 2012)
•The frontal lobe of the brain as
the specific area in the brain
associated with the processes
concerning the self.
The Theory Of Symbolic
Interactionism
• the self is created and
developed through human
interaction. (Mead)
3 REASONS WHY SELF & IDENTITY
ARE SOCIAL PRODUCTS

1. We do not create ourselves

out of nothing. Society helps
the foundation of who we are,
even if we make our own
choices.
3 REASONS WHY SELF & IDENTITY
ARE SOCIAL PRODUCTS

2. We need others to
reinforce who we think
we are. They serve as
reference points about
our identity.
3 REASONS WHY SELF & IDENTITY
ARE SOCIAL PRODUCTS

3. What we think is important

to us may also have been
influenced by what is
important in our society or
historical context.
THEREFORE

Social interaction and

group affiliation are vital
factors in creating our
self-concept.
When we are aware of
our self-concepts, it is
called self-awareness.
2 TYPES OF SELF-AWARENESS
• Private Self
-internal standards, private thoughts
and feelings.
• Public Self
- Public image commonly geared
toward having a good presentation
of yourself to others.
SELF-SCHEMA OF SELF-AWARENESS

•THE ACTUAL – who you are

at the moment.
•THE IDEAL – who you like to
be.
•THE OUGHT SELF – who
you think you should be.
Self-awareness may be
positive or negative
depending on the
circumstances.
Self-awareness can
keep you from doing
something dangerous.
Self-awareness can be too
much that we are
concerned about being
observed and criticized
by others (self-
consciouness)
Ex. With a large
crowd, one may
experience
deindividuation.
THEREFORE

Group identity and self-

awareness have a great
impact on our self-
esteem.
One way that affects our
self-esteem is through
social comparison.
Social Comparison Theory
states that we learn about
ourselves, the appropriateness
of our behaviors, as well as our
social status by comparing
aspects of ourselves with other
people.
The downward social
comparison is comparing
ourselves with others worse
than us to create a positive
self-concept and raise self-
esteem.
The upward social
comparison is
comparing ourselves
with those who are
better than us.
While it may be a form of
motivation for some, a lot
feels lower self-esteem as
they highlight more of their
weaknesses or inequities.
SELF-EVALUATION THEORY

States that we can feel

threatened when someone
out-performs us, especially
when the person is close to
us.
REACTIONS

•Distance ourselves
from the person or
redefine our
relationship with them.
REACTIONS
•Reconsider the
importance of the
aspect or skill in which
you were
ouperformed.
REACTIONS

•Strengthen or
resolve that certain
aspect of ourselves.
Attempt to raise self-
concept may result to
narcissism for some
people.
Narcissism – a trait
characterized by overly
high self-esteem, self
admiration, and self-
centeredness.