6 The Self Cognitive As The Cognitive Construct.ppt

The Self as Cognitive Construct

Two Aspects of Self

The

• The thinking, acting, and feeling self

The

• The one who acts and decide

The

• The phyical characteristics as well as the psychological capabilities that makes who you are

The

• What you think or feel about yourself as an object

Other Concepts of the Self

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 selfconcept are not fixed in one time

hobbies

family

SELF

nationality

religion

Theories generally see the self, identity, and self-concept as mental constructs.

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 says that the self is created and developed thru human interaction (Mead)

3 Reasons (self & identity as social products)

• 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 (self & identity as social products)

• We need others to reinforce who we think we are. They serve as reference points about our identity.

3 Reasons (self & identity as social products)

• 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-concept, it is called selfawareness.

2 Types of Self-awareness

• private self • public self

Self-schema of Self-awareness

• the actual • the ideal • the ought self

Actual self

It is who you are at the moment.

Ideal self

It is who you like to be.

Ought self

It is who you think you should be.

Self-awareness may be positive or negative depending on the circumstances.

Self-awareness can keep you form doing something dangerous.

Self-awareness can be too much that we are concerned about being observed and criticized by others (selfconsciouness)

Ex. With a large crowd, one may experience deindividuation.

Therefore

Group identity and selfawareness have a great impact on our self-esteem.

One way that affects our selfesteem is through social comparison.

Social comparison theory tells 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 off than us to create a positive self-concept and raise self-esteem.

The upward social comparison is comparing ourselves with those who are better off 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.

Social comparison entails self-evaluation maintenance theory.

Self-evaluation theory

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.