THE SELF AS COGNITIVE CONSTRUCT

Definition:

Cognitive – involving conscious intellectual activity such as thinking, reasoning, or remembering

Construct – something constructed by the mind such as a theoretical entity

LESSON OBJECTIVES:

1. Identify the different ideas in psychology about the “self”.

2. Create your own definition of the “self” based on the definitions from psychology.

3. Analyze the effects of various factors identified in psychology in the formation of the “self”.

William James was one of the earliest psychologist to study the self and conceptualized the self as
having two aspects – the “I” and the “me”.

The “I” is the thinking, acting, and feeling self.

The “me” is the physical characteristics as well as psychological capabilities that makes who you are.

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.

Identity vs Self-concept

Identity is composed of personal characteristics, social roles, and responsibilities, as well as affiliations
that define who one is.

Self-concept is what basically comes to your mind when you are asked about who you are.

Self, identity and self-concept are not fixed in one time frame.

Example: (When asked about who you are)

Possible Answer:

“I was a varsity player when I was in grade five” (PAST)

“I am a college student” (PRESENT)

“I will be a future company owner” (FUTURE)

Carl Rogers captured this idea in his concept of self-schema or our organized system or collection of
knowledge about who we are.

As you grow and adapt to the changes around you, they also change.

But they are not passive receivers, they actively shape and affect how we see, think and feel about
things.
Example:

When someone states your first name, even if they are not talking about you, your attention is drawn to
them.

If you have a provincial language, and you hear someone using it, it catches your attention.

If you consider yourself a book-lover, a bookstore may always entice you out of all the other stores in a
mall.

Theories generally see the self and identity as mental constructs, created and recreated in memory.

Current researches point to the frontal lobe of the brain as the specific area in the brain associated with
the processes concerning the self.

Freud saw the self, its mental processes, and one’s behavior as the results of the interaction between
the Id, the Ego and the Superego.

Id – instincts (impulsive & unconscious)

Ego – reality

Superego – morality

Nature-and-Nurture Perspective:

The society and culture affects the formation of the self, identity and self-concept.

Social interaction always has a part to play in who we think we are.

G.H. Mead argued that the self is created and developed through human interaction.

There are three reasons why self and identity are social products:

1. We do not create ourselves out of nothing.

- society helped in creating the foundations of who we are and even if we make our choices, we will
still operate in our social and historical contexts in one way or the other.

2. Whether we like to admit it or not, we actually need others to affirm and reinforce who we think
we are.

- we need them as reference points about our identity

- example in Facebook, there are those who will consciously or unconsciously try to garner more
“likes” and/or positive “reactions” and that can and will reinforce their self-concept.

- it is almost like a battle between who got more friends, more views and trending topics.

- if one says he is a good singer, but his performance and the evaluation of his audience says
otherwise, that will have an effect on that person’s idea of himself, one way or another.
3. What we think is important to us may also have been influenced by what is important in our social
or historical context.

- education might be an important thing to your self-concept because you grew up in a family that
valued education.

- money might be important to some who have grown in a low-income family and realized how
important money is in addressing certain needs like medical emergencies.

- being a nurse or a lawyer can be priority in your self-schema because it is the in-demand course
during your time.

Social interaction and group affiliation are vital factors in creating our self-concept especially in the
aspect of providing us with our social identity or our perception of who we are based on our
membership to certain groups.

Example:

You are a student who is also part of a certain group of friends. You study because it is your role as a
student, but you prefer to study with your friends and your study pattern changes when you are with
your friends than when you do it alone.

There are times when we are aware of our self-concepts – also called self-awareness

Carver and Scheier identified two types of self that we can be aware of:

1. The private self or your internal standards and private thoughts and feelings

2. The public self or your public image commonly geared toward having a good presentation of
yourself to others

Self-awareness also presents us with at least

three other self-schema:

1. the actual self – who you are at the moment

2. the ideal – who you like to be

3. the ought self – who you think you should be

Example:

You are a student interested in basketball but is 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 a solution to such discrepancies 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.

Self-awareness 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.

Self-awareness can be too much that we are concerned about being observed and criticized by others –
also known as self-consciousness.

With large crowds, we may experience deindividuation or “the loss of individual self-awareness and
individual accountability in groups”

A lot of people will attune themselves with the emotions of their group and because the large crowd
also provides some kind of anonymity, we may lessen our self-control and act in ways that we will not
do when we are alone.

Example:

Mass demonstration erupting into a riot.

Our group identity and self-awareness also has a great impact on our self-esteem.

Self esteem – our own positive or negative perception or evaluation of ourselves.

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 status by comparing aspects of ourselves with other people.

The downward social comparison is the more common type of comparing ourselves with others.

Here, we create a positive self-concept by comparing ourselves with those who are worse off than us.

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

While it can be a form of motivation for some, a lot of those who do this actually felt lower self-esteem
as they highlight more of their weakness or inequities.

This occurs also among groups.

“Cherishing and savoring the positives in life is a more powerful, stable, and direct strategy in coping, as
it focuses solely on the self, with the absence of comparison to others”.

(Emmons & McCollough, 2003)

If a person’s group is performing better and is acknowledged more than the other group, then his self-
esteem may also be heightened.

Social comparison also entails what is called “self-evaluation maintenance” – states that we can feel
threatened when someone out-performs us, especially when that person is close to us.

In this case, we usually react in 3 ways:

1. We distance ourselves from that person or redefine our relationship with them.
Some will resort to silent treatment, change of friends…. or by being closer to that person, hoping that
some association may give him a certain kind of acknowledgment also.

2. We may also reconsider the importance of the aspect or skill in which you were outperformed.

Ex. You may find a hobby where you could excel, thus preserving your self-esteem.

3. We may also strengthen our resolve to improve that certain aspect of ourselves.

Ex. You might join seminars, practice more often, read books about it and add some elements in
drawing that makes it unique among others.

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.

Narcissistic – a trait characterized by overly high self-esteem, self-admiration, and self-centeredness.

They are often charismatic because of how they take care of their image.

They try to look for better partners, better acquaintances, as well as people who will appreciate them a
lot.

This makes them a bad romantic partner or friend since they engage in relationships only to serve
themselves.

Sometimes, there is a thin line between high self-esteem and narcissism.

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

They also initiate activities and building relationship with people.

However, they may also dismiss other activities that do 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.

It’s crucial to mindfully observe the comparisons we formulate in our heads and remember that every
one of us is unique in our personalities, strengths, weaknesses, and abilities. In this way, it’s impossible
to accurately compare ourselves to others.

“A flower does not think of competing to the flower next to it. It just blooms.”

― Zen Shin
How to Boost your SELF-ESTEEM or Improve Your SELF-CONCEPT:

1. Challenge bad thoughts about yourself

Replace them with more positive thoughts which celebrate things you’re good at. You can do this by
writing down a list of at least three things you do well. Remember this list when you start feeling low,
this will help bring yourself back to reality.

2. Take care of you

Eating well and exercising boosts endorphins, the body’s natural opiates, which make you feel good on
the inside and stimulates a more positive mood. When you exercise, you’ll ease stress and feel better
about yourself. Having a cheesy dance in your bedroom, or going for a jog around the block are great
ways to boost your self-esteem.

3. Relax

Stress plays a huge role in self-esteem. Reduce your stress by taking time out to do something you find
relaxing. This can be anything from taking a bath, meditation, gaming, exercise, read the Bible, pray…
you name it: if it works, it works!

4. Set Goals

Take the time every day to think about what you’d like to achieve. Then set yourself realistic goals for
each day and keep track of your progress by writing down all your accomplishments. This can be as
simple as finishing off a piece of work or tidying up (we all know how challenging this can be!) You’ll feel
an enormous sense of accomplishment when you’ve ticked off everything on your list for the day. The
trick is to not get bogged down by the list; some days you won’t manage to get it all done and that’s OK
too!

5. Help someone out

This can be a friend, family member or even a classmate who is struggling with their work or having a
tough time at school. You could give them some advice or just be there to listen to a problem. It’s
amazing how much our confidence is boosted when we do selfless things – do one thing a week to help
someone else without expecting anything in return.

6. Take a different perspective

Look at tricky situations from alternative angles. Try to replace thoughts like ‘why should I bother?’ with
‘I won’t know unless I try’. By looking at a situation through a more realistic lens you’ll realize that you
actually can do what you want – you just need to apply a bit more positivity! By doing this every time
you have a negative thought, you’ll eventually default to this kind of positivity on the regular, and who
doesn’t love a go-getter?

7. Try new things

Our brains are really good at learning new stuff and the more new stuff you learn, the better you get at
learning it. Everyone needs a creative outlet; music, art, dance, games, sewing, cooking, web design – all
you need to do is get on YouTube and find some tutorials. All the information you need is out there – it’s
just waiting for you to click on it.
8. Surround yourself with people who make you feel good

Spend your time with people who appreciate and care about you. It can be a little tricky at first, but try
to distance yourself from people who make you feel bad about yourself. Even if they’re the most
popular kid in school or the coolest person you know, it’s really not worth hanging out with them if they
make you feel rubbish! Strengthen other friendships and you’ll most certainly feel better about things in
the long run!

9. Accept yourself

First up: self-acceptance is key to feeling confident. When people pay you compliments, simply say
‘thanks’ rather than brushing them aside or countering them with a negative. Second: Nobody is perfect.
Accept your ‘flaws’ or imperfections and learn to love them, they are what make you unique, work it!

10. Keep visual reminders of things that make you feel good

Mementos are a great way to see all the cool things you’ve been doing. How about making a ‘wall of
fame’ in your bedroom with snaps of you and your friends? We are living in an age where we have a
camera in our pocket at all times…take more pictures! Capture those memorable moments and when
you look back at them, you’ll realize how many awesome things you’ve done this year!