LESSON 3: THE SELF AS

COGNITIVE CONSTRUCT
 “I AM WHO I AM”

•IT’S THE USUAL EXPRESSION OR STATEMENT

WE SAY TO AVOID FURTHER ANALYTICAL
DISCUSSIONS.
•BUT, IT STILL BEGS THE QUESTION, “IF YOU
ARE WHO YOU ARE, THEN WHO ARE YOU THAT
MAKES WHO YOU ARE?”
 IN PSYCHOLOGY…

•“SELF” IS “THE SENSE OF PERSONAL IDENTITY

and OF WHO WE ARE AS INDIVIDUALS”
(Jhangiani and Tarry 2014, 106)
•WILLIAM JAMES (1890) conceptualized that
the self as having two aspects: the “I” and
the “Me”
 IN PSYCHOLOGY…

•“I” – is the THINKING, ACTING, and FEELING

Self (Gleitman, Gross, and Reisberg 2011, 616; Hogg and Vaughn 2010, 66)
•“Me” – is the PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS as
well as the PSYCHOLOGICAL CAPABILITIES
that makes who you are (Gleitman, Gross, and Reisberg 2011,
616; Hogg and Vaughn 2010, 66)
 IN PSYCHOLOGY…

•CARL ROGERS (1959) Theory of Personality

•“I” – the one who ACTS and DECIDES
•“Me” – is what you THINK or FEEL about
yourself as an object (Gleitman, Gross, and Reisberg 2011)
 Other concepts similar to Self

• “IDENTITY” is composed of one’s personal

characteristics, social roles and
responsibilities, as well as affiliations that
defines who one is (Elmore, Oyserman, and Smith 2012, 69)
•“SELF-CONCEPT” is basically what comes to
your mind when you are asked about who you
are (Elmore, Oyserman, and Smith 2012, 69)
 Is self, identity, and self-concept fixed in one
time frame?

• When somebody was asked about who he is,

he might reply, “I was a varsity player in
Grade 5”; or “A college student”; or “A
future politician.”
•Are they also fixed for life?
•Are they ever changing at every moment?
 Representations of the SELF:

•A MALLEABLE METAL
•Like WATER
•It can be in solid, liquid, or gas form
but at its core, it is still comprised of
the same elements.
Carl Roger’s Concept of Self-Schema (our own
organized system or collection of knowledge about
who we are)

Hobbies

Family SELF Religion

Nationality
•It may include a person’s interests, work,
course, age, name, physical characteristics,
etc.
•These change as one grows and adapts to the
changes around you .
•They are not passive receivers as they actively
shape and affect how you see, think, and feel
about things.
 What happens when…

•Someone states your first name even if he

is not talking about you?
•You hear someone speaking your provincial
language?
•You consider yourself a booklover, and find
a bookstore in a mall?
 How do theories generally see the Self and
Identity?

•The Self and Identity are mental constructs

created and re-created in memory (Elmore,
Oyserman, and Smith 2012, 75).
•Current researchers point to the frontal
lobe of the brain as the specific area
associated with processes concerning
the self (Elmore, Oyserman, and Smith 2012, 75).
 Psychology in its early stage of Development

•Looking deeper into the mind of the

person to theorize about the SELF,
IDENTITY, SELF-CONCEPT, and in turn,
one’s PERSONALITY.
•The FREUDIAN THEORY of PERSONALITY
 Can we fully discount the effects of society
and culture to the formation of the self?

•Social interaction always has a part to play

in who we think we are.
•A nature-and-nurture perspective
 Theory of Symbolic Interactionism

•G.H. Mead (1934) argued that the self is

created and developed through human
interaction (Hogg and Vaughan 2010, 66).
•Self and Identity are social products (Elmore,
Oyserman, and Smith 2012, 76).
 Three Reasons:

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 another.
 Three Reasons:

2) Whether we like to admit it or not, we

actually need others to affirm and
reinforce who we think we are. We also
need them as reference points about our
identity.
e.g. Social media interactions
 Three Reasons:

3) What we think as important to us may

also have been influenced by what is
important in our social or historical
context. For instance, why do you think
education is important to you? For some,
why is money so important to them?
•Social interaction and group affiliation,
therefore, 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 (Jhangiani and
Tarry 2014, 110).
•Is it inevitable that we can have several
social identities?
•If it is, can they overlap?
•The case of a student like you
 Two types of Self that we can be aware of:

•Carver and Scheier (1981)

1) the PRIVATE self or your internal standards
and private thoughts and feelings;
2) The PUBLIC self or your public image
commonly geared towards having a good
presentation of yourself to others (Hogg and
Vaughn 2010, 69)
 Three types of Self-Awareness that we can be
aware of:
1) The ACTUAL self
It is who you are at the moment
2) The IDEAL self
It is who you like to be
3) The OUGHT self
It is who you think you should be

Case in point: A student who is interested in basketball

but is also academically challenged in most of his subjects.
 Is Self-Awareness positive or negative?

•Depends upon the circumstances

•It can keep you from doing something
dangerous or something that can
compromise your other priorities.
•It can be too much that we are concerned
about being observed and criticized by
others (self-consciousness).
 Do we experience loss of individual self-awareness
and individual accountability when we are in a
group?

•Deindividuation happens when one is with a

group (Festinger, Pepitone, and Newcomb, 1952; Zimbardo, 1969, all in
Jhangiani and Tarry 2014, 114).

•We tend to attune with the emotions of

our group and lessen our self-control
and act in ways that we will not do
when we are alone.
 Does our group identity and self-awareness
have an impact on our SELF-ESTEEM?

•Self-esteem is “our own positive

and negative perception or
evaluation of ourselves.” (Jhangiani and
Tarry 2014, 125; Gleitman, Gross, and Reisberg 2011, 617)
 Downward Social Comparison

•The more common type

•We create a positive self-concept
by comparing ourselves with those
who are worse off than us (Jhangiani and
Tarry 2014, 139).
 Upward Social Comparison

•The more common type

•We create a negative self-concept
by comparing ourselves with those
who are better off than us (Jhangiani and
Tarry 2014, 139).
•Is this a motivating factor for us?
•Does this happen also in groups?
•If a person’s group is performing better and
is acknowledged more than the other
group, does one’s self-esteem gets
heightened?
•Social comparison also entails what is
called self-evaluation maintenance theory
•It states that we can feel threatened when
someone out-performs us, especially when
the person is close to us, i.e. a friend or
family (Tesser 1988 in Jhangiani and Tarry 2014, 144).
 How do we react?

• We distance ourselves from that person or redefine

our relationship with them.
• Silent treatment; change of friends, get closer with
that person.
• We may also reconsider the importance of the
aspect or skill in which you were outperformed.
• We may strengthen our resolve to improve that
certain aspect of ourselves.
 In the attempt to increase or maintain self-
esteem, do we become narcissistic?

• NARCISSISM is a trait characterized by overly high

self-esteem, self-admiration, and self-
centeredness.
• Narcissists are often charismatic because of how
they take care of their image.
• This includes their interpersonal relationships –
looking for better partners, better acquaintances,
as well as people who will appreciate them a lot.
 In the attempt to increase or maintain self-
esteem, do we become narcissistic?

•Are they good romantic partners or

friends?
•Narcissists are bad romantic partners or
friends since they engage in
relationships only to serve themselves.
 High self-esteem versus narcissism

•There is a thin line between high self-

esteem and narcissism.
•Rosenberg Scale
•Need for you to be honest and objective
about what you feel and see about yourself.
 Self-Esteem and Positive Outputs and Outlook

•
SELF- POSITIVE
ESTEEM OUTLOOK

SELF- POSITIVE
ESTEEM OUTLOOK
 NOTE:

•HIGH OR HEALTHY SELF-ESTEEM MAY RESULT

TO AN OVERALL GOOD PERSONALITY BUT IS
NOT, AND SHOULD NOT BE, THE ONLY
SOURCE OF A PERSON’S HEALTHY
PERSPECTIVE OF HIMSELF/HERSELF.
 CHARACTERISTICS OF PEOPLE WITH HIGH
SELF-ESTEEM

• OUTGOING, ADVENTUROUS, ADAPTABLE IN A LOT OF

SITUATIONS
• INITIATE ACTIVITIES AND BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS
WITH PEOPLE
• DISMISS OTHER ACTIVITIES THAT DOES NOT
CONFORM TO THEIR SELF-CONCEPT/SELF-ESTEEM
• MAY BE BULLIES AND EXPERIMENT ON ABUSIVE
BEHAVIORS (DRUGS, ALCOHOL, AND SEX)
 CHARACTERISTICS OF PEOPLE WITH HIGH
SELF-ESTEEM

• OUTGOING, ADVENTUROUS, ADAPTABLE IN A LOT OF

SITUATIONS
• INITIATE ACTIVITIES AND BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS
WITH PEOPLE
• DISMISS OTHER ACTIVITIES THAT DOES NOT
CONFORM TO THEIR SELF-CONCEPT/SELF-ESTEEM
• MAY BE BULLIES AND EXPERIMENT ON ABUSIVE
BEHAVIORS (DRUGS, ALCOHOL, AND SEX)
 HOW TO ADDRESS THIS KIND OF PERSONALITY
(Based on the research of Baumeister, Smart, and
Boden (1996).

•PRORAMS, 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, 132).