UNDERSTANDING

THE SELF
 WEEK 6
Lesson 3:
The Self as Cognitive Construct
LESSON OBJECTIVES
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
1. Identify the different ideas in psychology
about the “self”;
2. Create your own definition of the “self” based
on the definitions from psychology; and
3. Analyze the effects of various factors
identified in psychology in the formation of
the “self.”
ACTIVITY
• This activity has two parts that try to compare how we look at
ourselves against how people perceive us depending on how
we present ourselves to them. For the first part, list 10 to 15
qualities or things that you think define who you are around
the human figure representing you.
• For the second part, in the space below, write “I am
___________ (your name). Who do you think I am based on
what you see me do or hear me say?” Pass your paper around
for two to three minutes without looking who writes on it. As
you fill out the paper of your classmates, write briefly and only
those that you observe about the person. Do not use any bad
words and do not write your name. After the allotted period,
pass all the paper to your teacher who will distribute them to
the respective owners.
ANALYSIS
Compare what you wrote about yourself to those
written by your classmates. What aspects are similar and
what are not? What aspects are always true to you?
What aspects are sometimes true or circumstantial?
What aspects do you think are not really part of your
personality?
ABSTRACTION
- There are various definitions of the “self” and other similar or
interchangeable concepts in psychology.
- Other concepts similar to self are identity and 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.
- Carl Rogers captured this idea in his concept of self-schema or
our organized system or collection of knowledge about who
we are.
- Theories generally see the self and identity as mental
constructs, created and recreated in memory.
- 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.
- 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.
2. Whether we like to admit it or not, we actually need
others to affirm and reinforce who we think we are.
3. What we think is important to us may also have been
influenced by what is important in our social or historical
context.
- Social interaction and group affiliation are vital factors in
creating our self-concept especially in the aspect of providing
us with our social identity;
- There are times when we are aware of our self-concepts; this
is 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; and
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:
• The “actual” self is who you are at the moment
• The “ideal” self is who you like to be
• The “ought” self is who you think you should be
- Self-awareness may be positive or negative depending on the
circumstances and our next course of action.
- Our group identity and self-awareness also has a great
impact on our self-esteem, defined as 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:
• The downward social comparison is the more common
type of comparing ourselves with others, by comparing
ourselves with those who are worse off than us.
• The upward social comparison which is comparing
ourselves with those who are better off than us.
- Social comparison also entails what is called self-evaluation
maintenance theory, which states that we can feel
threatened when someone out-performs us, especially when
that person is close to us.
- In the attempt to increase or maintain self-esteem, some
people become narcissistic, a “trait characterized by overly
high self-esteem, self-admiration, and self-centeredness.”
- There is a thin line between high self-esteem and narcissism
and there are a lot of tests and measurements for self-
esteem like the Rosenberg scale.
- Though self-esteem is a very important concept related to
the self, studies have shown that it only has a correlation,
not causality, to positive outputs and outlook.
- 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.
APPLICATION AND ASSESSMENT
• Do a research and list 10 things to boost your
self-esteem or improve your self-concept. Cite your
sources.
• Analyze which of those tips are more likely to
backfire and make someone conceited or narcissistic
and revise them to make the statements both helpful
to the individual as well as society in general.
LESSON SUMMARY
- Other concepts similar to self:
Identity, composed of personal characteristics, social
roles, and responsibilities
Self-concept, 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.
- Theories generally see the self and identity as mental
constructs, created and recreated in memory.
- Social interaction and group affiliation are vital factors
in creating our self-concept.
- There are times when we are aware of our self-concepts;
this is also called self-awareness.
- Two types of self that we can be aware of:
(1) the private self or your internal standards and private
thoughts and feelings, and;
(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:
• The “actual” self is who you are at the moment
• The “ideal” self is who you like to be
• The “ought” self is who you think you should be
- Our group identity and self-awareness also has a great
impact on our self-esteem.
- One of the ways in which our social relationship affects our
self-esteem is through social comparison:
• The downward social comparison is by comparing
ourselves with those who are worse off than us.
• The upward social comparison which is comparing
ourselves with those who are better off than us.