Lesson 3: The self as a cognitive construct

1. LESSON 3: THE SELF AS
COGNTIVE CONSTRUCT
CHAPTER 1
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2. LESSON
OBJECTIVES:
At the end of this lesson, you should be
able to:
Identify the different ideas in psychology about
the “self”
Create your own definition of the “self” based on
the definitions from psychology; and
Analyze the effects of various factors identified in
psychology in the formation of the “self”

3. INTRODUCTION
Modern researchers acknowledge the contribution of
different fields of studies about the self ranging from the
study of the self from a larger context to (nature and
society) down to the individual. Psychology may focus on
the individual and the cognitive functions but it does not
discount the context and other possible factors that
affect the individual.

4. Someone may sharply say “I am who I am”. Yet one may ask, “If
you are who you are, then who are you that makes you who you
are?” Self is defined in several interchangeable concepts but
simply put, self is the sense of personal identity and who we are
as individuals. William James (1890) conceptualized the self as
having two aspects, the “I” and the “me”. The I-is the thinking,
acting and feeling self (Hogg and Vaughan 2010). The me is the
physical characteristics as well as psychological capabilities that
make who you are (Gleitman et. al , 2011)Carl Roger’s(1959) theory
of personality also used the I as the one who acts and decides
while me is what you think or feel about yourself as an object.

5. IDENTITY AND SELF CONCEPT
Other concepts similar to self are identity and self concept. Identity
is composed of personal characteristics, social roles as well as
affiliations that define who one is (Oysemen, Elmore and Smith 2012).
Self concept is what basically comes to your mind when you are
asked who you are.
Self identity and self concept are not fixed in one time frame. You may
identify yourself based from who you are years back, at present or in
the future.

6. THE SELF - SCHEMA CONCEPT
Carl Rofers captured this idea in his conecpt of self-schema aor our organized system or collection
of knowledge about who we are (Gleitman, Gross, and Reisberg; Jhangiani and Tarry 2014)
Self Religion
Hobbies
Nationality
Family

7. MENTAL CONSTRUCT
Theories generally points out the self and identity as mental constructs
created and recreated in memory. Researchers point out to the frontal
lobe of the brain as the specific area in the brain associated with the
process concerning the self.
Sigmund 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.
Under the theory of symbolic interactionism Mead argued that the self is
created and developed through human interaction.

8. According to Oyserman, Elmore and Smith (2012) there are three reasons
why the self is created and developed through human interactions:
We do not create ourselves out of nothing. Society helps in
creating the foundations of who we are even if we make our
choices, we still operate in our social and historical contexts in one
way or the other.
1.
2. Whether we like it or not we need others to affirm or 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.

9. There are times when we are aware of our self concepts (self
awareness):
The private self of your internal standards and private thoughts and
feelings
1.
2. The public self of your public image commonly geared toward
having a good presentation of yourself to others(Hogg and Vaughan,
2010)
Self awareness also presents us at least three other self schema:
actual, ideal, and ought self. The actual self is who you are at the
moment, the ideal self is who you like to be and the ought self is who
you think you should be.

10. 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; it can help
remind you that you have important things to do when
tempted to do something else.
Self awareness also sometimes can be too much that that we
may be concerned about being observed and criticized by
others, also called self consciousness.

11. At other times especially when we are at large
crowd, we may experience de individuation or the
“ loss of individual self awareness and individual
accountability in groups. A lot of people will
attune themselves with the emotion of their
group and because the large crowd also provides
some kind of anonymity, we may lessen self
control and act in ways that we will not do when
we are alone

12. SELF ESTEEM
One of the common concepts associated with the self is self
esteem. It is defined as our own positive and negative
perception or evaluation of ourselves (Jhangiani and Tarry,
(2014). One of the ways in which our social relationship affects
our self esteem is through comparison. According to the social
comparison theory we learn about ourselves, the
appropriateness of our behaviors, as well as our status by
comparing aspects of ourselves with other people (Hoggs and
Vaughan, 2010).

13. The downward social comparison is the most common
type of comparing ourselves with others. We create a
positive self concept if we compare ourselves with
those who are worse off than us. By having the
advantage we raise our self- esteem . The upward
social comparison is comparing oneself with those who
are better off than himself. While it can be a motivation
for some, some may feel having a lower self- esteem
as they highlight more of their weaknesses and
inequities

14. NARCISSISM
In one’s attempt to maintain or increase self –esteem he may
resort to Narcissism. It is a trait characterized by overly high
self – esteem, self admiration and self - centeredness. One
often takes care of his image includes interpersonal
relationships by looking for better partners, better
acquaintances, as well as people who will appreciate them a lot.
This makes one a bad romantic partner or friend since they
engage in relationships only to serve themselves (Jhiangiani
and Tarry, 2010).

15. People with high self-esteem are usually outgoing,
adventurous and adaptable to a lot of situations.
They initiate or build relationships with people.
However, they may leave a relationship or
activities that do not conform or boost their self
concept. Because of so high regard for
themselves, they usually become bullies, usually
try to experiment in doing things such as drugs,
alcohol and sex.

16. THANK YOU!
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