self as cognitive construct Flashcards
Concepts similar to self?
Identity and self concept
Identity
Who one is
Self concept
What comes into your mind when asked who you are
Not fixed in one time frame
Self, identity, self concept
Carl Rogers
Captured this idea in his concept self schema
Theories generally see the self and identity
As mental constructs, created and recreated in memory
Sigmund Freud
Saw the self,its mental processes and one’s behavior
Theory of symbolic interactionism
Argued that the self is created and developed through human interaction
Three reasons why self and identity are social products
- We do not create ourselves of nothing. Society helped in creating the foundations of who we are.
- Whether we admit it or not, we actually need others to affirm and reinforce who we think we are.
- What we think is important to us may also have been influenced what is important to our social and historical context.
Self awareness
When we are aware of our self concept
Two types of self we need to be aware
Private self and public self
Private self
Internal standards and private thoughts and feelings
Public self
Public image commonly geared having a good presentation of yourself to others
Three other self schema of self awareness
Actual, ideal, and ought self
Actual self
Who you are at the moment
Ideal self
Who you like to be
Ought self
Who you think you should be
Self consciousness
Self awareness can be too much that we are concerned of being observed and criticized by others
Social comparison
Our social relationship affects our self esteem
Two types of social comparison
Downward social comparison, upward social comparison
Downward social comparison
Comparing ourselves with those who are worse off than us, which may raise our self esteem
Upward social comparison
Comparing ourselves with those who are better than us that can motivate us
Self evaluation maintenance
We can feel threatened when someone out performs us
