Ge 1 - Lesson 4

The SELF as Cognitive
Construct
• the scientific study of human behavior and mental
processes.
SELF, SELF-CONCEPT,
& SELF-IDENTITY
SELF: ‘I’ and ‘ME’
• William James (1890) – conceptualized the self as having
two aspects: “I” & “me”
➢ I = the thinking, acting, and feeling self.
➢ Me = the physical characteristics and psychological
capabilities that makes you who you are.
• Carl Rogers (1959) and his theory of personality
➢ I = the one who acts and decides
➢ Me = what you think about yourself.
SELF-CONCEPT & SELF-IDENTITY
• Identity = composed of personal characteristics, social
roles, responsibilities, and 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 nor for life.
SELF & IDENTITY AS MENTAL CONSTRUCT
• Theories generally see the self and identity as mental construct:

➢ created and recreated in memory.
• Humanistic Perspective & Carl Rogers:
➢ Both Maslow and Rogers (1961) believed that human beings are always
striving to fulfill their innate capacities and capabilities and to become
everything that their genetic potential will allow them to become.
➢ Self-actualizing tendency
➢ An important tool in human self-actualization is the development of an
image of oneself, or the self-concept.
MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS
EXAMPLE OF
SELF-SCHEMA
• Carl Rogers’s concept of self-schema:

➢ self-schema: our organized system or collection of knowledge about who we
are.
➢ also changes as we grow and adapt to changes around us.
➢ they actively shape and affect how you see, think, and feel about things
• Real Self vs. Ideal Self
➢ Real self - one’s perception of actual characteristics, traits, and abilities.
➢ Ideal self - one’s perception of whom one should be or would like to be.
• Psychodynamic Perspective & Sigmund Frued
➢ Freud’s view of the self was multitiered, divided among the conscious,
preconscious, and unconscious.
➢ Preconscious mind - level of the mind in which information is available but
not currently conscious.
➢ Conscious mind - level of the mind that is aware of immediate
surroundings and perceptions.
➢ Unconscious mind - level of the mind in which thoughts, feelings,
memories, and other information are kept that are not easily or voluntarily
brought into consciousness.
• Psychodynamic Perspective &
Sigmund Freud
• The self, mental processes, and one’s
behavior as the result of the interaction
between the Id, the Ego, and the
Superego.
• Id –
• Ego –
• Superego –
• Self and identity are products of social interactions and group affiliations
• George Herbert Mead & the Theory of Symbolic Interactionism
➢ states that the self is created and developed through human interactions.
➢ Self and identity as social products:
1. We do not create ourselves out of nothing. Society helped in creating the
foundations of who we are.
2. We need others as reference points about our identity. We 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.
SELF & IDENTITY
• Social interaction and group affiliation, therefore, are vital factors in creating
our self-concept and in turn, our self-identity.
• It is also inevitable that we can have several social identities.
➢ These identities can overlap.
➢ We automatically play the roles as we interact with our groups.
SELF-AWARENESS
• Self-awareness - being aware of our self-concept.
• Two types of self that we can be aware of:
➢ 1. the private self: your internal standards and private thoughts
➢ 2. the public self: your public image commonly geared toward having a good
presentation of yourself to others
• 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 be too much that we are concerned about being observed
and criticized by others [self-consciousness]
SELF-ESTEEM
• Our group identity and self-awareness also has a great impact on our self -
esteem.
• Self-esteem – defined as our own positive or negative perception or evaluation
of ourselves.
• One of the ways in which our social relationships affects our self-esteem is
through social comparison.
➢ 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 other times, especially with large crowds, we may experience
deindividuation.
• Deindividuation - loss of individual self-awareness and individual
accountability in groups.
SOCIAL COMPARISON & SELF-ESTEEM
1. Downward Social Comparison
– creating a positive self-concept by comparing ourselves with those who are
worse off than us.
- by having the advantage, we can raise our self-esteem
2. Upward Social Comparison
- comparing ourselves with those who are better off than us.
- can be a form of motivation or otherwise
• Social comparison and its effect to self-esteem also occurs on groups
• A person’s self-esteem may be heightened if his group is performing better.
• Self-evaluation Maintenance Theory – states that we can feel threatened when
someone outperform us, especially when the person is close to us.
• Three ways in which we react to such a case:
1. We distance ourselves from that person or redefine our relationship with
them.
➢ Some will resort to the silent treatment, change of friends, or redefine by being
closer to that person.
2. We reconsider the importance of the aspect or skill in which you were
outperformed.
➢ You look for something where you could excel.
• Self-evaluation Maintenance Theory – states that we can feel threatened when
someone outperform us, especially when the person is close to us.
• Three ways in which we react to such a case:
1. We distance ourselves from that person or redefine our relationship with
them.
➢ Some will resort to the silent treatment, change of friends, or redefine by being
closer to that person.
2. We reconsider the importance of the aspect or skill in which you were
outperformed.
➢ You look for something where you could excel.
3. We strengthen our resolve to improve that certain aspect of ourselves.
➢ Achieve your goal through hard work like practicing more.
• These reactions help us to preserve or increase our self-esteem.
• However, in an attempt to increase or maintain self-esteem, some people
become narcissistic.
NARCISSISM
• Narcissism – a trait characterized by overly high self-esteem, self-admiration,
and self-centeredness.
• Narcissistic people are often charismatic because of how they take care of their
image.
➢ They will try to look for better partners, better acquaintances/friends, as well
as people who will appreciate them a lot.
➢ This makes them a bad partner or friend since they engage in a
relationships only to serve themselves.

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Ge 1 - Lesson 4

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The SELF as Cognitive

• Self-concept = is what basically comes to your mind when

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

• Theories generally see the self and identity as mental construct:

• Carl Rogers’s concept of self-schema:

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