UNDERSTANDING THE SELF

LESSON 3: THE SELF AS COGNITIVE CONSTRUCT

There are many definitions of the “self” and other similar and
interchangeable concepts with it. In Psychology, there are people who argued
that the self is a mental construct, created and recreated in memory. But of
course, it does not discount the other factors that may affect the identity of an
individual. Thus, the following people contributed to the idea that the self is a
cognitive construct.

WILLIAM JAMES (1842 – 1910)

James distinguished two understandings of the
self, the self as “Me” and the self as “I”. This
distinction has recently regained popularity in
cognitive science, especially in the context of
experimental studies on the underpinnings of the
phenomenal self. This distinction was originally
based on the idea that “Me” corresponds to the
self as an object of experience (self as object),
while “I” reflects the self as a subject of
experience (self as subject). The dimensions of the
empirical self (“me”) include the “material” self
(comprised of one’s body and such extensions of
it as one’s clothing, immediate family, and
home), the “social” self (or significant interpersonal relations), and the “spiritual”
self (one’s personality, character, and defining values). The pure ego (“I”),
identifiable with the soul of traditional metaphysics, cannot be an object of
science and should not be assumed to be a substance. If the I is like a process,
the Me is akin to a product. The Me is the self that the I makes, observes, and
works on. In its broadest sense, James contended, the Me is all that a person can
or might call his or her own.

CARL ROGERS (1902 – 1987)

Rogers maintained that we behave as we do
because of the way we perceive our situation.
"As no one else can know how we perceive, we
are the best experts on ourselves." He believed
that every person could achieve their goal. This
means that the person is in touch with the here
and now, his or her subjective experiences and
feelings, continually growing and changing. He
also believed that humans have one basic
motive, that is the tendency to self-actualize -
i.e., to fulfill one's potential and achieve the
highest level of 'human-beingness' we can. Self-
actualization occurs when a person’s “ideal self”
(i.e., who they would like to be) is congruent with
their actual behavior (self-image). Rogers
 UNDERSTANDING THE SELF

describes an individual who is actualizing as a fully functioning person. The

main determinant of whether we will become self-actualized is childhood
experience. In many ways, Rogers regarded the fully functioning person as an
ideal and one that people do not ultimately achieve. It is wrong to think of this
as an end or completion of life’s journey; rather it is a process of always
becoming and changing.

SIGMUND FREUD (1856 – 1939)

According to Freud, our personality develops from
the interactions among what he proposed as the
three fundamental structures of the human mind:
the id, ego, and superego. These elements work
together to create complex human behaviors. Each
component adds its own unique contribution to
personality and the three interact in ways that have
a powerful influence on an individual. Each element
of personality emerges at different points in life.

The Id
The id, the most primitive of the three structures, is
concerned with instant gratification of basic
physical needs and urges. It operates
entirely unconscious (outside of conscious
thought). For example, if your id walked
past a stranger eating ice cream, it would
most likely take the ice cream for itself. It
doesn’t know, or care, that it is rude to
take something belonging to someone
else; it would care only that you wanted
the ice cream.
The Superego
The superego is concerned with social rules and morals. It is similar to what many
people call their “conscience.” It develops as the child learns what their culture
considers right and wrong. For example, if your superego walked past the same
stranger, it would not take their ice cream because it would know that that would
be rude. However, if both your id and your superego were involved, and your id
was strong enough to override your superego’s concern, you would still take the
ice cream, but afterward you would most likely feel guilty and shameful over your
actions.

The Ego
The ego is the rational, realistic part of our personality. It is less primitive than the
id and is partly conscious and partly unconscious. It is what Freud considered to
be the “self,” and its job is to balance the demands of the id and superego in the
practical context of reality. For example, if you walked past the stranger with ice
cream one more time, your ego would mediate the conflict between your id (“I
want that ice cream right now”) and superego (“It’s wrong to take someone
 UNDERSTANDING THE SELF

else’s ice cream”) and decide to go buy your own ice cream. While this may
mean you have to wait 10 more minutes, which would frustrate your id, your ego
decides to make that sacrifice as part of the compromise – satisfying your desire
for ice cream while also avoiding an unpleasant social situation and potential
feelings of shame.

According to Freud, the key to a healthy personality is a balance of the

three structures of the self.

Even if Freud and other theorists try to expound the self by digging deeper
into the mind of the person, they cannot fully eliminate the large impact of the
environment to the development of the identity of an individual. The following
people contributed to the idea that the self is also formed and developed
through social interaction, that is the nature-and-nurture pers

GEORGE HERBERT MEAD (1863 – 1931)

George Herbert Mead, a sociologist, is well
known for his theory of the social self, which
includes the concepts of 'self,' 'me,' and 'I.'
Mead's work focuses on the way in which the
self is developed. Mead's theory of the social
self is based on the perspective that the self
emerges from social interactions, such as
observing and interacting with others,
responding to others' opinions about oneself,
and internalizing external opinions and internal
feelings about oneself.
According to Mead, three activities develop
the self: language, play, and games.
Language develops self by
allowing individuals to respond to each other through symbols,
gestures, words, and sounds. Language conveys others' attitudes
and opinions toward a subject or the person. Emotions, such as
anger, happiness, and confusion, are conveyed through language.

Play develops self by allowing individuals to take on different roles,

pretend, and express expectation of others. Play develops one's
self-consciousness through role-playing. During role-play, a person is
able to internalize the perspective of others and develop an
understanding of how others feel about themselves and others in a
variety of social situations.

Games develop self by allowing individuals to understand and

adhere to the rules of the activity. Self is developed by
understanding that there are rules in which one must abide by in
order to win the game or be successful at an activity.
 UNDERSTANDING THE SELF

Social interaction and group affiliation are also 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. It is
inevitable that we can have several social identities, that those identities can
overlap, and that we automatically play the roles as we interact with our groups.

There are times when we are aware of our self-concepts; this is 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-schemas: the

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.

Our self-awareness also has a great impact on our self-esteem, one of the
common concepts associated with the “self”. It is 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. We learn
about ourselves, the appropriateness of our behaviors, as well as our social status
by comparing aspects of ourselves with other people. The downward social
comparison is the more common type of comparing ourselves with others. As the
name implies, we create a positive self-concept by comparing ourselves with
those who are worse off than us. Another comparison is 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 outperforms us,
especially when the person is close to us. In this case, we usually react in three
ways:

1. we distance ourselves from that person or redefine our relationship with them;

2. we may also reconsider the importance of the aspect or skill in which you were
Outperformed; and

3. we may also strengthen our determination to improve that certain aspect of

ourselves.