Lesson 3- The Self as Cognitive Construct

Definition of Terms
Cognitive- involving conscious intellectual activity such as thinking, reasoning or remembering.
Construct- something constructed by the mind such as theoretical entity.

The concept of self in psychology is at times interchangeable with other similar terms.
Sometimes a framework or school of thought would look at what we can describe as one aspect
of the self as its focus. An overview of significant terms is therefore necessary. For a working
definition in this lesson, let us look at the self as the sense of personal identity and of who we
are as individuals.
William James was one of the earliest psychologists to study the self, he conceptualized
the self as having two aspects: the “I” and “Me”.

 The I is the thinking, acting and feeling self

 The Me is the physical characteristics as well as psychological capabilities that make
who you are.
Carl Rogers used the same terms,

 I as one who acts and decides

 Me is what you think or feel about yourself as an object.
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. For example, when asked about who you
are, you can say, “I was varsity player in Grade 5” which pertains to the past, “a college
student” which may be present, and “a future politician”, which is the future.
While they are not fixed, they are also not very fluid. Think of a malleable metal, strong
and hard, that can be heated and hammered to any shape yet retain its core elements.
Carl Rogers captured this idea in his concept of self-schema or our own organized
system or collection of knowledge about who we are. It may include your interest, work, course,
age, name, and physical characteristics, among others. And as you grow and adapt to the
changes around you, they also change, but they are not passive receivers, they actively shape
and affect how you see, think, and feel about things.
Example:
When someone states your first name, even if they are not talking about you, your attention is
drawn to them.
If you have a provincial language, and you hear someone using it, it catches your attention.
If you consider yourself a book-lover, a bookstore may always entice you out of all the other
stores in a mall.
Theories generally see the self and identity as a mental constructs, created and recreated in
memory.
Freud saw the self, its mental process, and one’s behaviour as the results of the interaction
between the Id, the Ego and the Superego.

 Id- instincts
 Ego- reality
 Superego- morality
INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL
Carver and Scheier identified two types of self that we can be aware of:
1. Private self or a person’s internal thoughts and feelings
2. The public self or what a person commonly shows to the others, specifically for creating
a good public image.

There are times when we are aware of our self-concepts- also called self- awareness.
Self- awareness also presents us with at least three other self-schemas:

 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
Example: You are a student interested in basketball but is also academically challenged in most
of your subject. Your ideal self might be to practice more and play with the varsity team but
ought to pass your subjects as a responsible student. One has to find solutions to such
discrepancies to avoid agitation, dejection, or other negative emotions.
In some instances, however, all three may be in line with one another.
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 there is an exam tomorrow in one of your subjects when you are about to
spend time playing computer games with your cousins, among others.
In other instances, self-awareness can be too much that we are concerned about being
observed and criticized by others, also known as self-consciousness.
SELF- ESTEEM
Group identity and self-awareness also affect our self-esteem, which is defined as our
personal 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. According to the social comparison theory, we learn about ourselves, the
appropriateness of our behaviors, as well as our social statuses by comparing aspects of
ourselves with other people.

 The downward social comparison is the more common type of comparing ourselves
with others. Here we create a positive self-concept by comparing ourselves with those
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 the person
is close to us. In this case, we react in three ways:

 We distance ourselves from the person or redefine our relationship with them.
Some will result to silent treatment, change of friends, or by being closer to that person,
hoping that some association may give him a certain kind of acknowledgment also.
 We may reconsider the importance of the aspect or skill in which you were out
performed.
Example. You may find a hobby where you could excel, thus preserving your self-
esteem.
 We may also strengthen or resolve to improve that certain aspect of ourselves.
Example. You might join seminars, practice more often, read books about it and add
some elements in drawing that makes it unique among others.
Achieving your goal through hard work may increase your self-esteem too.
 However, in the attempt to increase or maintain self-esteem, some people become
narcissistic. Narcissism is a trait characterized by overly high self-esteem, self-admiration, and
self-centeredness. They are often charismatic because of how they take care of their image.
Taking care of that image includes their interpersonal relationships, thus they will try to look for
better partners, better acquaintances, as well as people who will appreciate them a lot. They try
to look for better partners, better acquaintances, as well as people who will appreciate them a
lot. This makes them a bad romantic partner or friend since they engage in relationships only to
serve themselves.
People with high self-esteem are commonly described as outgoing, adventurous, and
adaptable in a lot of situations. They also initiate activities and building relationships with
people. However, they may also dismiss other activities that does not conform to their self-
concept or boost their self-esteem. They may also be bullies and experiment on abusive
behaviors with drugs, alcohol, and sex.