Psychological Self

Psychological self

the individual’s sense of identity, encompassing their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors

William James

• “The Principles of Psychology”

• I-self, Me-self

I-self

subjective knower, the thinker, experiencing subject

the pure ego that provides continuity between past, present, and future

Me-self

object that is known, the self as known

• self as object

• aka empirical self

• self we refer to when talking about our personal experiences

• subcategories

  • material self

  • social self

  • spiritual self

Material Self

consists of material belongings of a person (body, family, clothes, money, etc)

Social Self

marks who we are in a specific social situation, social roles we play

Spiritual Self

who we are at our core, including our personality, values, and conscience

Carl Rogers

• self-concept

• schemas/self-schemas

• real self vs ideal self

• congruence vs incongruence

Self-concept

an organized, consistent set of perceptions of and beliefs about oneself

can be fluid: factors are dynamic and ever-changing

Schemas/Self-schemas

perceptions and beliefs that comprise our self-concept; a cognitive framework or concept that helps organize and interpret information

• past experiences

• personality traits

• abilities

• physical features

• values

• goals

• social roles

• own observations

• feedback from others

schemas examples

Real self

• who we actually are

• how i see me

• actual self

Ideal self

• person we want to be

• idealized version of ourself

• how i should be

Congruence

self-concept meshes well with actual experience

a sense of self-actualization or fulfillment leading to high self-esteem

Incongruence

self-concept does not mesh well with actual experience

being distressed and anxious, leading to low self-esteem or self-worth and be defensive in actions

Self-ssteem

refers to one’s overall assessment of one’s worth as a person

Self-assessment

evaluating personal growth (comparing self to own self)

Albert Bandura

• Social Learning Theory

• bobo doll experiment

• Human agency and types of agency

Bobo doll experiment

demonstrated that children can learn aggressive behaviors through observation and imitation

Human Agency

the ability of individuals to intentionally influence their functioning and life circumstances

• intentionality

• forethought

• self-reactiveness

• self-reflectiveness

4 core properties of human agency

Intentionality

the ability to set goals and act purposefully toward achieving them

Forethought

anticipating future outcomes before taking action

Self-reactiveness

the ability to monitor and regulate one’s performance in accordance with set goals

Self-reflectiveness

the ability to reflect on and evaluate one’s actions

• Personal agency

• proxy agency

• collective agency

Types of Agency

Personal agency

when you take control of own actions and outcomes

most effective when you believe in your ability to succeed

Proxy agency

occurs when you rely on others to achieve your goals

may not have direct control over situation, but can influence others to act on your behalf

Collective agency

power of groups of people working together to achieve common goals

highlights the importance of collaboration and power of social action