1 Self Awareness

Running Head: SELF AWARENESS

Self-Awareness: On Getting to Know the Self

Alliya Williams
Glen Allen High School
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Abstract

This review discusses the costs and benefits of having knowledge of the self. The

first question this review seeks to answer is what is exactly is the self? It is a very difficult

concept and many researchers have different opinions. After answering this question, the review

delves into the limits of obtaining accurate self-knowledge. Lastly, the review presents a

discussion on the effects of self-knowledge, both good and bad. The essential question uniting all

the previous questions is simply what are the effects of self-knowledge? The end conclusion is

that self-knowledge is hard to obtain which results in some negative effects to having self-

knowledge, but when obtained in the most beneficial way, individuals tend to assign more

meaning to life and have a higher self-value.

Introduction

Self-Knowledge is heralded as ones gateway to the top of Maslows hierarchy. If an

individual obtains it, they are said to experience the most satisfaction and have a higher

perception of the quality of their lives. Measuring it is not easy. Self-knowledge is not a fully

quantifiable object because it is not tangible. Furthermore, the measurement of self-knowledge

requires the definition of the self is in the first place. For these reasons, the discussion on self-

knowledge gets very complicated and it becomes very philosophical. To make this review less

complicated, the definition of self-knowledge will be defined as the match between self-

identified characteristics plus behaviors and how an individual actually acts. This definition of

self-knowledge can be simplified to the term attitude-behavior consistency.

The self and its conception

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For the purposes of this review, the self as an ever changing entity (made up of several

factors) that revises behavior and personality traits according to experiences with outside stimuli,

combining views by Julian Baggini and David Demo. To summarize, Baggini (2012) says that

the self is a collection of factors and experiences. The self is not a fixed entity, so the notion of

finding oneself does not really exist in his opinion. He refutes the notion of people believing in

one unified self, explaining that thinking of [ones] self as a thing which has all the experiences

of life [versus] thinking of [ones] self as simply that collection of all experiences in life is what

leads people into believing that they have an inner core that is fixed.

On the other hand, Demo explains that the self is actually one unified being as opposed to

a sum of different parts. They argue that the self is just a constantly revised entity. Demo backs

up this claims with an explanation of how self-concept forms throughout time. They identify four

stages where this formation shifts: infancy, childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. The reason

for an incomplete adoption of their definition is because ironically it is almost as one-shot (or

one-dimensional) as he claimed other studies were (Demo, 1992). It is within human nature to

simplify complex concepts. Having a unified self does not make much sense, because there are

often contradictory parts with ones behavior and personality. The article addresses this

somewhat stating that self-feelings may be represented by a moving baseline, but this is not a

true phenomenon all the time (Demo, 1992). In order to acknowledge the complexity that is the

self, it can not be defined as just one entity; rather, it needs to be treated as a collection of

different parts.

To expound upon this view further, understanding exactly how the self forms is helpful

too. In a video by Deborah C. Sterns (2016), these conceptions of self are described. According

to Sterns (2016), there are really only a few sources. One of these sources is introspection.
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Introspection is just reflecting one ones behavior and thoughts. The second source though is the

autobiographical memory. Sterns (2016) argues that autobiographical memories are really a

core of self-concept, but these memories are very hard to access. Moving from the second, the

third is an individuals observance of the behavior of others in addition themselves. To

summarize the overall point of the video, the self is social and self-concept is constructed to fit

psychological needs (Sterns, 2016). This view explains why there are some contradictory parts

within personality and behavior that do not hold in all situations. It is the perception that certain

behaviors and traits serve the purpose of psychological needs better that determines what the self

actually is.

Limits in gaining self-knowledge and accuracy

Obtaining self-knowledge is easy since humans are social by nature. However, obtaining

accurate self-knowledge is a much harder task to accomplish. In a study done by Dunn, Kraft,

and Wilson (1989) introspection was found to be the least useful tool in gaining self-knowledge.

According to them thinking about reasons [for certain actions] decreases attitude-behavior

consistency because it causes an affective function (Dunn et al, 1989 ). The affective function is

basically the reaction of thinking too hard. To back this idea up, the psychologist did three

studies having people rate drinks, cartoons, and paintings. During experiments that confirmed

this contention, the phycologists propose that the reasons for this phenomenon are that when

asked to explain their feelings, people feel compelled to come up with a reasonable sounding

answer. Second, when people attempt to explain an attitude, they do not always know exactly

why they feel the way they do (Dunn et al, 1989). Self-knowledge can only be obtained by

acknowledging what is directly available for the brain to access. Feelings do not always fit that

criteria. People likely only feel the need to provide a logical for reason for their behaviors
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because of the fear of judgement. All of these contentions are speculative, but it would explain

why some individuals find it hard to truly be themselves around other people. While not

discussed in this review, there are some instances where introspection actually is very valuable in

helping an individual understand themselves better. Beneficial introspection occurs when an

individual is thinking about what one is, rather than why one is (Dunn et al, 1989). In other

words, introspection is good for base level accurate understanding.

Accuracy is also hindered by durability bias. Durability bias is the tendency for

individuals to overestimate the amount of time they will experience an emotional response to

events ( Gilbert, Pinel, Wilson, Blumberg, Wheatley 1998). This comes from valuing ones

own opinions and introspection too highly. People are subject to large amounts of bias that cloud

an accurate self-perception in both a negative and positive manner. In four studies, students,

professors, voters, newspaper readers, test takers, and job seekers overestimated the duration of

their affective reactions to romantic disappointments, career difficulties, political defeats,

distressing news, clinical devaluations, and personal rejections (Gilbert et al., 1998). People

make decisions based on how they believe it will make them feel, but they fail to understand that

numerous events transpire [at once], and the failure to consider those events when making

affective forecasts may play a role in mispredictions (Gilbert et al., 1998). Individuals do not

take into account all the other events happening in their life when making predictions about the

future. It is a bit of a paradox because making accurate predictions requires self-knowledge, but

focusing too much on the self can lead to an inaccurate estimate of ones feelings.

Effects of Self Knowledge

To determine the effects of self-knowledge, acknowledgement of the different levels of

self-knowledge must be discussed first. In a review by Morrin (2011), he explains that self-
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knowledge ranges from simple consciousness to actual awareness. Under the definitions

provided by the sociologist George Herbert Mead, he explains the invisible scales as a classic

distinction between focusing attention outward toward the environment (consciousness), and

inward toward the self (self-awareness) (Morrin, 2011). Being simply conscious is easy as most

organisms are capable of that, but being aware of ones status within their environment is much

more difficult.

As the article points out, self-knowledge has effects on many different aspects of life. It

also points out that an individuals acceptance or denial of their true self effects behavior too.

[Selfcriticism] lead[s] to an avoidance of the state of self-awareness or a reduction of the real

self ideal self-discrepancy, by either modifying the target self-aspect or by changing the ideal

itself (Morrin, 2011) People who fall into the latter benefit the most from self-knowledge. This

self-discrepancy will affect whether the effects of self-knowledge are positive or negative, To

summarize the source, self-knowledge can result less cheating, following instruction more,

seeking for more self-awareness, an amplification of emotional intensity and less attempts to

escape life.

Conclusion

Most of the research on this topic is purely correlational and speculative. The potential

for bias on both the experimenters, or participants part is great within all settings. There are as

many hindrances created by having self-knowledge just as there are benefits. Obtaining accurate

self-knowledge is very difficult and this phenomenon would explain why so few people seem to

have it. In order to gain self-knowledge an individual has to actually want it and be ready for

impending consequences.
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Works Cited

Baggini, Julian [TEDxYouth]. (2011, Nov. 8 ) TEDxYouth@Manchester 2011 - Julian Baggini

- Is There A Real You? [Video file]. Retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=GFIyhseYTWg

debstearns. (2016, september 9). Social Psychology Revealed: Self-Knowledge[Video file].

Youtube Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ecPrSZuyCU

Demo, D. (1992). The Self-Concept Over Time: Research Issues and Directions. Annual Review

of Sociology, 18, 303-326. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/2083456

Gilbert, D. T., Pinel, E. C., Wilson, T. D., Blumberg, S. J., & Wheatley, T. P. (1998). Immune

neglect: a source of durability bias in affective forecasting. Journal of personality and

social psychology, 75(3), 617. Retrieved from http://web.mit.edu/curhan/www/docs/

Articles/biases/75_J_Personality_Social_Psychology_617_ (Gilbert).pdf

Morin, A. (2011). Selfawareness part 1: Definition, measures, effects, functions, and

antecedents. Social and personality psychology compass, 5(10), 807-823.(you need to

make changes and also post on your website)

Wilson, T. D., Dunn, D. S., Kraft, D., & Lisle, D. J. (1989). Introspection, attitude change, and
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attitude-behavior consistency: The disruptive effects of explaining why we feel the way

we do. Advances in experimental social psychology, 22, 287-343. Retrieved from

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0065260108603111