One of the basic in the doctrine of personality is the problem of self-awareness. It is not surprising, because the concept is very complex and multifaceted. Scientific researchers have devoted a lot of work to this phenomenon. Self-consciousness in psychology is a process of self-awareness and evaluation of an individual as a subject of different types of activity and as a person who has a set of his own interests, value orientations, motives, ideals.
Definition of a concept
Psychologists say that not only is a person different in self-consciousness, but also a society, class, nation or any other social group, but only if these elements achieve understanding and awareness of the system of relationships, joint interests, and common activities. Self-consciousness in psychology is when a person separates himself from the whole external environment and determines his place in a stormy natural and social life. This phenomenon has a close relationship with such a concept as reflection, theoretical thinking.
The criterion and starting point of how a person relates to himself is the people around him, that is, the emergence and development of consciousness occurs among his own kind, in society. Social psychologists argue that in three areas the formation and formation of the individual as a person is possible, namely: in activity, in communication and in self-awareness.
Theory of V. S. Merlin
The process of socialization provides for the expansion and deepening of ties and relationships of the individual with other people, certain groups, society in general. The image of “I” develops and becomes more stable. The formation of self-consciousness, or that same "I", occurs gradually, throughout the life path, and not immediately, from birth. This is a complex process, subject to many social influences. In this regard, V. S. Merlin identified the components of self-consciousness:
- First, a person is aware of his differences and distinguishes himself from the outside world.
- Second, the individual is aware of himself as an active subject, capable of changing the reality surrounding him, and not as a passive object.
- Third - the person is aware of his own mental properties, processes and emotional states.
- Fourth - a person forms social and moral aspects, self-esteem as a result of experience.
Self-awareness: three directions in science
Modern science has a variety of views on the emergence and development of consciousness and self-awareness. In the traditional approach, this concept is considered as the initial in the genetic plan primary form of human consciousness, which is based on self-awareness and self-perception. It develops in childhood, when a child gets acquainted with his body, becomes aware of it, distinguishes his "I" from the "I" of others, looks in the mirror and realizes that it is he.
Such a concept indicates that a special and universal aspect of what we call ethnic self-awareness is self-experience, which generates it.
But scientists did not stop, and S. L. Rubinstein offered the opposite view. For him, the problem of self-awareness is different and lies in a different area. It lies in the fact that this phenomenon has the highest level and is, as it were, a product and the result of the development of consciousness.
There is also a third point of view, which suggests that consciousness and the psyche, as well as self-consciousness, are characterized by simultaneous simultaneous development, unified and interdependent. It turns out that a person learns the world with the help of sensations, and he develops a certain picture of the outside world, but in addition to this he experiences feelings that form his idea of himself.
The development of the phenomenon
Self-awareness in psychology is a process that consists of two main stages:
- The first involves the construction of a diagram of your physical body and forms a sense of "I".
- The second stage begins when intellectual capabilities, conceptual thinking are improved and reflection develops. The individual is already capable of conceptualizing his life. But no matter how we would like to think rationally, even the reflexive level still has a connection with affective experiences, at least, as V.P. Zinchenko claims. According to scientists, the right hemisphere of the brain is responsible for the sense of self, and the left - for reflection.
Component concepts
The structure of self-consciousness is characterized by several components. First, the individual distinguishes himself from the world around him, recognizes himself as a subject, independent of the environment - both from the natural and from the public. Secondly, there is an awareness of one's own activity, that is, self-management. Thirdly, a person can be aware of himself and his qualities through others (if you notice some trait in a friend, then you have it, otherwise you would not have distinguished it from the general background). Fourth, a person evaluates himself from a moral point of view, it is characterized by reflection, inner experience. This structure has a Russian identity.
A person feels himself one due to the continuity of the experience of time: the memory of past events, the experience of the present and hopes for a brighter future. Since this phenomenon is continuous, a person integrates himself into a holistic education.
The structure of self-consciousness, namely its dynamic aspect, has been repeatedly analyzed. As a result, two terms appeared: “current I”, which denotes certain forms of how a person is aware of himself in a given period, “here and now”, and “personal I”, which is characterized by persistence and is the core for all other “I am current”. It turns out that any act of self-awareness is distinguished by both self-knowledge and self-experience.
Another structure
Since many scientists dealt with this problem, most of them identified and named their components of self-awareness. Here is another example:
- We can be aware of near and distant goals, the motives of our activity, although often they can be hidden and veiled (“I am acting”).
- We are able to understand what qualities are really inherent in us, and which we only want to possess ("I am real", "I am ideal").
- There is a process of comprehending their cognitive attitudes and ideas about themselves.
- An emotional attitude towards oneself, which a self-assessment test will help measure.
According to the above information, self-awareness includes self-knowledge (intellectual aspect) and self-attitude (emotional).
The doctrine of K. G. Jung
The theory of K. G. Jung, an Austrian psychiatrist, gained great popularity in psychological science, in the doctrine “Consciousness and psyche”. He argued that the basis of self-consciousness is the opposition of conscious and unconscious activity. According to C. Jung, the psyche has two levels of self-image. On the first of these is the self, which takes part in both conscious and unconscious processes, penetrating totally into everything. The second level is how we think about ourselves, for example, “I feel that I miss”, “I love myself”, and all this is an extension of the self. Subjectivity and objectivity in one bottle.
The views of humanist psychologists
Scientists of the humanistic direction in psychology perceive the self as the focus of the whole human being, which will help realize the maximum potential of opportunities.
Other individuals become a criterion of how an individual will relate to himself. In this case, ethnic self-awareness develops, and social contacts that carry new experience change the way we are and make it more multifaceted. Conscious behavior manifests itself not so much as what a person really is, but as the result of stereotypes, introjects about oneself, formed as a result of communication with other people.
It is important for a person to become oneself, to remain so and to have the ability to maintain oneself in difficult times so that self-attitude does not change, and the self-assessment test shows stable results.
Levels of self
Psychologists have identified four levels of self-awareness. The first is directly sensual, which owns information about all physiological processes, desires of the body, and mental states. This is the level of self-awareness and self-experience, which provide the simplest identification of a person.
The second level is personal, or holistic. The individual realizes himself active, and self-actualizing processes are manifested.
The third one can be called the level of mind, because here a person comprehends the content of his intellectual forms, reflects, analyzes, observes.
Well, the fourth level is purposeful activity, which is a combination of the three previous ones, due to which the personality functions adequately in the world. Self-control, self-upbringing, self-organization, self-criticism, self-esteem, self-knowledge, self-improvement and many others are self - all these are characteristics of the fourth synthesized level.
The structural components of self-awareness are distinguished by information content and have a connection with such mechanisms as assimilation, that is, the identification of an individual with an object or subject, and intellectual analysis (we are talking about reflection).
Relationship category
Self-consciousness in psychology is a combination of attitude to oneself and others and expectations of how other people will relate to a person (projective mechanisms).
In this regard, relations are divided into types:
- Self-centered - the individual puts himself in the center and believes that he is the value in itself. If people do what he wants, then they are good.
- Groupcentric is a relationship in a reference group. When you are on our team, you are good.
- Prosocial - in such relationships, respect and acceptance of each other reigns, since any person is considered to be self-worth. Do what you want in return.
- Estocholic is a level of spiritual relations, where such noble traits as mercy, honesty, justice, love for God and neighbor are welcomed.
Pathological forms of the phenomenon
With pathological manifestations, self-consciousness is susceptible to defeat in the first place, after it comes the usual consciousness.
Consider the following disorders:
- The process of depersonalization is characterized by the loss of one's “I”. In this case, a person perceives external events and occurring inside as an outside observer, and not an active subject.
- The process of splitting the foundations of personality. This is disociation. The kernel is divided into two, sometimes three or more principles, having alien properties that may conflict with each other. A case known to science when 24 (!) Personalities got along in one person who had their own memories, interests, motives, temperament, values, and even voice. Each of these principles claimed that it was true, and the others simply did not exist.
- There are violations of the identification of one's own body. People can perceive its parts as strangers, separate.
- The most pathological form is derealization. A person loses contact with reality, begins to doubt the existence of not only himself, but also the entire external environment. Very severe personality disorder.
Conclusion
The concept described in the article is important for understanding the various processes of human life. Self-awareness is related to many aspects of the personality, differs in various manifestations, can be both normal and in a pathological state. Different scientists distinguish their components, structure, levels and stages. This phenomenon is a superstructure on the human psyche, consciousness and depends on the people surrounding the individual who influence him. Self-awareness has its own characteristics of development and formation in ontogenesis. Although this area has already been studied enough, much more is hidden and awaits research.