Scholars have taken a keen interest in self-representation. Representation refers to a structure or activity that is symbolic of something. Studies on this topic mostly focus on the way individuals represent themselves in various contexts. A comprehensive understanding of the different types of selves and the motives that drive each of the three types of representation is crucial for understanding the personality differences that exist between individuals ( Sedikides & Brewer, 2015 ). The rise in social media has further necessitated more research on the topic since the development of self in the virtual world differs greatly from the one that takes place in the physical realm. Self-representations are said to be psychological ingredients of self-knowledge, which play a pivotal role as cognitive structures that aid in representing various aspects of the self.
The similarities and Differences between Different Types of Self
Three essential self-representations exist, namely: the individual, relational, and collective selves. Human beings are able to attain self-representation through their special traits, dyadic relationships, and by being part of a group. The first, which is the individual self, is attained when one differentiates himself/herself from others. Each person is unique in their own special way. According to Sedikides & Brewer (2015 ), the inherent characteristics that make a person who he/she differs from those that define other individuals. The individual self-distinguishes people within particular communities. It is further contingent relational comparisons and greatly correlates to the innate desire that people have to protect their personal psychology.
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The relational self, which is the second self-representation, is attained when people assimilate with other important people in their lives. It is crucial to note that this type of self-comprises essential elements of self-concept which are shared in interpersonal relationships and help in defining the role that each person plays or the position they hold in these relationships. The relational self is also reliant on personalized bonds, such as the ones that exist between children and their parents and between partners in romantic relationships, among others. Additionally, it is also based on specific role relationships such as instructors-students, as well as physicians- patient relationships. A reflected appraisal is an obligatory process in this self-representation process. One of the primary motives of this type of self is to protect those that are significant in one’s life and retain a healthy relationship.
The collective self is the final type of self-representation. People are only able to achieve it when they develop a sense of belonging in larger social groups as well as when they are able to make comparisons between their in-groups and other significant outgroups. Sedikides & Brewer (2015 ) suggests that the collective self-comprises self-concept elements that distinguish the members of the in-group from those from out-groups. It focusses more on detached bonds, which people achieve when they identify with the members of the group. Notably, these bonds are not reliant on interpersonal relationships with group members. Rather, they are contingent on intergroup comparisons and is driven by the need to protect the in-group.
Several similarities and differences exist between the three self-representations. The individual, relational, and collective selves all co-occur within individuals. Furthermore, all of these are social. For example, for one to attain the individual self, he/she has to differentiate himself/herself from others, a process that cannot occur in the absence of socialization. Likewise, the interpersonal relationships that are obligatory for the development of the relational self cannot happen in the absence of socialization ( Sedikides & Brewer, 2015 ). Furthermore, in-group comparisons which are critical for achieving the collecting self-necessitate individuals to socialize with ingroup members and determine which characteristics they share, so that they can comprehend the differences between the in-group members and the out-group. However, there are significant differences between the representations in terms of their interrelations. For instance, the relational self is contingent on close interpersonal relationships while such relationships are not obligatory in the individual and collective self. The last depends on people’s ability to distinguish themselves from others, which they can do without forming close interpersonal bonds with others. Another ore similarity between these representations is motivation. Nonetheless, they differ in terms of the factors that motivate the attainment of these selves. Notably, the individual self-strives to protect its personal psychology while the relational self is motivated by the need to protect those that are significant and maintain a close relationship. On the other hand, the collective self is driven by the need to protect or advance the ingroup.
Metacognitive Aspects of Self-Knowledge
One of the most critical components of effective learning is metacognitive self-knowledge. It is through the process that students identify their strengths, weaknesses, motives, and preferences, among others. Metacognition refers to a person’s ability to process their own thoughts and feelings. It is through the process that individuals, specifically, students, comprehend how they learn best. Metacognition further enables individuals to develop self-awareness skills. As a result, they can scrutinize their thought processes and modify them to new situations.
There are two primary metacognitive aspects of self-knowledge. The first is self-awareness, which entails people’s ability to shift their attention to their self-concept. Self-awareness, otherwise known as self-consciousness, is achieved when people’s self-concept becomes increasingly accessible due to the growing concerns of being scrutinized and judged by other individuals. People who are self-aware have a profound understanding of their personalities, perceptions, motivations, and emotions. The development of self-representations, especially the relational self is reliant on one’s self-awareness since the skill enables individuals to understand other peoples differences, their perceptions, and the values and beliefs that differentiate them from others.
It is imperative for people to develop self-awareness so they can modify their thoughts and the different interpretations that they have for various things. Emotional change has deemed a process that is vital to changing interpretations. People with a static mindset are unable to effectively interpret embedded meanings due to the lack of flexibility, as a result of self-awareness deficiency ( Campbell, 2018 ). The skill develops emotionally intelligent individuals who are able to handle the pressures of interpersonal relationships and maintain a good rapport with significant others. People who are self-aware have the ability to control their emotions, as opposed to letting their emotions control them. Hence, they make sound judgments which are free from the influence of various biases and prejudices that they may hold. Self-awareness allows individuals to lead the lives that they want. These kinds of people have the capacity to gauge what emotions and passions are and the impacts of their personalities on their life, behavior, and relationship with others. Undeniably, self-awareness fosters emotional maturity and stability, which individuals require so that they can easily adjust to the dynamic changes that occur in their daily lives.
The second critical component is metacognitive knowledge. The term refers to an individuals awareness and understanding of their own cognition, a critical metacognitive aspect of self-knowledge. The achievement of self-knowledge is contingent on people’s ability to understand the different strategies that may be employed for various tasks, the availability of comprehensive information on the conditions through which these approaches may be used, and knowledge on the extents to which these tactics are effective. For instance, in the school environment, students may have different reading tactics, as well as distinctive methods of evaluating their comprehension during the reading process. Upon the recognition that they have already learned much on certain topics, they perceive this as a strength and become motivated to learn more, due to the increased interest for the subject. The realization may compel them to modify the approaches they use for the assigned tasks, such as making considerable changes in their reading rates and the length of their study sessions.
Strategic knowledge, one of the categories of metacognitive knowledge, refers to an in-depth understanding of the general learning strategies, individual thoughts, and problems solving tactics. It refers to the different approaches that learners may use in their attempts to memorize learned content, gauge its meaning, as well as understand what is said in the learning environment ( Campbell, 2018 ). Enhanced learning occurs when students have the ability to identify the strengths and flaws of their learning strategies so that they can work hard to perfect both of these sides. Metacognitive knowledge makes students easily adaptable to the required changes in their learning activities. For instance, a student who realizes that rote learning is a flawed learning approach is able to move from this tactic to others which foster more learning. He/she understands that such strategies are only productive when individuals aspire to attain only short-term learning goals, such as passing short quizzes and random assessment tests.
Furthermore, they realize that the content they have memorized is forgotten after a short time since it is not stored in long-term memory. As a result, such learners scrutinize different learning styles and used evidence-based approaches to determine the most effective. Due to the vast understanding that they have of themselves, their levels of intellect, and whether they are slow or fast learners, they choose the styles that best suit them. For instance, those students who comprehend more of what is taught by teachers in the classroom know that they are more suitable for situational learning, which mostly encourages group discussions and the exchange of ideas to enhance learning. Metacognitive knowledge is, therefore, crucial in promoting an individual’s self-awareness and self-knowledge in the learning setup. It is the key to determining every student weak and strong points and developing strategies to strengthen them.
How Metacognitive Aspects Differentiate Self-Views from Others
Metacognitive aspects differentiate self-views from others in several ways. They enable individuals to study and learn more about themselves, prior to attempting to understand others. Self-knowledge, which people develop after they have become more self-aware and emotionally intelligent, enables them to understand the differences in their personalities and self-views. According to Ugur, Constantinescu, and Stevens (2015), t he main factor that enables one to facilitates this process is cognitive accessibility. Metacognitive aspects of self-knowledge equip individuals with the ability to observe, listen, and form significant perceptions.
In detail, self-knowledge allows people to determine other people’s characteristics and their views on different things through observations and listening. It is crucial to note that discrepancies in cognitive accessibility determine the types of perceptions that people hold for others, and the kind of first impressions that are formed ( Campbell, 2018 ). Metacognitive aspects strongly influence the way individuals process the information that they receive towards others. Self-knowledge enables them to gauge the views they hold on different issues. Concurrently, they become people who have a tendency to processing data more considerately, making effective casual attributions.
Self-aware individuals have already achieved the individual self since they are able to identify the characteristics that make them different from other people in society. Ugur, Constantinescu, and Stevens (2015) contend that t hey make thorough comparisons between their stances and other people’s beliefs, drawing a clear line between what they agree with and what they do not. Metacognitive aspects of self-knowledge enable people to pursue the other two self-representations, after they have attained their individual self, to gain a clearer understanding of what differentiates them from other individuals, as well as the discrepancies that exist between their self-views and those of others. In order to achieve relational and collective self, significant interactions need to occur between people and significant others ( Campbell, 2018 ). As a result, they become increasingly knowledgeable of their self-views and the views that other people hold. It is crucial for people to prioritize the attainment of self-awareness and self-knowledge prior to establishing any relationships and attempting to understand other people’s behavior, self-views, and their personalities. Concurrently, healthy interpersonal relationships would be maintained.
In summation, there are three different types of representations: the individual self, the relational self, and the collective self. The main similarity between these three representations is that they are social in nature, and are driven by different motivating factors. However, there are also several differences between the types of selves. For instance, the individual and the collective selves can be achieved in the absence of close interpersonal relationships, whereas the relational self is reliant on such interactions. The study has also scrutinized metacognitive aspects of self-knowledge. It had determined that these aspects are critical for enhancing peoples knowledge of their thoughts, self-views, perceptions, and personalities.
References
Campbell, L., (2018). Self-knowledge, belief, ability (and agency?). Philosophical Explorations , 21 (3), 333-349.
Sedikides, C., & Brewer, M. B. (2015). Individual self, relational self, collective self . Psychology Press.
Ugur, H., Constantinescu, P. M., & Stevens, M. J. (2015). Self-Awareness and Personal Growth: Theory and Application of Bloom's Taxonomy. Eurasian Journal of Educational Research , 60 , 89-110.
