Self-understanding
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Self-understanding is a child's cognitive representation of the self, the substance and content of the child's self-conceptions. For example, an 11-year-old boy understands that he is a student, a boy, a football player, a family member, a video game lover, and a rock music fan. A 13-year-old girl understands that she is a middle school student, in the midst of puberty, a girl, a cheerleader, a student council member, and a movie fan. A child's self-understanding is based, in part, on the various roles and membership categories that define who children are. Though not the whole of personal identity, self-understanding provides its foundations.
Three facts of self-understanding are personal memories, representations of self, and theories of the self. Personal memories are autobiographical episodes that are especially important in thoughts about oneself. These might include memories of a fight with one’s parents, a day spent with a friend, a teacher saying how good one’s work is, and so on. Representations of the self include the generalized acknowledgments individuals make about themselves. For example, individuals have representations of their actual selves, their ideal selves, and their past selves. Theories of the self enable individuals to identify which characteristics of the self are relevant, arrange these characteristics in hierarchical order of importance, and make claims about how these characteristics are related to each other. Theories of the self provide an individual with a sense of identity and a source of orientation.
