In psychology, concepts such as “I”, “Ego” or “Self” are often used to designate the self-referential dimension of human experience The perception of continuity and coherence, and therefore the development of the sense of identity, depends on us conceiving a part of ourselves as the subject that stars in our life.
Since William James (1842-1910) distinguished between the “I” as observer and the “Me” as the object of experience at the end of the 19th century, a large number of ideas have emerged. theories that attempt to define what the Self is Below we will describe the most relevant ones through a brief historical tour.
In the theory of Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) The Self is understood as the conscious part of the mind which must satisfy the instinctive and unconscious impulses of the It, taking into account the demands of the external world and of one’s own conscience – the Superego, constituted by internalized social norms.
The Self or identity would, therefore, be an intermediate instance between the biology of an individual and the world that surrounds him or her. According to Freud, its functions include perception, information management, reasoning and control of defense mechanisms.
His disciple Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961) defined the Self as the core of consciousness ; Every psychic phenomenon or vital experience that is detected by the Self becomes conscious. Thus, the sense of Self is understood as a complex structure with a double component: somatic and psychic.
Furthermore, for Jung, the I, the center of identity, is immersed in the Self, which constitutes the core of personality in general; The Self includes the unconscious, in addition to the conscious part of the experience. However, we are unable to fully experience the Self since we are anchored to the Self and consciousness.
The social roles of the self
In the social sciences of the first half of the 20th century, symbolic interactionism enjoyed notable popularity, a theoretical current that stated that people interpret the world and its elements based on the meanings that are given to them socially. The Self is built from face-to-face interaction and the social structure.
If we talk about the Self and identity, within symbolic interactionism it is worth highlighting the dramaturgical model of Erving Goffman (1922-1982). This author believed that people, as if we were actors, try to appear consistent to others by adopting roles. For Goffman the Self It is nothing more than the set of roles that we represent
Later, social psychologist Mark Snyder (1947-) developed his theory of self-observation or self-monitoring. This model states that people high in self-observation adapt their roles, and therefore their identity, to the situation in which they find themselves; On the other hand, those who self-monitor little show more of the “I” with which they identify.
Multiplicity and complexity of identity
Among recent progress in the conception of the Self from social psychology, two theories stand out in particular: Patricia Linville’s self-complexity model and E. Tory Higgins’ self-discrepancy theory. The central aspect of both models is that the Self is understood as the mental representations we make of ourselves
The self-complexity model proposes that identity depends on our social roles, interpersonal relationships, core personality traits and the activities we carry out, such as our professional career. The concept “self-complexity” refers to the number of representations that make up the Self, as well as their degree of differentiation.
According to Linville, people with high self-complexity are more resistant to negative life events since although a part of their identity is questioned or weakened by experiences, there will always be other parts of the Self that they can use as psychological anchoring.
Higgins’ self-discrepancy theory
In his theory of self-discrepancy, Higgins also states that the Self is not a unitary concept, although he defines the different components of identity based on two parameters: the domains of the Self and the points of view of the Self In this last criterion we find the person’s perspective on themselves, as well as what they believe significant people have.
In the domains of the self, which can be associated with one’s own perspective or that of others, we find the real Self (how I am), the ideal Self (how I would like to be), the Self that should be, the potential Self (how I could become). being) and the future Self, which is the identity we hope to be.
Higgins believes that the real Self, both from one’s own point of view and from that which we assume significant others have, is the basis of our self-concept. On the other hand, the rest of the aspects are the guides of the self, which They serve as a model and reference for us to act and to evaluate our behavior.
Vittorio Guidano (1944-1999) is considered the main pioneer of post-rationalist psychology. This theoretical orientation arises as a reaction to the predominance of positivist and rationalist philosophies, which affirm that there is an objective reality that can be accurately perceived and understood through the senses and logic.
Cognitive-constructivist psychological theories defend the fundamental relevance of language in the way we interpret the world around us and share these perspectives. Through language we organize our experiences in the form of narratives from which memory and identity emerge.
Thus, the Self is not conceived as a defined entity, but as the constant process of construction of a coherent autobiographical narrative that allows us to give meaning to our experiences. From the post-rationalist perspective the problem of identity becomes a linguistic-narrative issue.
Guidano also distinguished between the I and the Me. While defined the Self as the corporal-emotional dimension of experience, predominantly unconscious, for this author the Me is the part of the Self that observes and generates meanings through language. The union of I and Me results from the creation of coherent narratives that aim to be explanatory.
