2 CHAPTER Understanding Yourself Who Are You Selfawareness

2 CHAPTER Understanding Yourself

Who Are You? § Self-awareness Ability to reflect and monitor one’s own behavior § Self-concept Everything one thinks and feels about oneself § Self-image Kind of person one perceives oneself to be § Self-esteem How well you like and value yourself

Our Self Concept Selfawareness • Understanding of core identity Self-concept • The sum total of beliefs you have about yourself Self-esteem • Judgments about yourself

The Self-Concept Continuum How would you rate yourself? Attractive Unattractive Respected Not respected Successful Unsuccessful Confident Anxious Good Bad Intelligent Unintelligent Humorous Humorless

Five Dimensions of Self-Esteem § Competence –Your beliefs about ability to be effective § Worthiness –Your belief about how others value you § Cognition –Your belief about your character and personality § Affect –How you evaluate yourself and your feelings § Stability or change –Your experience with change

Sources of Self-Concept Significant Others Reference Groups Your Roles Rewards from Others

Social Comparison Comparing yourself to others based on: § Roles § Status § Possessions § Personality traits § Physical qualities § Vocal qualities § Skills & accomplishments

Assessing Your Self-Image With a Positive Self Image you will feel: § Accepted § Valued § Worthwhile § Lovable § Significant

Assessing Your Self-Image With a Negative Self Image you will feel: § Left out § Small § Worthless § Unloved § Insignificant

How We Perceive The process you use to Select, Organize, and Interpret sensory stimuli in the world around you Selection Using your senses to notice and choose from many stimuli Organization Sorting selected stimuli into messages Interpretation Interpreting the meaning of messages

Perception Principles Figure. Ground Principle People focus on certain features while deemphasizing less relevant background stimuli Proximity Principle Items or people that are close to each other are perceived as belonging together Similarity Principle Closure Principle Simplicity Principle Similar items or people are perceived as part of a group Filling in missing elements in order to form a more complete impression of an object, person, or event Organizing information in a way that provides the simplest interpretation

Cultural Perception Why do people from Western cultures put the chicken and cow together whereas East Asians put the cow and grass together?

The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy in Action

Examples of Self-Deception Attribute successes to your own abilities and blame failures on external factors? Believe your good traits are unusual while your faults are common? View evidence that depicts you unfavorably as flawed? Forget negative feedback and remember positive feedback. Compare yourself to others who will make you look good? Overestimate how many people share your opinions and underestimate how many people share your abilities?

Self-Monitoring Your ability to identify, analyze, and modify your thoughts and feelings accurately. identify your thoughts and feelings analyze how others react to your comments, appearance, and behavior use such observations to modify how you present yourself

Self-Monitors High self-monitors Low self-monitors

Which Are Examples of High & Low Monitoring? 1, 2 & 5 are examples of Low Self-Monitoring I have never been good at games like charades. I can only argue for ideas in which I already believe. Depending on the situation and people, I often act like a very different person. I observe and adapt to listener feedback. I have difficulty determining whether I’ve communicated successfully. 3 & 4 are examples of High Self-Monitoring

How Confident Are You? Are you usually comfortable participating in group discussions? Are you often afraid to express yourself at meetings? Are you usually calm and relaxed in conversations? Do you usually face the prospect of giving a speech with confidence?

Communication Apprehension Reasons Why People are Afraid to Self-Disclosure

Build Your Confidence Prepare Re-lax, Re -think, Revise Focus Practice

Relaxation Techniques Match the relaxation technique A. Systematic desensitization Substitute positive thoughts for negative thoughts about communicating B. Cognitive restructuring Imagine yourself succeeding as you communicate C. Visualization Relax as you see yourself in different communication situations, from those that are comfortable to those that produce more anxiety

Review Quiz 1. What are the Perception Principles? 2. What are the sources of communication apprehension?