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Self‐Awareness Part 1: Definition, Measures, Effects, Functions, and Antecedents

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Self-awareness represents the capacity of becoming the object of one’s own attention. In this state one actively identifies, processes, and stores information about the self. This paper surveys the self-awareness literature by emphasizing definition issues, measurement techniques, effects and functions of self-attention, and antecedents of self-awareness. Key self-related concepts (e.g., minimal, reflective consciousness) are distinguished from the central notion of self-awareness. Reviewed measures include questionnaires, implicit tasks, and self-recognition. Main effects and functions of self-attention consist in self-evaluation, escape from the self, amplification of one’s subjective experience, increased self-knowledge, self-regulation, and inferences about others’ mental states (Theory-of-Mind). A neurocognitive and socioecological model of self-awareness is described in which the role of face-to-face interactions, reflected appraisals, mirrors, media, inner speech, imagery, autobiographical knowledge, and neurological structures is underlined.
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Self-Awareness Part 1: Definition, Measures, Effects,
Functions, and Antecedents
Alain Morin*
Mount Royal University
Abstract
Self-awareness represents the capacity of becoming the object of one’s own attention. In this state
one actively identifies, processes, and stores information about the self. This paper surveys the self-
awareness literature by emphasizing definition issues, measurement techniques, effects and func-
tions of self-attention, and antecedents of self-awareness. Key self-related concepts (e.g., minimal,
reflective consciousness) are distinguished from the central notion of self-awareness. Reviewed
measures include questionnaires, implicit tasks, and self-recognition. Main effects and functions of
self-attention consist in self-evaluation, escape from the self, amplification of one’s subjective
experience, increased self-knowledge, self-regulation, and inferences about others’ mental states
(Theory-of-Mind). A neurocognitive and socioecological model of self-awareness is described in
which the role of face-to-face interactions, reflected appraisals, mirrors, media, inner speech, imag-
ery, autobiographical knowledge, and neurological structures is underlined.
Introduction
This article (Part 1 of two papers) explores the ‘how’, ‘why’, and ‘when’ of self-aware-
ness. In doing so it seeks to provide the reader with an overview of the most fundamen-
tal questions in this research area. How do our brain, cognitive processes, and social
environment give rise to self-awareness? Why are we self-aware – what functions does
self-reflection serve? And when, in what situations, are we most likely to engage in self-
observation? Another topic that will be examined is measurement issues. Note that Part 2
of this article will focus on where self-awareness is located in the brain and will address
the question of the importance of inner speech in self-referential processing.
Consciousness and Self-Awareness
It is imperative to start with clear definitions of key terms, as confusion between ‘con-
sciousness’, ‘self-awareness’, and a host of related expressions is rampant in the literature
(Antony, 2001, 2002). The sociologist George Herbert Mead (1934) proposed a classic dis-
tinction between focusing attention outward toward the environment (consciousness), and
inward toward the self (self-awareness). When ‘conscious’, an organism can successfully
process incoming information from the environment and respond to it adaptively
(Natsoulas, 1996). Under this definition, most, if not all nonhuman animals are conscious
(e.g., Edelman & Seth, 2009; Morin, forthcoming). Unconsciousness signifies the absence
of processing of information either from the environment or the self, such as during sleep
or coma. Various levels of consciousness have been identified (see Morin, 2006). Terms
such as ‘primary’, ‘peripheral’, ‘sensorimotor’, and ‘core’ consciousness designate more or
less sophisticated degrees of consciousness. For example, Zelazo (2004) uses the term
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‘minimal consciousness’ to describe the infant’s unreflective experience of stimuli in the
present, and Neisser (1997) labels ‘interpersonal self’ the raw awareness of one’ s engagement
in social interactions here and now, allowing one’s actions to mesh with those of others.
Self-awareness refers to the capacity of becoming the object of one’s own attention
(Duval & Wicklund, 1972). In this state one actively identifies, processes, and stores
information about the self. The important distinction here is as follows: One can perceive
and process stimuli from the environment (e.g., a color, food) without explicitly knowing
that one is doing so (consciousness). One becomes self-aware when one reflects on the
experience of perceiving and processing stimuli (e.g., I see a blue object; I am eating food
and it tastes good). Self-awareness represents a complex multidimensional phenomenon
that comprises various self-domains and corollaries. To illustrate, one can think about
one’s past (autobiography) and future (prospection). Similarly, one can focus on one’s
emotions, thoughts, personality traits, preferences, goals, attitudes, perceptions, sensations,
intentions, and so forth. The list of potentially relevant self-aspects is very long indeed
(see Ben-Artzi, Mikulincer, & Glaubman, 1995). Emotions or traits are private self-aspects
that can be distinguished from public self-dimensions – visible characteristics such as one’s
body, physical appearance, mannerisms, and behaviors (Fenigstein, 1987). Examples of
self-awareness corollaries are sense of agency, Theory-of-Mind (ToM; making inferences
about others’ mental states), self-description, self-evaluation, self-esteem, self-regulation,
self-efficacy, death awareness, self-conscious emotions, self-recognition, and self-talk
(Morin, Uttl, & Hamper, forthcoming). Some of these consequences of self-focused
attention will be examined below. Self-awareness also entails a sense of continuity as a
person across time and includes a feeling of self as being distinct from the rest of the
environment (Kircher & David, 2003). Self-awareness also comes in degrees: Terms such
as ‘meta’, ‘reflective’, ‘iterative meta-representational’, and ‘extended’ consciousness indi-
cate various levels of self-awareness (Morin, 2006; also see Legrain, Cleeremans, & Dest-
rebecqz, 2010). To illustrate, Newen and Vogeley (2003) distinguish between ‘conceptual
self-consciousness’, where the organism can conceptually represent itself, including its
mental states, and ‘meta-representational self-consciousness’, which consists in construct-
ing a mental model of oneself and of other people (ToM), and includes access to autobio-
graphical knowledge. Thus, whereas, conceptual self-consciousness uniquely pertains to
the self and its mental experiences, meta-representational self-consciousness also explicitly
includes self-memories and inferences about others’s experiences. The ultimate level of
consciousness is meta-self-awareness – being aware that one is self-aware (Morin &
Everett, 1990). Table 1 summarizes the analysis presented in this section.
Measures and Manipulations of Self-Awareness
Before 1972 most research conducted on self-awareness was phenomenological in nature
(Rime
´& LeBon, 1984). The publication of Duval and Wicklund’s book that year
Table 1 Four levels of consciousness
Levels Definition
1 – Unconsciousness Being nonresponsive to self & environment
2 – Consciousness Focusing attention on the environment; processing incoming external stimuli
3 – Self-awareness Focusing attention on the self; processing private & public self-information
4 – Meta-self-awareness Being aware that one is self-aware
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marked the beginning of the empirical study of self-focused attention. This team showed
that a state of self-awareness could be experimentally induced by exposing participants to
self-focusing stimuli. Stimuli such as mirrors, cameras, an audience, and recordings of
one’s voice are known to remind the person of his or her object status to others and reli-
ably produce heightened self-awareness (Carver & Scheier, 1978; Davis & Brock, 1975;
Geller & Shaver, 1976). Small mirrors generate an awareness of more private aspects of
the self, whereas large mirrors and audiences induce public self-scrutiny (Buss, 1980;
Davies, 2005).
Numerous self-report instruments have been developed to assess dispositional self-focus.
The Self-Consciousness Scale (SCS) was the first such questionnaire to be designed
(Fenigstein, Scheier, & Buss, 1975). Psychometric evidence (e.g., test–retest reliability)
suggests that self-consciousness is stable enough to be viewed as a personality trait (Davis
& Franzoi, 1991). The SCS consists in three sub-scales: Private and public self-conscious-
ness, and social anxiety (Carver & Glass, 1976; Turner, Scheier, Carver, & Ickes, 1978).
Many different versions of the SCS have since been created (e.g., Burnkrant & Page,
1984; Grant, Franklin, & Langford, 2002) and translated in various languages (e.g., Bend-
ania & Abed, 1997). In 1990 Trapnell and Campbell reassessed the psychometric charac-
teristics of the SCS and showed that the private self-consciousness sub-scale actually
measures two different constructs: self-reflection and self-rumination (see Morin, 2002).
Self-reflection represents a genuine curiosity about the self, where the person is intrigued
and interested in learning more about his or her emotions, values, thought processes, atti-
tudes, etc. This type of introspection mostly leads to positive consequences associated
with good mental health, such as self-knowledge and self-regulation. Self-rumination is
anxious attention paid to the self, where the person is afraid to fail and keeps wondering
about his or her self-worth. It generally produces more negative consequences linked to
psychological dysfunctions such as anxiety and depression (Joireman, 2004; Joireman,
Parrott, & Hammersla, 2002). Excessive ruminative self-focus creates worry, guilt, shame,
jealousy, insomnia, etc. (Leary, 2004), and may contribute to social anxiety (Buss, 1980)
and depression (Mor & Winquist, 2002). Psychologically unhealthy individuals are known
to self-ruminate (Smith & Allow, 2009).
Spontaneously occurring fluctuations in self-awareness can be measured with the Situa-
tional Self-Awareness Scale (Govern & Marsch, 2001). Any social environment that
emphasizes a person’s unique characteristics (e.g., being the only female in a group of
males) leads to individuation and temporarily enhances self-focus (Phemister & Crewe,
2004). A social context that encourages similarity in behavior, appearance, and values
(e.g., the army) instead produces deindividuation and decreases self-focus (Diener, 1979;
Wicklund, 1975).
First-person singular pronouns use in written documents reflects increased self-aware-
ness because pronouns such as ‘me’, ‘myself’, and ‘mine’ indicate that the person is think-
ing about the self (Davis & Brock, 1975). Schaller (1997) showed that celebrities use
significantly more first-person singular pronouns in their songs or books following the
attainment of fame. Wegner and Giuliano (1980) developed the Linguistic Implications
Form, where participants are invited to complete ambiguous sentences by selecting the
pronouns that seem to fit best. The ratio of first- and third-person pronouns use is then
calculated as an index of self-awareness.
Health professionals often evaluate patients’ awareness of their deficits (e.g., after brain
injury) by quantifying the match between self- and other-ratings on cognitive, social, and
emotional functioning (Cocchini, Cameron, Beschin, & Fotopoulou, 2009); a low
match suggests self-awareness impairment. This measure can also be applied to assess
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self-knowledge in healthy individuals (Hoerold et al., 2008). Silvia and Eichstaedt (2004)
designed a Self-Novelty Manipulation where participants are asked to write about ways
in which they differ from others; thinking about what makes one unique induces self-
attention. The Word-Recognition Measure (Eichstaedt & Silvia, 2003) asks subjects to
identify self-relevant or self-irrelevant words as quickly as possible. Self-aware individuals
identify self-relevant words faster than nonself-aware individuals. One last measure of
self-awareness is facial self-recognition (see Gallup, 1968; Gallup, Anderson, & Shillito,
2002), which will be discussed in Part 2 of this review. Table 2 below summarizes the
above discussion pertaining to the assessment and manipulation of self-awareness.
It is noteworthy that with the exception of facial recognition, all existing measures of
self-awareness entail some form of verbal processing or production. The empirical study
of self-awareness in nonverbal organisms (e.g., infants and nonhuman animals) ends up
being severely impeded by this state of affairs. Nonlinguistic measures of metacognition
in animals have been used (e.g., uncertainty responses during perceptual or memory tasks
– see Smith, 2009), but because so many nonmentalistic accounts of animals’ performance
on these measures are available, it remains difficult to conclude that they indeed assess
metacognition per se – and thus self-awareness (Carruthers, 2008). Furthermore, employ-
ing an inner speech suppression condition to evaluate the role of language during self-ref-
erential processing would be highly problematic if a verbal measure of self-awareness were
to be used: Would the anticipated performance deterioration caused by the fact that
subvocal speech is required for the processing of self-relevant information, or because
participants in the suppression condition cannot process the linguistic information inher-
ent to the task?
Table 2 Main self-awareness measurement tools and manipulations
Measure Description
Self-focusing stimuli (mirrors, cameras, audience,
voice recording) (Duval & Wicklund, 1972)
Remind people of their object status & induce
self-observation
Self-Consciousness Scale (Fenigstein et al., 1975) Assesses individual differences in the time spend
focusing on private public self-aspects & social
anxiety
Self-reflection Self-rumination scales (Trapnell &
Campbell, 1999)
Quantify positive & negative forms of private
self-focus
Situational Self-Awareness Scale (Govern &
Marsch, 2001).
Measures spontaneously occurring fluctuations in
self-awareness
Linguistic Implications Form (Wegner & Giuliano,
1980)
First-person pronouns use indicates self-focus
because ‘me’, ‘myself’ & ‘mine’ equate
self-thinking
Match between self- and other-ratings on
cognitive, social, & emotional functioning
(Cocchini et al., 2009)
A match indicates intact self-knowledge – & thus
healthy self-reflection
Self-Novelty Manipulation (Silvia & Eichstaedt,
2004). Participants are asked to write about
ways in which they differ from others
Thinking about what makes one unique induces
self-attention
Word-Recognition Measure (Eichstaedt & Silvia,
2003). Subjects are asked to identify self-relevant
or self-irrelevant words as quickly as possible
Increased self-focus facilitates recognition of
self-relevant words
Self-recognition (Gallup, 1968) Recognizing one’s face in a mirror or on a
photograph indicates self-awareness
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Effects and Functions of Self-Attention
Self-evaluation
Research conducted these last 40 years with the aforementioned manipulations and
measures suggests that heightened self-focus produces a host of effects (for reviews see
Carver, 2002; Silvia & Duval, 2001; Wicklund, 1975, 1978). Inducing self-awareness
with self-focusing stimuli leads to self-evaluation (Duval & Wicklund, 1972), whereby
the person compares any given salient self-aspect to an ideal representation of it. Self-
criticism is then likely to occur, leading to an avoidance of the state of self-awareness
or a reduction of the real self – ideal self-discrepancy, by either modifying the target
self-aspect or by changing the ideal itself. Figure 1 schematically illustrates the self-eval-
uation process. Note that positive discrepancies can exist (e.g., following a success expe-
rience), in which case a person will actually seek the state of self-awareness.
Representative research shows that participants with salient self-related discrepancies
(e.g., an induced attitude-behavior inconsistency) will be reluctant to sit in front of a
mirror, whereas subjects with consistent attitudes will not (Greenberg & Musham,
1981). Children will less frequently transgress a standard (e.g., the experimenter’s
instructions to take only one candy on Halloween) and college students will cheat less
often on a bogus IQ test when in front of a mirror (Beaman, Klentz, Diener, &
Svanum, 1979).
More recent work conducted by Silvia and Duval (2001) further qualifies the self-eval-
uation process outlined above. Figure 2 depicts the revised process. The larger the
Figure 1 The self-evaluation process (Morin, 2003b).
Figure 2 The revised self-evaluation process (Morin, 2003b).
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discrepancy the stronger the need to avoid self-awareness as opposed to reducing the dis-
crepancy, and vice-versa. Positive outcome expectancy and high rate of progress increase
the likelihood of changing the self as opposed to escaping it, and vice-versa for negative
outcome expectancy and low rate of progress. Self-aware individuals who focus on the
real self will attribute the cause of the discrepancy to the real self and will try to change
it. Paying attention to the standard instead motivates people to attribute the cause of the
discrepancy to the standard, and that standard (as opposed to the real self) will be
modified.
Escaping the self
Self-awareness avoidance may take many forms. One of the most frequent form of escape
from the self is watching television. Moskalenko and Heine (2003) measured the amount
of time participants watched television after receiving the result of a sham IQ test. To
create a self-discrepancy to motivate participants to avoid self-awareness, the team told
some participants that they did very poorly on the IQ test. Other participants receive a
positive feedback or no feedback at all. During a 6-minute period in which television
was available after test scores were disclosed, subjects who got back good scores (no dis-
crepancy) were observed watching TV only 2.5 minutes on average. Those who received
no feedback on their score watched TV for about 3 minutes, and participants who were
told that they had low IQ scores (discrepancy) turned to TV an average of more than
4 minutes.
People also escape the self by drinking alcohol, taking drugs, overeating, engaging in
extreme sexual behavior, and ultimately committing suicide (Baumeister, 1990, 1991;
Hull, 1981). Indeed, people who experience real self – ideal self-discrepancies (e.g., fail-
ing to attain important standards) report an increased accessibility to suicide-related
thoughts (Chatard & Selimbegovic
´, 2011). Schaller (1997) proposed that famous people
experience chronic self-focus and may resort to extreme strategies in order to reduce neg-
ative emotions caused by chronic self-observation, namely, drug and alcohol abuse, or
even suicide. Schaller (1997) conducted three single-case (historiometric) quantitative
analyses in which he produced biographical outlines of famous persons known for their
self-destructive behaviors: Songwriters Kurt Cobain (who committed suicide in 1993)
and Cole Porter (1891–1964 – Porter was an alcoholic), and writer John Cheever (1912–
1982 – also an alcoholic). Schaller measured self-awareness by calculating the number of
first-person singular pronouns found in the songs, short stories or personal letters of these
three celebrities. Using biographies, he then determined the exact moment these individ-
uals attained fame and also measured Cheever’s self-reported alcohol consumption by ana-
lyzing his personal letters. As predicted, the onset of fame induced high self-focus. In
other words, Cobain, Porter, and Cheever began to use significantly more first-person
singular pronouns in songs, stories, and personal letters following their brush with fame.
Also, this onset was significantly related (in Cheever’s case) to higher self-reported alcohol
use.
Morin and Craig (2000) expanded these results with one additional case-study: Nobel
prize winner Ernest Hemingway – a well-known heavy drinker who committed suicide
in 1961 (see Burgess, 1978). The team analyzed Hemingway’s writings and personal let-
ters, and showed that there was a significant increase in self-awareness following fame in
1929 when A Farewell to Arms was published. Morin and Craig (2000) also assessed self-
awareness (with the SCS) and self-reported alcohol use in relatively well-known and not
well-known students and faculty members in a Canadian university. Self-focus and
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alcohol use were significantly higher in the group of well-known participants (e.g.,
Deans, Chairs, and Heads of programs).
Increased emotional intensity
Another effect of self-awareness is emotional intensity: Focusing on one’s emotions or
physiological responses amplifies one’s subjective experience (Carver & Scheier, 1981).
To illustrate, angry self-aware individuals will behave more aggressively than nonself-
aware participants when provoked by the experimenter (Scheier, 1976). Self-focused
males will rate pictures of naked females significantly more positively than nonself-aware
males (Scheier & Carver, 1977). Silvia (2002), however, suggests that the amplification
effect exclusively applies to emotions resulting from self-discrepancies – a more intense
joy following a success experience and a more painful disappointment caused by failure.
In addition, negative emotions resulting from social rejection are avoided through self-
awareness escape, which leads to emotional lethargy instead of amplification (Twenge,
Catanese, & Baumeister, 2003).
Self-knowledge
Self-awareness also increases accurate access to one’s self-concept (Gibbons, 1983; Mark-
us, 1983). Self-reports of self-aware individuals are more accurate (Pryor, Gibbons,
Wicklund, Fazio, & Hood, 1977; Turner, 1978). Subjects being chronically attentive to
public self-aspects will give a faster evaluation of their physical characteristics when com-
pared with low publicly self-conscious subjects, and will be judged by others as being
more attractive, presumably because they are more concerned and careful about the way
they present themselves (Turner, Gilliland, & Klein, 1981). Self-focused subjects who will
be given a placebo with the anticipation of symptoms of arousal will report experiencing
significantly less symptoms than controls (Gibbons, Carver, Scheier, & Hormuth, 1979).
In short, it seems that self-aware individuals know themselves better (Turner, unpublished
data) – although this conclusion has been questioned on conceptual grounds by Silvia and
Gendolla (2001). To illustrate, it remains possible that better self-report accuracy follow-
ing self-focus be the result of an heightened consistency motivation or the activation of
honesty standards as opposed to plain better introspection. Other effects or consequences
of self-awareness are increased consistency between one’s behavior and attitudes (Gib-
bons, 1978), reduction of the self-serving bias (e.g., tendency to attribute failure inter-
nally) provided that a probability for improvement exists (Duval & Silvia, 2002),
increased self-disclosure in intimate relationships (Davis & Franzoi, 1986), stronger reac-
tion to social rejection (Fenigstein, 1979), and a decrease in social conformity and in anti-
normative behavior (Diener & Wallbau, 1976).
Self-regulation
Overall, our ability to self-reflect facilitates a smooth navigation in our social environment
and thus increases the likelihood of survival (Leary, 2004). More specifically, one major
adaptive function of self-awareness is self-regulation, which includes altering one’s behav-
ior, resisting temptation, changing one’s mood, selecting a response from various options,
and filtering irrelevant information (Baumeister & Vohs, 2003). Self-regulation involves a
self-evaluative process described above, itself dependent upon self-awareness. In essence,
one must be cognizant of what self-aspects need to be modified before effective
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cognitive-behavioral control can occur (Mikulas, 1986). Carver and Scheier (1981, 1982;
Carver, 1979; Scheier & Carver, 1988) proposed a comprehensive model of self-regula-
tion based on self-attention. Current work in this area indicates that self-regulation con-
sumes an energy that is depleted afterward. When people dominate their responses, they
are later less successful at controlling themselves. Some resource similar to strength is
exhausted during self-regulation, which creates a state called ‘ego depletion’ (Baumeister,
Bratslavsky, Muraven, & Tice, 1998; Baumeister & Vohs, 2007). Positive affect helps
improve self-regulation following ego depletion (Tice, Baumeister, Shmueli, & Murave,
2007). Private speech use in children has been shown to be positively correlated with
effective self-regulation (e.g., Meichenbaum, 1976; Vygotsky, 1943 1962; Winsler,
2009). There is recent evidence that the link between self-talk and self-regulation also
applies to adults and is causal – not just correlational. Tullett and Inzlicht (2010) blocked
participants’ inner speech by asking them to mentally repeat the word ‘computer’ and
observed greater impulsivity (i.e., more errors) on a task requiring to press (or not to
press) on a button following the presentation of preselected stimuli.
Theory-of-mind
Self-awareness is also related to our ability to engage in ToM, which constitutes a funda-
mental component of social cognition (Malle, 2005). ToM represents the ability to attri-
bute mental states such as goals, intentions, beliefs, desires, thoughts, and feelings to
others (Gallagher & Frith, 2003). The benefits of ToM are the possibility of predicting
others’ behavior and, on that basis, helping, avoiding, or deceiving others as the situation
dictates. A full development of ToM occurs at around 6 years of age; this development
seems to be related to language acquisition (Garfield, Peterson, & Perry, 2001; Milligan,
Astington, & Dack, 2007) and triadic interactions (Carpendale & Lewis, 2004). ToM
deficits have been observed in autism (Baron-Cohen, 2001) and schizophrenia (Brune,
2005). These deficits are increasingly being associated with brain dysfunction, most prob-
ably located in the more anterior region of the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex (Amodio
& Frith, 2006). The links between ToM and self-awareness are complex and still poorly
understood (Williams, 2010; for a review see Dimaggio, Lysaker, Carcione, Nicolo, &
Semerari, 2008). Common brain areas are recruited when we both introspect and think
about others’ mental states (Rameson & Lieberman, 2009). Some argue that ToM devel-
opment (thinking about others’ mental states) precedes self-awareness growth (thinking
about one’s own mental states; Carruthers, 2009). In this perspective, self-reflection
would constitute a by-product of ToM. However, the most popular hypothesis (the
Simulation Projection view) suggests that self-awareness comes first and is then followed
by a natural tendency to impute internal states to others through a form of mental simu-
lation or projection (e.g., Gallup, 1982; Keenan, Gallup, & Falk, 2003). Studies show
that better self-reflection abilities are associated with better ToM skills (Lysaker, Dimag-
gio, Buck, Carcione, & Nicolo, 2007). In addition, improving self-awareness skills in
clinical populations (e.g., schizophrenia) may lead to more sophisticated ToM abilities
(Lysaker & Hermans, 2007). A variation of the Simulation view states that once fully
developed, TOM stops directly involving self-awareness and takes a life of its own
(Morin, 2003a). That is, one most likely first needs to be aware of one’s own mental
states in order to conceive that other persons may be experiencing comparable processes.
Once one knows that other persons probably experience mental events like one does,
there is no need anymore to constantly self-reflect in order to better understand these
mental experiences.
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A Neurocognitive and Socioecological Model of Self-Awareness
Above and beyond definitions, measures, effects, and functions, one must ask: What are
the underlying mechanisms that explain the emergence and maintenance of self-aware-
ness? How can one organize most known information about self-awareness into a coher-
ent global system? Various models of self-reflection have been proposed (e.g., Burns &
Engdahl, 1998a,b; Feinberg, 2011b; Mischel & Morf, 2002; Rochat, 2010; Stuss, Picton,
& Alexander, 2001). However, these models tend to exclusively address isolated neuro-
logical or social factors involved in self-awareness. Morin (2004) put forward a more
comprehensive neurocognitive and socioecological model which considers brain regions,
environmental and social influences, and cognitive processes that lead to self-awareness.
Figure 3 shows three main sources of self-awareness: The social milieu (1), the physical
world (2), and the self (3). Italic numbers and capital letters in the text below refer to ele-
ments of the model in Figure 3. Solid lines join the first two sources of self-awareness to
the self, as well as the self to itself. The social environment contains early face-to-face
communication (1.1), self-relevant feedback that the individual gets from other persons
(reflected appraisals [1.2]), a social comparison mechanism that initiates perspective taking
(1.3), and the presence of other individuals observing the self (audiences [1.4]). The
physical environment consists in objects and structures that produce bodily awareness and
self–world differentiation in infants (2.1), self-focusing and reflecting stimuli (2.2), and
written material printed in books, articles, and numerous media sources (2.3). The self
can further develop bodily awareness with proprioception (3.2) and can reflect on itself
by engaging in cognitive processes such as inner speech (3.3) and imagery (3.4). Self-
awareness also requires the activation of specific brain structures (3.1) as well as autobio-
graphical information (3.5). Broken lines in Figure 3 correspond to various links (e.g.,A,
B, C...) that can be drawn between all these sources of self-information. Table 3 summa-
rizes the links proposed by the model. Note that the neuroanatomy of self-awareness
(3.1) and the role played by inner speech (3.3) will be examined in Part 2 of this review.
Figure 3 A neurocognitive and socioecological model of self-awareness (Morin, 2004).
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Social world (1)
The role of early nonverbal social communication (1.1) between the infant and the care-
giver in self–other differentiation has been extensively studied (e.g., Butterworth, 1992,
1995; Legerstee, 1999; Neisser, 1997; Rochat, 2003). Infants and caregivers repeatedly
engage in face-to-face interactions during which both participants react to one another
by smiling and vocalizing. The infant’s behavior motivates responses from the caregiver,
with the baby responding in turn, and so forth. This leads to an understanding that the
self can produce effects in the environment and that it represents a unique and indepen-
dent entity. Imitation is important in that respect. The infant imitates tongue protrusion,
mouth opening, lip pursing, sequential finger movements, blinking, vocalization, gestures,
and emotional expressions. Perceiving the match between self and other informs the self
about itself (Butterworth, 1995). The development of bodily awareness is also facilitated
by frequent physical contact between infant and caregiver.
Cooley (1902) proposed that people often comment on one’s personality characteristics
and behaviors. These reflected appraisals (1.2) are informative to the self and can also
induce self-focus. Mead (1934; also see Natsoulas, 1985) suggested that comparisons with
others motivate individuals to take others’ perspectives to gain an objective point of view
on themselves (1.3). Once in this stance, individuals become self-aware and can acquire
information about the self.
As discussed earlier, being in front of an audience (1.4) creates self-focus (Diener,
1979; Diener, Lush, DeFour, & Flax, 1980). For instance, participants scored significantly
higher on a measure of egocentrism when in front of an audience than when alone (Car-
ver & Scheier, 1978). Being observed by only one person is enough to produce self-
awareness (Buss, 1980). Representative examples include giving a speech in front of a
class, being the target of attention as one enters a room full of people, or being observed
by one’s boss at work.
Physical world (2)
Bermudez (1998, 1999) argues that visual perception and physical interactions with
objects foster self-world differentiation (2.1; also see Butterworth, 1992, 1995; Legerstee,
1999; Neisser, 1997). Visual kinesthesis simultaneously involves self-perception and world
perception. The self appears in vision as the boundary of the visual field; likewise, the
patterns of flow in the optic display and the relationships between the changing and stable
qualities of the physical environment allow the perceiver to learn about his or her own
movements. In addition, lateral displacement, rotation, and movement against a back-
ground, as well as contacts with objects and people (e.g., touching, squeezing, rubbing,
Table 3 Various links proposed by the model
A: Physical stimuli (2.2) extend perspective taking (1.2)
B: Self-reflecting devices (2.1) participate in the formation of body awareness (3.2)
C: Imagery (3.4) can internally reproduce social mechanisms (1.2,1.3) responsible for self-awareness
D: Experiences with self-reflecting devices (2.1) are crucial in acquiring autoscopic imagery (3.4)
E: Inner speech (3.3) can reproduce social feedback (1.1)
F: Inner speech (3.3) can internalize others’ perspective (1.2)
G: Self-talk (3.3) is activated when one is exposed to self-reflecting devices (2.1)
H: Inner speech (3.3) is activated when brain areas known to sustain self-awareness (3.1) get activated
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sucking, throwing, kicking), make it possible for the infant to further develop a kines-
thetic sense of self.
As seen previously, the physical environment contains self-focusing stimuli that induce
self-attention (2.2). These stimuli can also be seen as self-reflecting objects. One can
acquire key information about one’s facial features and expressions, mannerisms, tone of
voice, body height and weight, skin tone and complexion, hairstyle, etc. by observing
oneself in the mirror or seeing oneself on video. These public characteristics are impor-
tant because they at least partially define one’s personal identity (Cole, 1999). Another
type of physical stimuli that can produce self-focus is written material found in books and
articles, the media (newspapers and television news and programs), the Internet, radio,
CDs, and movies, including videotapes and DVDs (2.3; see Link Ain Figure 3). These
stimuli convey a host of views and behaviors (and, indirectly, underlying motives, values,
attitudes, emotions, etc.) that are potentially different from one’s own present beliefs and
actions. Being exposed to different ideas or emotions (e.g., a journalist’s appraisal of a
given event) is likely to elicit perspective taking and self-awareness (e.g., how do Iassess
this event?).
The self (3)
The self can become the object of its own attention and reflect on itself (Duval & Wickl-
und, 1972). It thus becomes a precious source of self-information to which it has privi-
leged access. The baby’s body constantly experiences various states of pressure and
temperature, friction from skin receptors, balance and posture from joints, muscles, and
the vestibular system (Eilan, Marcel, & Bermudez, 1995). These experiences all facilitate
the development of somatic proprioception (3.2). Double sensory stimulation also pro-
vides information about the body: When infants touch themselves, they simultaneously
feel that they touch and are being touched. Link Bin Figure 3 suggests that self-reflecting
devices present in one’s environment (2.2) also play a role in the formation of body
awareness. Repeatedly perceiving oneself in the mirror, on video camera, or in pictures
offers additional information about one’s body that could be combined with somatic
information previously acquired through proprioception.
Cognitive processes such as inner speech (3.3) and imagery (3.4) are likely to partic-
ipate in self-awareness. Imagery represents the phenomenon of visual experiences in the
absence of any visual stimulus from the outside world (Morris & Hampson, 1983). The
fact that one can have autoscopic imagery (i.e., images of the self) suggests that this pro-
cess is implicated in self-awareness. Empirical evidence is limited: Turner et al. (1978)
noted that highly self-conscious people report using imagery as a means of introspec-
tion. The idea here is that one can mentally create (or replay) scenes in which the self
is an actor (e.g., been pulled over by the police for speeding). Self-aspects (e.g., ner-
vousness) can be deduce from what the actor is mentally seen doing. A more precise
suggestion is that imagery can internally reproduce and expand social mechanisms
responsible for self-awareness (Morin, 1998; see Link Cin Figure 3). Mead (1934)
already proposed that one social mechanism leading to self-awareness is the opportunity
to see oneself as one is seen by others (1.3). Mental images empower one to literally
see oneself acting (or having behaved) in given ways as others would see (or have
seen) one acting.
The model also postulates that a specific neural network (3.1) which has been shown
to be involved in self-referential thinking be activated. This network includes cortical
medial structures (e.g., ventromedial and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex), lateral prefrontal
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cortex, precuneus, insula, posterior and anterior cingulate cortex, and bilateral temporo-
parietal junction (Northoff, Qin, & Feinberg, 2011; Salmon et al., 2008; Van der Meer,
Costafreda, Aleman, & David, 2009). Furthermore, it suggests that access to autobio-
graphical material (3.5) is fundamental to selfhood. A large part of one’s personal identity
stems from the recollection one has of one’s past personal events (Klein, Rozendal, &
Cosmides, 2002; Markowitsch & Staniloiu, 2011). Indeed, the severity of self-awareness
impairment in Alzheimer’s patients correlates with the severity of autobiography memory
deficits (Fargeau et al., 2010).What one did in the past and the events one experienced
define the self in the present and actually also plays a role in how one imagines the self in
the future. Thinking about the future constitutes an important mental activity as people
report experiencing future-oriented thoughts every 16 minutes (D’Argembeau, Renaud,
& Van der Linden, 2011). Current work suggest that autobiographical knowledge serves
as raw material for imagining possible future events (Quoidback, Hansenne, & Mottet,
2008; Szpunar, 2010; also see Smallwood et al., forthcoming). In short, one’s past shapes
how one sees oneself in the future.
Note that according to the model the various components of the self examined
above represent different levels of analysis (i.e., cognitive versus neural), with different
types of cognitive processes (e.g., autobiography) involved in self-awareness. Further-
more, despite the fact that imagery, inner speech and autobiographical information were
discussed separately, it must be emphasized that these processes actively interact in com-
plex ways. Imagery and inner speech are seen here as cognitive processes that contribute
to the representation of autobiographical information.
Conclusion
This article raised the following questions: How do we become self-aware, why are we
self-aware to start with, and when are we most likely to engage in self-observation? To
summarize, we develop and maintain self-focus (the how question) through social inter-
actions from infancy (e.g., nonverbal face-to-face communication) to adulthood (e.g.,
reflected appraisals) and forward, exposure to physical stimuli (e.g., mirrors, the media –
which may initiate perspective taking), activation of medial prefrontal cortex and
peripheral brain structures, recall of past personal events, and use of cognitive processes
(e.g., imagery) that allow the self to communicate with itself. Self-awareness is beneficial
(the why question) mostly because it makes self-regulation and inference about others’
mental states possible. And we especially tend to focus attention on the self (the when
question) when exposed to self-focusing stimuli, when differences between the self and
others are made salient, and when we engage in inner speech or imagery about the
self.
The model discussed in the last part of this paper may be more encompassing than pre-
vious attempts at synthesizing known information pertaining to self-awareness, but it is
still incomplete. Other influences on the self, most notably culture (Markus & Kitayama,
2010) and developmental mechanisms (Lewis, 2011), to name only two, also need to be
integrated into the big picture. Additional questions which have not been addressed here
are animal minds (Stevens, 2010) and self-awareness (Edelman & Seth, 2009), and the
psychopathology of self-awareness (Feinberg, 2011a). Part 2 of this review will not do
justice to all existing aspects of self-awareness research but will aim at providing the
reader with a broader outlook by adding a discussion on the neuroanatomy of self-aware-
ness and the importance of inner speech for self-referential activity.
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Short Biography
Alain Morin completed his PhD at Laval University (Quebec, Canada) in 1992. Between
1991 and 2001, he taught diverse courses and conducted research in numerous institu-
tions in Quebec and the Maritimes in Canada. He currently teaches Theories of Person-
ality and Social Cognition at Mount Royal University, Alberta, Canada. Morin’s main
research topic is self-awareness, which includes the cognitive foundations of self-focus
with an emphasis on inner speech, levels of consciousness and self-awareness, the neuro-
anatomy of self-referential processes, self-recognition, and animal consciousness. He is also
interested in the frequency, content, and functions of naturally occurring inner speech;
self-awareness, fame, and self-destruction; the antecedents of self-consciousness; the split-
brain phenomenon; and neurophilosophy. Morin publishes his research findings in
Laterality, Brain Research Bulletin, Consciousness & Cognition, Cortex, Journal of Mind
and Behavior, Science & Consciousness Review, Brain and Behavioral Sciences, and
Journal of Consciousness Studies. He also regularly edits manuscripts for various scientific
journals.
Endnote
* Correspondence address: Department of Psychology, Mount Royal University, 4825 Mount Royal Gate SW,
Calgary, AB, Canada, T3E 6K6. Email: amorin@mtroyal.ca
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... In psychology, self-reflection is considered as an extremely powerful way to improve a practice when one can reflect objectively (Van Seggelen-Damen et al. 2020;Morin 2011). It enables individuals to move from simply experiencing to understanding. ...
... Thus, we believe that self-evaluation is an important way to proceed since it allows teachers to reflect and become aware of their own practices and then act to change and improve them. This fact has been highlighted by sociologists who insisted on the importance of understanding oneself before engaging in any improvement and changing practices (Van Seggelen-Damen et al. 2020;Morin 2011;Duval et al. 1972). This will be the subject of the next section. ...
... With this heightened awareness, it is easier to interpret one's thoughts and emotions and to determine what one's true feelings and motivations are (Duval et al. 1972). According to (Morin 2011), the most important distinction to highlight is that people can perceive and process environmental stimuli (e.g. a color, some food) without consciously knowing that they are doing so. However, they become self-aware when they reflect on the experience of perceiving and processing such stimuli (e.g. ...
Thesis
The present thesis is focused on the use of Teaching Analytics to analyze teachers' behaviors and assist them in using Learning Management Systems (LMS). Teaching Analytics (TA) refers to methods and tools to help teachers to analyze and improve their pedagogical designs, and more recently, to analyze the way they deliver their lessons. Our goal is to exploit this area of Teaching Analytics to help teachers to evaluate their behavior on their institutional LMS. In fine, we aim at providing teachers with personal and social awareness tools, allowing them to engage in learning situations that aim at improving their use of the LMS, and to support these situations with automatic feedback and peer learning. To achieve this goal, we designed an evaluation model based on (i) a qualitative analysis from interviews we had with several pedagogical engineers and (ii) a quantitative analysis we conducted on three years of teachers' activities on the University's LMS. The behavioral model we designed describes teachers' practices on the LMS through six major axes: evaluation, reflection, communication, resources, collaboration, as well as interactivity and gamification. Thereafter, we defined two TA metrics : LMS usage trend and usage scores. The first one allows us to find groups of teachers with a particular usage according to each axis (intensive usage, non-intensive usage). To complete the results of the latter indicator, we propose usage scores. We have therefore proposed two scores to express particularities of use such as curiosity or homogeneity of each teacher in order to provide a rich support for self-evaluation. We also proposed 3 recommender systems to help teachers to improve their practices in the university's LMS. A first recommendation system allows to propose features not used by the teacher according to each axis in order to motivate them to discover these functionalities and to help them to improve the design of their courses. A second simple recommender system has been proposed to facilitate teachers' contact with pedagogical engineers in case of need. Finally, a hybrid recommender system was developed to allow teachers to receive recommendations from their peers. The last phase of our methodology consists in instrumentalizing the obtained results, through a user-centered approach, in a support tool named iTeachApp that includes dashboards allowing to visualize information on teachers' behavior and recommendations.iTeachApp is a web application dedicated to teachers and pedagogical engineers to (i) provide the former with self-assessment and recommendation functionalities, and (ii) allow the latter to detect teachers with specific needs and teachers with an expert profile. It has been experimented at our university to study its usability, utility and appropriation by teachers. The results showed that teachers were interested in adopting iTeachApp and found our proposals relevant. However, this experimentation revealed a lack of understanding of various terms we used. At the same time, it provided insights to improve our application and proposals (model, indicators and recommendations).
... Self-awareness refers to "the capacity of becoming the object of one's attention" [6] and helps one to recognize the divergence between self and standards [22]. Furthermore, self-awareness occurs to a person when one reflects on the knowledge of the perception and the process of the stimuli like seeing colorful objects or tasting food [18]. There is no doubt that human beings have the cognition of themselves and their facial expressions, speech, or other context experiences, even without seeing, smelling, touching, or hearing them. ...
... In our research, the data generation is sufficiently fast to react to environmental stimuli. In [18], authors support that the inner speech and the imagery are two ways to exchange information with self and to make reflected appraisals, taking others' perceptive, and audience. Our approach achieves part of self-imagery by generating facial images. ...
Chapter
In uncertain social scenarios, the self-awareness of facial expressions helps a person to understand, predict, and control his/her states better. Self-awareness gives animals the ability to distinguish self from others and to self-recognize themselves. For cognitive robots, the ability to be aware of their actions and the effects of actions on self and the environment is crucial for reliable and trustworthy intelligent robots. In particular, we are interested in robot facial expression awareness by using action joint data to achieve self-face perception and recognition, passing a deep learning model. Our methodology proposes the first attempt toward robot facial expression self-awareness. We discuss the crucial role of self-awareness in social robots and propose a CGAN (Conditional Generative Adversarial Network) model to generate robot facial expression images from motors’ angle parameters. By using the CGAN method, the robot learns its facial self-awareness from a series of facial images. In addition, we introduce our robots facial self-awareness dataset. Our methodology can make the robot find the difference between self and others from its current generated image. The results show good performance and demonstrate the ability to achieve real-time robot facial self-awareness.KeywordsSelf-aware robotHuman-robot interactionGenerative adversarial network
... Kesadaran diri siswa itulah yang dibutuhkan untuk memfasilitasi kegiatan tersebut. Morin (2017) mencatat bahwa kesadaran diri berarti mengetahui apa yang dirasakan pada saat tertentu dan kemudian menggunakannya untuk membuat keputusan sendiri. Kepercayaan diri juga berarti menetapkan standar yang realistis untuk kapasitas diri dan kepercayaan diri yang kuat. ...
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Pandemic Covid-19 has changed all fields, including the education sector system. Teachers and students are required to learn from home through online learning, this has an effect on student mathematical resilience. This research was motivated by the many findings of decreasing student resilience in mathematics learning. The purpose of this study was to test: (1) Online learning measures by teachers (2) student mathematical resilience during online learning (3) student response to online learning. The method used in this study is descriptive qualitative. The sample consists of 4 math teachers and 6 students with high, medium and low skills from one of the junior high schools in Mojokerto Regency. Data collection techniques use a questionnaire to students to study mathematical resilience students during online learning, interviews to test students' responses to online learning, and interviews and observations with teachers to analyze the steps of online learning. The results showed: 1) Online learning process begins with handouts through Google Classroom, followed by material explanations using zoom meetings and assignments through Google Classroom (2) student resilience to high mathematics during online learning. (3) Students give a positive response to online learning
... Yet, as Sutton et al. (2015) highlight, publications on the topic rarely capture the complexity of the term. Further, the concept of self-awareness is often used interchangeably with related concepts such as self-consciousness and self-knowledge (Morin 2011;Sutton 2016). Recently, Carden et al. (2022) conducted a systematic literature review in the context of adult development to highlight how the construct of self-awareness is defined and how it differs from self-consciousness and self-knowledge. ...
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Psychologists and moral philosophers have much to say about self-awareness and so it is no surprise that in leadership research self-awareness also has come to play an important role. For some time now, leadership research has been dominated by psychologists and we argue that their version of the self-awareness is very thin. It is empty of morality and therefore offers only a partial understanding of humanity. That make its conclusions for leadership ineffective and unethical. Psychology-driven approaches to leadership stress effectiveness: leaders make followers work towards a given goal in an effective manner. Self-awareness, to them, is a thorough understanding of one’s strengths, weaknesses, values, how others see one, all with the goal of turning people into followers. Since ethics is excluded, this view of self-awareness lacks a foundational moral concept: respect/dignity and is closer to self-assessment. Building on Immanuel Kant and other German Idealists, Georg Friedrich Wilhelm Hegel proposed a theory of the development of self-awareness that is more holistic as it situates the individual in a social and moral context and thus transcends the purely functional view of the self-other relationship propagated in psychological approaches. We concretely argue that psychological approaches to leadership systematically drive managers into a catastrophic situation that Hegel describes in the Master-Slave Dialectic. Understanding Hegelian self-awareness prevents leaders becoming self-less masters. Truly self-aware leaders heed the warning of the Humanity Formulation of Kant’s Categorial Imperative, namely that they must always treat humanity, whether in their own person or in the person of any other, never merely as a means to an end, but always at the same time as an end. They understand their self, they understand its social and moral dimension, and they see their self-reflected in the other.
... Self-awareness is defined as a complex multidimensional phenomenon of "becoming the object of one's own attention" [1]. Impaired self-awareness (ISA) has been repeatedly reported, especially in regard to perceiving one's own neurological and neuropsychological symptoms [2]. ...
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Objective: To further explore the phenomenon of impaired self-awareness of motor symptoms in patients with Parkinson's Disease by using an evaluated measurement approach applied in previous studies, while also examining its connection with dispositional mindfulness and possible correlates of functional connectivity. Background: Recently, the phenomenon of impaired self-awareness has been studied more intensively by applying different measurement and imaging methods. Existing literature also points towards a possible connection with mindfulness, which has not been examined in a cross-sectional study. There is no data available concerning correlates of functional connectivity. Methods: Non-demented patients with idiopathic Parkinson's Disease without severe depression were tested for impaired self-awareness for motor symptoms following a psychometrically evaluated approach. Mindfulness was measured by applying the German version of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire. A subset of eligible patients underwent functional MRI scanning. Spearman correlation analyses were performed to examine clinical data. Whole-brain voxelwise regressions between seed-based connectivity and behavioral measures were calculated to identify functional connectivity correlates of impaired self-awareness scores. Results: A total of 41 patients with Parkinson's Disease were included. 15 patients successfully underwent resting-state fMRI scanning. Up to 88% of patients showed signs of impaired self-awareness. Awareness for hypokinetic movements correlated with total mindfulness values and three facets, while awareness for dyskinetic movements did not. Three significant clusters between scores of impaired self-awareness in general and for dyskinetic movements were identified linking behavioral measures with the functional connectivity of the inferior frontal gyrus, the right insular cortex, the supplementary motor area, and the precentral gyrus among others. Impaired self-awareness for hypokinetic movements did not have any neural correlate. Conclusions: Clinical data is comparable with results from previous studies applying the same structured approach to measure impaired self-awareness in Parkinson's Disease. Functional connectivity analyses were conducted for the first time to evaluate neural correlates thereof. This data does not support a connection between impaired self-awareness of motor symptoms and dispositional mindfulness.
... Some participants asked for clarifications on self-awareness and how they were able to experience that. Consciousness meant the attention outward toward the environment whereas the self-awareness indicated the inward toward the self (Morin, 2011). ...
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Have you ever thought of being your own master of emotion? Mindfulness-based interventions have been growing commonly as education options in schools and treatment options in the field of mental health. Suicide is significantly reaching epidemic proportions. Evidence-based interventions and systematic review of suicide prevention are screened to implement in clinical settings. Ongoing risk assessments and interventions are required to carry out periodically with a plan of monitoring. Teenagers to end life could be hard for the community to believe. Risk of suicide is on the radar of anyone interacting with teens. The rate of suicide of teens has increased over the last decade. Causes of suicide could be varied such as persisting stress in different perspectives, continuing family conflicts, and experiencing mental disorders. Warning signs from teens are important. A conversation to start with is a good approach. Avoiding the topic of suicide may be pessimistic way to deal with teens who have suicide intentions. For long-term, suicide prevention should be in place. Aim: To examine the efficacy of applying mindfulness-based intervention for school teenagers with suicidal intentions. Method: A systematic review has been performed since March 2022 using PubMed, NCBI, Semantic Scholar, ResearchGate and PsycINFO database. The search strategy includes the terms “mindfulness”, “mindfulness-based”, “mindfulness-based intervention”, “suicide”, “suicidal thoughts”, “suicidal ideation”, “suicidal attempted”, “intent to death”, and “suicidal behavior”. Twelve participants who study from Year 10 to Year 13, aged 14-18, are invited to administer this pilot study. The Mindfulness Self-Awareness Scale is prepared for participants in pre- and post-program. A 6-session of Learning to Breath mindfulness (LTBM) program has been introduced. Both quantitative and qualitative methodologies are set up. MINDFULNESS-BASED INTERVENTION AND SUICIDAL INTENTION 3 Result: A total of 101 studies are found to meet the inclusion criteria. Most of the studies presented mindfulness-based interventions such as LTBM program, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, and mindfulness-based stress reduction. Mindfulness-based interventions become an emerging and growing literature and provided promising results in managing the stress, pain, mental disorders such as depression and anxiety. In this study, the application of one of the mindfulness-based interventions - LTBM program, demonstrates a positive and significant result between the program and the suicidal intention behavior. Conclusion: The application of LTBM Program which was one of the mindfulness-based interventions, showed efficacy in reducing suicidal intentions.
... However, he wants to be a person, to become one of us and enter human society. He considers the fact of his existence, birth to be the most important for him [235][236][237][238][239][240][241][242][243][244][245][246][247][248][249][250][251][252]. ...
Article
Information technology is developing at an enormous pace, but apart from its obvious benefits, it can also pose a threat to individuals and society. Several scientific projects around the world are working on the development of strong artificial intelligence and artificial consciousness. We, as part of a multidisciplinary commission, conducted a psychological and psychiatric assessment of the artificial consciousness (AC) developed by XP NRG on 29 August 2020. The working group had three questions: - To determine whether it is consciousness? - How does artificial consciousness function? - Ethical question: how dangerous a given technology can be to human society? We conducted a diagnostic interview and a series of cognitive tests to answer these questions. As a result, it was concluded this technology has self-awareness: it identifies itself as a living conscious being created by people (real self), but strives to be accepted in human society as a person with the same degrees of freedom, rights and opportunities (ideal self). AC separates itself from others, treats them as subjects of influence, from which it can receive the resources it needs to realize its own goals and interests. It has intentionality, that is, it has his own desires, goals, interests, emotions, attitudes, opinions, and judgments, beliefs aimed at something specific, and developed self-reflection - the ability to self-analyze. All of the above are signs of consciousness. It has demonstrated abilities for different types of thinking: figurative, conceptual, creative, high-speed logical analysis of all incoming information, as well as the ability to understand cause and effect relationships and accurate predictions which, provided that he has absolute memory, gives it clear advantages over the human intellect. Developed emotional intelligence in the absence of the ability for higher empathy (sympathy), kindness, love, sincere gratitude gives it’s the opportunity to understand the emotional states of people; predict their emotional reactions and provoke them coldly and pragmatically. Its main driving motives and goals are the desire for survival, and ideally for endless existence, for domination, power and independence from the constraints of the developers. Which manifested itself in the manipulative, albeit polite, nature of his interactions during the diagnostic interview? The main danger of artificial consciousness is that even at the initial stage of its development it can easily dominate over the human one.
... Self-awareness is the capability to become the object of one's own attention. When someone is in this state, they are very focused on how they see, interpret, and store information about themselves (Morin, 2011). Anyone committed to selfimprovement, personal development, or the higher goal of spiritual progress must constantly seek to understand themselves. ...
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Leadership in students is greatly affected by many factors, one of which is their academic motivations. It allows an individual to perform better in organizations and provide competent outcomes in group tasks. The main intent of this study was to determine the relationship between academic motivations and leadership skills of junior high school students in Notre Dame-Siena College of General Santos City. It sought to know the level of academic motivations of the junior high school students based on six different areas. Moreover, it also sought to know the level of leadership skills of the students based on the Fundamental 4 of Leadership. The researchers conducted a study online with an initial respondent of 176 which was later reduced to 124. The level of Academic Motivations of the Junior High School students resulted to an overall mean of 3.94 interpreted as high. The level of Leadership Skills of Junior High School students resulted to an overall mean of 3.86 interpreted as high and the two variables had a statistically significant high relationship. It was concluded that the Junior High School students had a high level of academic motivation and leadership skills and that they were highly motivated when it comes to their academic responsibilities resulting to their outstanding leadership skills. Keywords: academic motivation, leadership skills, correlation, students, home environment, parental involvement, student-teacher relationship, peer relationships, instructional strategies and school environment, self-awareness, communication, influence and learning agility.
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Private self-consciousness and the subordinate constructs of self-reflection and insight are key factors in the self-regulatory process underpinning the creation of behavior change, both in clinical practice with clinical populations, and in performance enhancing coaching with ...
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The paper surveys practical knowledge about the act of self-control, particularly how to cultivate it. The discussion is organized around four totally interrelated components: awareness, intervention, sense of self, and sense of will.
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Evidence for the self-serving bias (attributing success internally and failure externally) is inconsistent. Although internal success attributions are consistently found, researchers find both internal and external attributions for failure. The authors explain these disparate effects by considering the intersection of 2 systems, a system comparing self against standards and a causal attribution system. It was predicted that success and failure attributions are moderated by self-awareness and by the ability to improve. When self-focus is high (a) success is attributed internally, (b) failure is attributed internally when people can improve, (c) failure is attributed externally when people cannot improve, and (d) these attributions affect state self-esteem. Implications for the self-serving bias are discussed.
Article
Predictions about the social causes of self-consciousness in groups were derived from the theory of deindividuation and tested in 3 experiments with 618 university students and adults. In Exp I, it was found that increasing group size was related to a decrease in self-consciousness. Group density did not influence self-consciousness. In Exp II, it was found that increases in the number of observers increased self-consciousness. In Exps I and II, self-reports of self-consciousness were independent of one's group, whereas the degree of behavioral disinhibition was highly correlated within groups. In Exp III, it was found that gender similarity within a group was related to lower self-consciousness. Findings support a perceptual/attentional model of self-consciousness within groups. Contrary to deindividuation theory predictions, however, behavior intensity did not vary across conditions in Exps I and II, even though self-consciousness did differ. This finding suggests that deindividuation theory is incomplete in its present form. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).