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“I bask in the glory of my most magnificent self.”
The nature of the self has intrigued the human species since time immemorial. From western philosophers to eastern intellectuals, from spiritual leaders to nomads, have made efforts to explain the nature of the self at some point or the other. Naturally, the overbearing mystery that is the self, found a way to pique the curiosities of psychological pioneers too, thus ushering the study of the self into the field of psychology. Here is a candid attempt to shed some light on the nature of the ever-mysterious self and how the understanding of the self has evolved over the centuries.
In the early phases of philosophical thought, great thinkers like Plato and Kant suggested that the true self is beyond the physical self and is as such an immortal soul. However, during the earlier times, many refused to subscribe to the idea of an ‘immortal soul’. Due to this, individuals like Hume and Dennett came up with their explanations to pin the nature of the self. They referred to the self as a mere bundle of perceptions and a centre of negative gravity, respectively. Is this all that the self is? Do these ideas truly capture every aspect of the existence of the self?
Most psychologists did not share the same perspective. Psychology, being a discipline that studies the human mind and human behaviour, is also a discipline that takes the nature of the self very seriously. Psychologists across time and place have collectively understood, appreciated and promoted the fact that the self is multidimensional and has many aspects to it. These aspects come together and converge to form what we loosely refer to as ‘the self’. Some aspects of the self that have been extensively studied by psychologists across the globe encompassing
Self-identity
Self-esteem
Self-concept
Self-worth
Self-regulation.
These aspects of the self have very significant and prestigious positions in the study of psychology even today.
Many psychological schools and therapeutic modalities take into consideration myriad combinations of these aspects of self. They aim to perpetuate the idea that the ultimate goal of human life, is to be the best versions of ourselves. So does this mean that that cliché-sounding quote asking us to be the best version of ourselves has more to it? Well, according to almost all pioneers of psychological thought, yes, there is more to it.
While Abraham Maslow termed it the actualized self; Carl Rogers called it the fully functioning person. Nevertheless, the bottom line of these psychological ideologies is that every human ultimately strives to use the various aspects of the self to achieve their full potential. This is a process that requires constant effort and continual growth until the very peak of the individual has been reached. While this approach makes a lot of sense and has been proven to be based on facts by many psychological studies over time; all it does is specify what one aims to do or achieve out of their true self. It does not precisely explain ‘what’ the self is.
A noteworthy explanation about the nature of the self had been provided by Alfred Adler who happens to be the pioneer of Individual psychology. The Adlerian Theory views the individual as an indivisible whole that lives and functions in connection with its environment. Adler believed that individuals are the way they are and wish to be who they wish to be; as a result of the factors that have been interacting with them since the time they are born. As such, Adler advocated the idea that the understanding of an individual and their true self is incomplete if not done in the context of all the factors that make them who they are. His thoughts back in the early 1900s were very much in tune with the nature of self that is being advocated for in the present day. The question that now arises is, ‘what is the nature of self that is being advocated for these days?’
The most recent idea about the true nature of the self states that the self operates at various levels and hence is being seen as more of a multilevel or multilayered entity. As per this idea, some thinkers prefer to refer to the self as a ‘network’, thus giving rise to the term ‘network self’. The levels in question here are precisely four and include the molecular, the neural, the psychological and the social levels; all of which are levels at which a single individual can operate simultaneously. One may very well wonder, how can one discipline of psychology incorporate the study and understanding of all these levels at once? The ironic fact however remains, that psychology has always been a discipline that has attempted to understand various human processes that work simultaneously to contribute to human behaviour and human nature. So let’s take a deeper look into these various levels of the self and the psychological understanding of these levels so far.
To begin with, the psychological level is one that most people are familiar with. This is the level that involves our psychological processes; it is the epicentre of some of the aspects of self that we discussed earlier. These include factors such as self-concept, self-worth and such. It involves what goes on in our minds at any given time.
The neural level incorporates the biology of the psychological level. This means that at the neural level, the psychological processes discussed above can be viewed as being stripped down to the biological processes of neural firings and synaptic connections. It involves what goes in the brain at any given moment. The neural level is important in understanding the way we make connections and associations; the way the brain encodes decodes and retains information; the way our perceptions about various things are formed.
The molecular level is the level that governs one’s genetics and epigenetics. Mounting evidence has been found to determine that an individual’s personality, physical makeup and many times even the way their brain works, is governed by their genetics and epigenetics. Evidence has shown that even most of the mental illnesses that individuals suffer from and the thought patterns that they are most prone to are many times governed by their genetics and epigenetics. This level explains the factors that set us up to become the individuals that we are most likely to be during our lives.
The social level governs the situations and situational factors that influence the thoughts and behaviours of an individual. Research in social psychology has determined that many times the behaviour of an individual is not merely governed by the innate learned factors but rather, is also influenced by situational factors such as people’s expectations about what other people will most likely do in a similar situation.
As such, one can see from all that we have discussed above that the notion of the self has gone through many ideological changes before arriving at the current notion of self that is being promoted. And even then, who is to say that this idea of the nature of self will be an unchanging one? Regardless, one thing that most of us can agree upon is that the self is a complex theoretical concept that can be fully understood only through a multidimensional approach that takes into account the various processes and mechanisms of the self. For the self, as intangible as it may be is very much existent; but as an abundantly complex, multilevel system comprising of interacting and sometimes interdependent mechanisms.
“Look to see what you are doing today. Is this how you choose to define yourself? Look to see what you are thinking today. Is this what you wish to create?”
Do not forget to share in the comments what is your perspective regarding their of self.
