The Problem of a Person’s Self-Awareness, Theoretical Approaches and Definitions in Psychology
The Problem of a Person’s Self-Awareness,
Theoretical Approaches and Definitions in Psychology
Hovakimyan Garik
Summary
Key words: “Self”, “Identity”, “Self-concept”, “Self-system”, “Self-character”, Self-knowledge, psyche, behavior, emotional-value attitude
The article presents various theoretical approaches to the self-awareness of a person in psychology. Each approach uses its own apparatus of concepts, close in meaning to each other, but not identical (“Self”, “Identity”, “Self-concept”, “Self-system”, “Self-character”, etc.) from which terminological variety derives, to indicate the same sphere of mental life, which refers to the multi-meaning of perception and interpretation of basic concepts in the field of psychology of self-awareness. In Russian psychology, self-awareness is interpreted in different ways. It is considered as a special form of consciousness aimed at understanding one’s own “Self”; as awareness of oneself as an object of practical and cognitive activity, allowing one to understand one’s place in the system of social relations and one’s inner world. Self-awareness is also understood as an ability with which a person regulates one‘s relations with the surrounding world and within oneself. Based on the above, from a psychological perspective, self-awareness—as a unique phenomenon of the human psyche –can be understood as a form of self-regulation. It manifests in the ability to control one’s behavior and actions through self-knowledge and through an emotional-value attitude toward oneself.