How Self-Aware is the Average Human?
Morin (2011) defines self-awareness as the capacity of becoming the object of one’s own attention by actively identifying, processing and storing information about the self. An important part of self-awareness is the ability to evaluate the self as opposed to only being aware of the self. This process is of importance to the average individual because it enables a person to reflect and change themselves in such a way that improves their attractiveness and social desirability within society. There are two realms in which an individual can be self-aware, private and public. Private self-awareness refers to attending to emotions, thoughts, desires, and traits. Public self-awareness refers to attending to how others perceive you.
The present paper draws on social psychological theories to address the extent to which the average human engages in self-awareness practices, both privately and publicly. An individual may utilize the processes of self-regulation (private) and social comparisons (public) in an effort to be self-aware. However, there are also influences that may impede the extent to which we are self-aware including the unconscious mind and positive self-illusions.
Self-Regulation
One method through which the average human can be self-aware is the ability to self-regulate, which can be defined as the process people use to change thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Self-regulation aligns with private self-awareness because the individual is attending to their emotions and thoughts prior to regulating them. There are three components to self-regulation: standards, monitoring, and strength. Standards are norms that are used as constructs of comparisons to determine if the self is good or bad. Individuals who use broad standards of comparison (i.e. the “average person”) as opposed to narrow standards of comparison (i.e., models) tend to feel better about themselves. Monitoring is the ability of an individual to attend to their progress, leading to an increased likelihood of having high levels of self-control. Strength refers to the energy it takes for an individual to have self-control.
An individual may use these three processes to increase their level of self-awareness and there are additional mechanisms available if he/she notices that there is room for improvement. These mechanisms include monitoring the physical/social environment as well as regulating energy. The ability to identify areas of self-improvement and make necessary adjustments in order to improve behavior and self-control is a prime example of how an individual is self-aware. Although the extent to which an individual self regulates is a personal decision, we are all capable of doing so and thus even the most average humans have the capacity to be self-aware.
Social Comparison
People may also learn about themselves by positioning their self in the context of what other people are like, a process known as social comparison. Within social comparison there are upward comparisons which are used to inspire change in order to reach the level of someone who is better and downward comparisons which are used to make the self-good by comparing against people worse off. Through the active process of comparing the self to others, an individual learns ways they are succeeding and continue these behaviors or the individual learns ways they can improve to achieve the results that “better” individuals have.
People are constantly comparing themselves to others in realms such as social status, wealth, quality of relationships, and performance at work or school. In order to determine if we are doing better or worse than others we must first be self-aware of our behaviors and our perceived status in society before deciding which areas we need to improve versus which areas we should keep the same. We are all actively engaged in comparing ourselves to others, regardless of if we decide to make improvements or not. The ability to make these changes requires a certain level of innate self-awareness and awareness of others.
The Unconscious Mind
In contrast to self-regulation and social comparison, there are also ways in which we cannot control the extent to which we are self-aware. The theory of the duplex mind puts forth the notion that every individual has both a conscious and an unconscious mind. The conscious mind translates ideas into action, such as societal norms and behavior which allows us to effectively participate in society. The unconscious mind guides our moment-to-moment actions through controlling processes that are automatic, unintentional, and occur without awareness.
Research has shown, through motor movement studies, that conscious decisions often occur after the brain has initiated physical movements. Additionally, researchers have learned that individuals are able to follow patterns and complex rules well before they are able to articulate the reasons why. Further, research done on behavior has shown that decisions seem to be a function of unconscious attitudes that make decisions well before the conscious decision is made. One example of this was shown in a study done on voting where researchers were able to predict individual decisions one week in advance of the vote by assessing unconscious biases.
The unconscious mind has been proven to influence both our motor movements and behaviors, indicating a lapse in self-awareness. In certain scenarios, the average human is unable to articulate reasons behind their behaviors which suggests that there is a limit to how well we can call ourselves self-aware. Although we are able to change and modify behaviors we are often inadequate at explaining the initial behavior or why we do some of the things we do.
Positive Self Illusions
In relation to the unconscious mind, biases are another factor that may regulate the extent to which the average human is self-aware. Functional biases serve adaptive, social functions but prevent an individual from completely objective levels of self-awareness. One way that humans do this is through the tendency to overestimate how much people like us, a bias referred to as positive self-illusions. We are likely to describe ourselves as above average, overestimate control, and have unrealistic levels of optimism.
Although these positive self-illusions facilitate social interactions and spur initiative, they negatively influence the extent to which we are self-aware. These biases drive behaviors that appear to be self-awareness but in reality are romanticized perspectives of the self. The false perception that we are above average individuals can motivate behaviors that may not appeal to others around us. While this may be true for some people, not every human can be above average in society. This is where our self-awareness falls shorts due to our positive self-illusions decreasing our individual desire to analyze and modify current behaviors for improvement.
Conclusion
In sum, there are behaviors that support an individual’s ability to be self-aware. The process of self-regulation and social comparison indicate that the average human has the ability to acknowledge their individual traits and behaviors in comparison to other people. These processes allow us to modify certain aspects of ourselves in order to improve our life experience. Due to these capabilities, it is a reasonable assumption that all humans have the potential to achieve self-awareness. However, even the most self-aware human is unable to control for factors that hinder complete self-awareness. The unconscious mind and personal biases prevent individuals from a complete understanding of personal traits and behaviors. Nonetheless, self-awareness is important for evaluating our behaviors, traits, and emotions in an effort to be a good human in society.