Question

Topic: Learning about ourselves

Describe 3 ways in which we come to know ourselves (e.g., self-perception, feedback from others, social comparison). What are the sources of knowledge that we use? Do individuals differ from each other in how much they rely on different sources?

Provide personal examples of how you have used each of these sources to gain knowledge about yourself. How accurate do you think each source was? Why? (For instance, has someone told you something about yourself that you think was inaccurate?)

Answer 1

Social comparison theory states that people evaluate themselves by comparing themselves with others. The source of knowledge used is information about ones own self and others. For example. I compare my financial status with my friends by comparing the cars we own and the salaries we get. The comparison was accurate representation of my status, and i concluded that i am not rich, but doing fine in terms of wealth.

The self perception theory is of the view that people judge and evaluate themselves based on their own behavior and actions. For Example. I often provide food to the poor people and give charity to the needy, and this makes me feel that i am a good and kind person.

Feedback from others means that we judge or evaluate ourselves based on how others are judging or evaluating ourselves in the form of providing us with feedbacks. For Example. A student who is lazy and does not like to study, maybe told by the professors that he is not capable. In this case, the professors evaluation about the student is inaccurate.