The idea of knowing yourself is quite a modern one, and is quite a difficult topic to pin down. The self isn't exactly a person's personality or interests, but rather the smaller things that people display, and the things that are harder for them to pin down. These are their confidence, their abilities, even the reasons why they are who they are, whatever they might be. The self is the things that take more analysis to tack down than just saying "I'm a pretty friendly person" or "I like to play sports". They are often better picked up on by other people than ourselves.
As such, the way that people display our sense of self also impacts the way that they communicate. Their sense of confidence tends to influence people to believe them, or choose them over someone else (in a job opportunity, for example). Humans up-play their abilities, leading people to trust in their abilities more than someone who says that they're only average at a skill. The self goes hand in hand with nonverbals too when it comes to confidence; people with higher confidence will usually look more prepared, able, and trustworthy.
Do you think people for the most part have a clear clear sense of self?
ReplyDeleteI think that people believe that they do, but in reality they might have skewed perceptions of themselves based on other factors. They might think they're terrible for insignificant things, or think they're perfect when they're really not. So I guess not!
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