Self Awareness In Psychology

Introduction

Self-awareness is a psychological state in which people are aware of their traits, feelings and behavior. It is the ability to recognize oneself as an individual separate from the environment and other individuals. Self-awareness is arguably the most fundamental issue in psychology, from both a developmental and an evolutionary perspective. According to psychologists, self-awareness is classified into two types: public and private.

Public Self-Awareness is when people are aware of how they appear to others. This type of self-awareness often requires people to adhere to social norms. People often try to behave in ways that are socially acceptable and desirable to others when they feel others are evaluating them. Private Self-Awareness

The world is changing rapidly in terms of technology, environment and etc. our success now depends on how well we cope up with this rapid change. Orientation of change can take place in two ways: Tolerance of Ambiguity and Locus of Control (Whetton & Cameron, 2011).

Tolerance of ambiguity is the ability to deal with ambiguous situations in a sensible and calm way. (R. Barringer, 2009) It talks about the degree of feeling threatened having difficulty coping with the uncertain changes happening around him. People with high tolerance of ambiguity and more cognitive complex are more adaptive to changes than people with low tolerance of ambiguity and less cognitive complex. They tend to pay attention to more information.

According to Cherry, K. (n.d.) locus of control is a belief about whether the outcomes of our actions are contingent on what we do (internal control) or on events outside our personal control (external control). It refers to the feelings people develop concerning the level of control over their destinies. People with internal locus of control are more likely to take responsibility for their actions, usually have a strong sense of self-efficacy. Whereas, people with external locus of control blame outside forces for their circumstances, do not believe that they can change their situation through their own efforts, and frequently feel hopeless or powerless in the face of difficult

According the self-esteem questionnaire, I got a score of 9 – 15, which is moderate self-esteem. I think it is very easy for others to persuade me, as sometimes I totally depend on others. It

“Though a moderate self-esteem individual has a positive self-image, they are vulnerable to the perceived risk of an imminent anti-feat, consequently they are often nervous and regularly use defense mechanisms”. (Self-esteem) When I get nervous, I do not know what to do and can never take a good decision. As I can never show people that I have no confidence on myself, so like others I apparently present great self-confidence, the underlying reality is just the opposite.

Johari Window

Johari Window Model is called “Disclosure/Feedback model of Self-Awareness”. This model has four areas, each represent different information on the basis of whether the information is known or unknown by the person himself/herself, and whether the information is known or unknown by others. After taking the self-assessment, I found out that I fall in the hidden quadrant. According to the model I know myself, but others do not know any information about me. It is true, in my case because I do not want to disclose myself to all the people around me. It might include sensitivities, fears, hidden plans, secrets, or anything that I would not like to reveal to